Garage day fun
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 119
Likes: 1
From: Albuquerque NM
Garage day fun
Great help from a forum member PLRX got the water pump off. Now how in the heck do I clean off the old gasket much less get the new pump back on? It was a royal pain getting the old pump maneuvered out of there and I can't even see where the old gasket is behind the PS pulley.
GM wasn't thinking of mechanics when they put these things together.
I'm planning on pulling off the opti since I'm this far into the project just to check it out. If it looks nasty I'll replace the whole thing probably. If not I'll just clean it up and put it back on. While the opti is off I'm going to soak the front of the engine in degreaser and clean it up. I had an oil lead from either the valve cover gaskets or the TB for a while now and it is GROSS in there. New gaskets for everything I pull off and hopefully that fixes it.
When I pulled of the TB I looked inside the manifold and it looks pretty nasty in there. Is that normal or should I be thinking about pulling that off too?
GM wasn't thinking of mechanics when they put these things together.
I'm planning on pulling off the opti since I'm this far into the project just to check it out. If it looks nasty I'll replace the whole thing probably. If not I'll just clean it up and put it back on. While the opti is off I'm going to soak the front of the engine in degreaser and clean it up. I had an oil lead from either the valve cover gaskets or the TB for a while now and it is GROSS in there. New gaskets for everything I pull off and hopefully that fixes it.
When I pulled of the TB I looked inside the manifold and it looks pretty nasty in there. Is that normal or should I be thinking about pulling that off too?
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 3,616
Likes: 5
From: Sandhills of North Carolina
Use a straight razor like you'd scrap windows with to remove the old gasket, works great.
I've had my water pump off many times. I have yet to put a gasket on it. I use Permatex Ultra Copper. Put it on the block not the pump. You'll get it on everything if you put it on the pump when you re install it. Good luck
I've had my water pump off many times. I have yet to put a gasket on it. I use Permatex Ultra Copper. Put it on the block not the pump. You'll get it on everything if you put it on the pump when you re install it. Good luck
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 119
Likes: 1
From: Albuquerque NM
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 119
Likes: 1
From: Albuquerque NM
pull all the accessories?
Alright, I've been out there for a couple hours now trying to get my hand in behind the PS pump pulley, over the opti and behind the accessory mount and it ain't happenin'. I'm 5'9 and 140 and I have no idea how you guys are getting in there to scrape off that gasket.
So will the standard GM puller from O'Reilley's work for pulling the pulley off the PS pump so I can get the accessory mount off so I can actually get in there and clean off the old gasket. Do I need to bleed the power steering system before I take off that pulley?
So will the standard GM puller from O'Reilley's work for pulling the pulley off the PS pump so I can get the accessory mount off so I can actually get in there and clean off the old gasket. Do I need to bleed the power steering system before I take off that pulley?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 2,547
Likes: 46
From: NJ
None of the above... I ran into the SAME exact problem when I pulled mine off... I COULD NOT get the old gasket off the block... So I caught up with my snapon truck guy and bought one of these!
Simply called a GASKET SCRAPER. They had 2 sizes.... long and short...^^^ Thats the long one! If I would have known I would have gotten the shorter one. But at 30 bucks I wasnt buying 2 of them! But it was worth every penny!
Hope that helps!
Simply called a GASKET SCRAPER. They had 2 sizes.... long and short...^^^ Thats the long one! If I would have known I would have gotten the shorter one. But at 30 bucks I wasnt buying 2 of them! But it was worth every penny!
Hope that helps!
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 3,444
Likes: 0
I don't know if I would try and remove the PS pump pully. I'd be more inclined to unbolt the the pump from the acc bracket and move the pump out of the way the best you can without disconnecting the oil lines.
When I did mine I went all the way and put a lt4 hotcam in it, so I scraped the gasket while the timing chain cover was off.
Good luck.
When I did mine I went all the way and put a lt4 hotcam in it, so I scraped the gasket while the timing chain cover was off.
Good luck.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 34,988
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From: Riverside County Southern California
Co-winner 2020 C4 of the Year - Modified
2018 Corvette of Year Finalist
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St. Jude Donor '09 thru '20
This is weird, I've done this about 5-8 times between my 92, 95 and 96 Vettes and never had a problem removing the old gasket.
I used a razor and a small wire brush. Remember, the block is iron not aluminum you will never see "the aluminum color".
I used a razor and a small wire brush. Remember, the block is iron not aluminum you will never see "the aluminum color".
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Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 3,616
Likes: 5
From: Sandhills of North Carolina
Also, if you haven't done it already. Remove the front wheels. It makes access to the front a lot better.
As mentioned don't fool with removing power steering pulley. Just remove the pump from the block. You won't be able to move it far but just a little bit will help.
Working on these cars is like working on a onion.You have to remove some layers to get to the good stuff.
Here' a picture of mine when I did a cam swap. Notice how much room there is with the fans removed. Not necessary but makes it a whole lot easier.
As mentioned don't fool with removing power steering pulley. Just remove the pump from the block. You won't be able to move it far but just a little bit will help.
Working on these cars is like working on a onion.You have to remove some layers to get to the good stuff.
Here' a picture of mine when I did a cam swap. Notice how much room there is with the fans removed. Not necessary but makes it a whole lot easier.
Last edited by Weav's Vet; Jun 7, 2010 at 03:57 AM.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 34,988
Likes: 515
From: Riverside County Southern California
Co-winner 2020 C4 of the Year - Modified
2018 Corvette of Year Finalist
2017 C4 of Year
2016 C7 of Year Finalist
St. Jude Donor '09 thru '20
A Marine friend of mine helped me to work on my 92 years ago and he said "this F car is like a working on a helicopter...got no space to work on it" That was to remove the rack & pinion only 
Shoot I have to do that surgery soon or later because my LT4 has the "LT blues"....leaking oil thru the front seal and I think it's the opti's seal.
Not even 4,000 miles later, SUCKS!
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 119
Likes: 1
From: Albuquerque NM
Thanks
PLRX, dude I just realized I probably came off like I was whinning and I apologize about that. I really appreciate the help and the suggestions.
drmman and weave thanks for the pictures. It's nice to see other people having a problem with this...okay that doesn't sound right but you know what I mean.
Anyway, I'll get back to it this weekend. I'll stop by the local store and see if I can find a scraper of sufficient size before I go pulling any more parts. Though I really wouldn't mind pulling everything off the engine that I can so I can clean up the years of oil that are caked all over the place down there.
Again, thanks to everyone for the suggestions and I can't wait to get back in there.
drmman and weave thanks for the pictures. It's nice to see other people having a problem with this...okay that doesn't sound right but you know what I mean.
Anyway, I'll get back to it this weekend. I'll stop by the local store and see if I can find a scraper of sufficient size before I go pulling any more parts. Though I really wouldn't mind pulling everything off the engine that I can so I can clean up the years of oil that are caked all over the place down there.
Again, thanks to everyone for the suggestions and I can't wait to get back in there.
Drifting
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,493
Likes: 94
From: Westfield MA
I pulled the power steering pulley off of mine, made access to that area a lot easier. You definitely need the puller to do it, I borrowed a universal type one from a friend and have since purchased one to use the next time.