Not that critical

Posted by Joe on September 04, 1998 at 11:15:52

In Reply to: Head Nut Tightening
posted by Kevin Daly on September 04, 1998 at 07:52:19

: Hi Folks,
: It's almost time to do a final torque on my head nuts.How do I torque the #1 nut just to the side of the distributor?I would think a crow foot wrench with an extension but I'm not quite sure.I really would rather not remove the distributor to do this but I can't get a socket wrench on the nut with it in place. Any and all suggestions appreciated.No profanity please!
Kevin
If you have an 18 inch torque wrench and add on a crowsfoot and add say 1-1/2 inches to the "torque arm" of your wrench, you cause a reading to be 18/19.5 or 92.3 percent of what it should be.8 percent low.
I don't know about you but I can't even hold my torque wrench that steady when torquing to 55, darn, no 58, darn, no 53 foot-pounds.
Also, what you are causing is a translation of torque to the tension of the bolts holding the head to the block.Conditions can dramatically affect how much torque gets translated into tension.Engineers rule of thumb is plus or minus 20 percent variation on actual torque translated to tension, and all depending on the lubricant, condition of the threads, friction of the nut on the head and the threads, etc.
Ballpark sounds good enuf.Just torque it up to 58 ft-lbs with the wrench and the crowsfoot you have (or get) and let it go at that.
Best regards,
Joe