The 8th stud

[Bill Goddard]

How real is the chance of warping the head if you take off the nut on the 8th stud to remove the clamp on the armored cable. I don't believe it can warp but I've heard it will. Bill G

[Drive Shaft Dave]

I have heard of it happening, Also a club member had removed the number 8 nut and he wound up with anti freeze in the crankcase.

[AL in NY]

Remove the 8th nut and cable clamp, then immediately replace the nut and torque it back down. Don't leave the nut off very long.

[Logan]

I'd just drain my coolant, then loosen the 8th stud and then re snug it up. Then I'd go through my torque pattern and refill with coolant.

[Vicky]

Originally Posted by Logan

I'd just drain my coolant, then loosen the 8th stud and then re snug it up. Then I'd go through my torque pattern and refill with coolant.

I agree with Logan. Drain coolant first.

[Tom Endy]

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I saw it happen on a tour one time. The owner unbolted #8 to remove the distributor for repair and in about 20 minutes the pan was full of water. That convinced me to never break the torque on the head unless I am removing the head. Especially out on the road. Since then I don't use a clamp to hold the pop-out cable in place. I installed a standard length stud in the #8 position. Another option is to install a 1\4" spacer under the nut.

I remove the distributor every time I change oil and clamp it in a vice, clean it up, dress up the points and re-set the gap. This also prevents it from ever rusting in place.

Clamping the cable down was part of Henry's anti-theft design.

Tom Endy

[Bill Goddard]

Originally Posted by Tom Endy

I saw it happen on a tour one time. The owner unbolted #8 to remove the distributor for repair and in about 20 minutes the pan was full of water. That convinced me to never break the torque on the head unless I am removing the head. Especially out on the road. Since then I don't use a clamp to hold the pop-out cable in place. I installed a standard length stud in the #8 position. Another option is to install a 1\4" spacer under the nut.

I remove the distributor every time I change oil and clamp it in a vice, clean it up, dress up the points and re-set the gap. This also prevents it from ever rusting in place.

Clamping the cable down was part of Henry's anti-theft design.

Tom Endy

My engine is a fresh rebuild. It has never been run and I am looking at that 8 th stud nut, the only one still loose, waiting for the clamp to be installed.
I am going to try something - I will cut the armored cable away just as it exits the switch body leaving a piece inside the casting to hold the parts in place. Then cut and remove the cable as it exits the long grommet. This will leave a few inches of bare wire. Then I will loosen the fit between the clamp and the cable so it will turn easily. Now as I turn the cable fitting out of the distributor the cable will turn freely up through the grommet and allow removal of the dist. The clamp will remain tight and the cable will look "normal" and I will still have my pop out switch. Bill G

[glenn in camino]

Originally Posted by Tom Endy

I saw it happen on a tour one time. The owner unbolted #8 to remove the distributor for repair and in about 20 minutes the pan was full of water. That convinced me to never break the torque on the head unless I am removing the head. Especially out on the road. Since then I don't use a clamp to hold the pop-out cable in place. I installed a standard length stud in the #8 position. Another option is to install a 1\4" spacer under the nut.

I remove the distributor every time I change oil and clamp it in a vice, clean it up, dress up the points and re-set the gap. This also prevents it from ever rusting in place.

Clamping the cable down was part of Henry's anti-theft design.

Tom Endy

Yes Tom, that was me in Santa Barbara. Another lesson learned.

[ford3]

cut a slot in the clamp so it will slide past the stud, just put a washer on and then the nut and retorque

[w.michael]

Will this work? Could you use a long stud for #8, tighten and torque the head nut WITHOUT the cable clip under the head nut, then install the cable clip upside down (only works if using the 5/32 clip correct for mid-29 to end of production) and then install a second head nut on top of the clip, tightened only enough to hold the cable clip?

By installing the clip upside down, the cable will be in the correct location/orientation. Only the top nut would need to be removed in order to remove the cable, and the torque on the "real" head nut would remain. A thin nut, or a head nut ground down in thickness, would be less obvious for the second nut. I don't think it would look TOO bad, and would be CLOSE to correct.

I'm not sure that the threads on the long studs commonly available go all the way down to the surface of the head without the clip under the nut as a spacer.

Someone who actually rebuilds engines, or at least removes and replaces head studs, would need to evaluate whether this might actually work.

I believe this is a good compromise between correct restoration and a practical approach to allow for on-the-road repairs.

Would someone smarter than me please comment?

W. Michael

[Bill Goddard]

Michael, You're right. It would work. I ruled it out because it wouldn't "look right" but now I think it would be close enough. But I still don't understand why the head would warp when only one stud is removed. And if it did warp wouldn't it be restored to flat when the nut is retorqued? Bill G

[Bob Bidonde]

I maintain a 1/2-jar of Barr's Anti-Leak in the cooling system year-round, so removing the cylinder head nut to unclamp the popout switch cable has not been a problem for me. However, I have seen the coolant leakage being discussed.

For the cruising Model A, it is wise to remove the cable clamp to avoid experiencing a coolant leak.

[OL JENNY]

I took a Dremel Tool with a cutting wheel and quickly cut the top off the clamp, so I have a U shaped, open top clamp that keeps the cable from flopping around, but lifts out to remove the distributor. It took about 5 minutes.

[Bob-A]

On my '29 roadster I had to remove the distributor once and that included removing the #8 stud nut. Some coolent {Sierra brand anti-freeze & water} came out with the stud when I tried to back off the nut. The stud was out for about a day. After replacing the dizzy and the pop-out cable clamp on #8 stud. I drained
the oil and found only a very little coolent in it. However, I added new oil.
Re-torqued all the head nuts and since then I have just barely cracked the oil drain plug twice. To check for coolent leakage, first time one drop came out. The second time no coolent. I only use distilled water and water pump lube/rust inhibitor now as a coolent. And when I add my new Snyder 5.5 head I am going to remove the #8 stud pop-out cable clamp!

Bob-A

[1wonton]

I've removed the nut to attach the cable clamp and although a little water did come out it was no big deal. After putting the clamp and nut back on the leak stopped, not a problem.

[chl]

I know I read somewhere that if the cable isn't secured by the clamp it will cause the connection to eventually fail at the ignition switch from cable being loose. Just wondering if this is true.

[Bill Goddard]

Originally Posted by chl

I know I read somewhere that if the cable isn't secured by the clamp it will cause the connection to eventually fail at the ignition switch from cable being loose. Just wondering if this is true.

I don't beleive it. The cable is held tight in the switch housing it can't move. Failure was probably insulation of the inner wire wearing through if it was original wire. Bill G

[Mitch//pa]

i always drain the cooling system also. i got whacked once but never again