kid vishus
Registered User
Hey folks, I need some advice. I spent a couple of hours pouring over old threads gathering as much info as I can, but am still stumped on a few things. Let me start off saying, I am not a novice, but definitely not a pro mechanic either. I am 40 yrs old and have been shade tree wrenching for 20+ yrs now and have built more than one drag car that has run low 10s-high 9's with an NA smallblock. I also worked for a couple of years in a GM shop that specialized in hi performace late model cars. So I have a decent idea of how things work, but good lord there is a lot of ~stuff~ crammed into this engine bay.
Anyways, enough background....
A month ago or so on the way home from work cruising at a blistering 53 mph, the car started running rough, the temp gauge shot to ~H~, and the heater started blowing cold air. When I pulled over the exhaust had that well known sickly sweet smell to it along with massive amounts of steam. Given the car (all stock '93 SC, auto trans) has 180+K miles on it and is all original, I'm not terribly surprised a head gasket let go. I had it towed home, and after it sat for a few days, I fired it up (missed a little but started and ran better than expected) and pulled it under I do not have a garage so I have to wait for nice (non raining or excessively windy days) to work on the car, so I havent gotten very far so far. I normally would have paid someone to do this job, but I am betting it wouldnt be cheap, and quite honestly I just cant afford that kind of expense right now so I have decided to tackle it on my own. That may have been a mistake.
First, does the PS pulley HAVE to come off? I dont have a puller and hate walking in the door of our local autozone as they never fail to disappoint me no matter how low I have set my expectations. I got the nut off the stud that was partially hidden behind it, and have removed all the other bolts I can see, but the bracket still will not budge even the least amount.
So far I have removed the air box, the radiator overflow tank, the AC bracket, alternator, IC, upper tube that goes to the IC, the lower is loose except for the small bolt from the bottom, belts are off, tensioners are off, both radiator hoses, most electrical plug-ins are disconnected, battery out, etc. Needless to say, I have A LOT of work to do yet.
I have more questions, but those can wait till later.
Thanks in advance.
Anyways, enough background....
A month ago or so on the way home from work cruising at a blistering 53 mph, the car started running rough, the temp gauge shot to ~H~, and the heater started blowing cold air. When I pulled over the exhaust had that well known sickly sweet smell to it along with massive amounts of steam. Given the car (all stock '93 SC, auto trans) has 180+K miles on it and is all original, I'm not terribly surprised a head gasket let go. I had it towed home, and after it sat for a few days, I fired it up (missed a little but started and ran better than expected) and pulled it under I do not have a garage so I have to wait for nice (non raining or excessively windy days) to work on the car, so I havent gotten very far so far. I normally would have paid someone to do this job, but I am betting it wouldnt be cheap, and quite honestly I just cant afford that kind of expense right now so I have decided to tackle it on my own. That may have been a mistake.
First, does the PS pulley HAVE to come off? I dont have a puller and hate walking in the door of our local autozone as they never fail to disappoint me no matter how low I have set my expectations. I got the nut off the stud that was partially hidden behind it, and have removed all the other bolts I can see, but the bracket still will not budge even the least amount.
So far I have removed the air box, the radiator overflow tank, the AC bracket, alternator, IC, upper tube that goes to the IC, the lower is loose except for the small bolt from the bottom, belts are off, tensioners are off, both radiator hoses, most electrical plug-ins are disconnected, battery out, etc. Needless to say, I have A LOT of work to do yet.
I have more questions, but those can wait till later.
Thanks in advance.
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