The Nuts & Bolts of Nuts, Bolts & Oil? By John Novak I was asked for a list of the steps normally taken when removing a rusted bolt in an inaccessible location, one that is visible only by holding a light in one hand and a mirror in the other. As a result the whole operation must be carried out by braille. That’s where you locate every sharp edge of metal on the car using the tips of your fingers. A great idea is to start off by giving the frozen bolt a shot of penetrating oil, this usually results in 80% of the liquid blasting everything within a 12-inch radius of the actual target. Next we will want to tap on the bolt with a hammer to help the penetrating oil seep into the threads. Unfortunately for us the hammer was originally designed as a weapon of war, and in its current design it acts as a divining rod to locate the most expensive parts close to the bolt you are actually trying to hit. Moving on to the application of torque, we employ our trusty wrench, only to find that our six-point box wrench is a bit too long to fit in our limited space. So we move on to a stubby wrench that lacks the leverage we wanted, but seems to fit. Unfortunately it has a 12-point box end, and the amount of stress we put on it not only starts to knock the corners off the head of the bolt, but also most of the skin from our knuckles. As we would need three swivel joints, two extensions and an additional four hands, our sockets stay quietly in the drawer of our toolbox collecting rust of their own, but that’s another story. Knowing that this is a bad idea from the start, we grab our trusty slip joint pliers. You know, the ones with the sharp teeth in the center, the ones normally used to round-off bolt heads and for the creation of blood-blisters. Now that they have remarkably flown across the shop, and increased our vocabulary, we move up to the bad-boys of the workplace, the locking pliers! Locking pliers are only used after the other pliers slip, and completely round off what’s left of the bolt head. Now it’s time for the big gun; we grab the oxyacetylene torch to throw some serious heat on that stubborn bolt. This torch is engineered almost entirely for lighting various flammable objects in your shop on fire. In our case, everything we coated with a liberal amount of the penetrating oil that we started out with is ablaze! Finally, the fire is out and half of our Saturday is gone. It’s time to remove the headers and the starter so that we can get in there with our drill and easy-out to finally get the job done. Maybe that would have been the best way to begin with. Thus, the moral of the story is: “Do it Right, or Do it Twice”. Another question concerned oil. Seems like everything else — we have lots of choices that are backed up with media-hype and legends from the past. This is not your father’s oil! Today our motor oils have far better additive packages to increase the performance and life of the lubricating properties of our oil. Oil performs two major functions in an internal combustion engine. First it lubricates the friction surfaces such as bearings. Secondly it removes waste heat from those surfaces. An internal combustion engine removes heat through the cooling system, the exhaust, and the lubricating oil. Synthetic oils have a much higher operating temperature than conventional oils and are necessary for operation under severe loads. However, the main drawback of good synthetic oils is cost. Despite the claims of the refiners of longer life to help justify the additional cost, I am not a fan of leaving oil that is building abrasive micro-particles and acids in an engine for longer than 6 months or 6,000 miles. I don’t care what they claim! In a performance motor I would never go over three months or 3,000 miles. I would also change oil after every race, without exception. Remember the old commercial about the oil filter where the mechanic would say, “Pay me Now, or Pay me Later”? Well, it’s true. Change the filter every time you change the oil. I think this should be carved in stone somewhere. Oil is one place where more really is better. Since one of the oils primary functions is removing heat, a deep pan and two extra quarts of oil will really help absorb the extra heat we build in performance applications. The extra volume also helps suspend dirt and dilute acids. Building lots of power? Start thinking of installing a oil temperature gauge. Keep in mind, the oil temp at the bearing will be about 50 degrees higher than in the pan, so anything on the gauge approaching 250F and you’d better be running full synthetic oil and looking at an oil cooler, if you want that mill to survive long term. I like heavier oils in performance engines. Straight 30W or 20-40W seem to work great in high load applications. It all depends on how you build the motor and the clearances that you set on the bearings etc. As the motor ages, I progress to heavier oil. Recently, several “high mileage” oils have hit the market. Their additive packs and viscosity are designed to adjust for the changing tolerances. A bit of varnish and sludge in the right places is not all together a bad idea. Think about it — as parts start to wear and seals start to dry out and leak, a little sludge and varnish isn’t a bad idea. Meanwhile, my best advice for long engine life is to keep the oil cool and very clean the first half of its expected life. Then throw in some heavy oil and abuse the heck out of it so you can build a new one. Anyway, isn’t that why we’re here? Remember... The print version of CruZin' Magazine contains the content above, plus MANY features not available online. Pick it up at your local newsstand, or subscribe today and never miss another issue! Home | Club Roster | Calendar | Classifieds | Connections | Archives Subscribe | Advertise | Interact Copyright, 2005. Island Enterprises. All Rights Reserved.