Safety wiring bolt heads, Do's and Don'ts...

[Awest623]

I can buy a lot of 020, 032, 040 stainless wire, safety wire pliers, for the price of that tool. The replacement wire ends are pricey also.
I believe in an Overhaul facility whereas safety wired and sealed , hydraulic pumps, generator's, csd, fuel controls, and company buys owns them. Sure.
The case was made for a tool that would tension and cut zip ties also. I'm sure it was $200 plus also. But did not last, wear issues , tension slip, leaving a sharp point instead of flush cut. Whereas in a facility that builds wire harness that tool could be standard issue. That didn't mean all ideas bad, some just don't survive certain environments.

Oh for sure. Different story when Uncle Sam is paying for it. One pack of the cables and crimps is about $60. Just another option for people that have the money. The tool does work really well tho, never had an issue with one once I learned how to use it properly.

We're restricted on the use of that tool as well. Can't use it on dynamic components, can't use it where it could get sucked into an engine if it breaks, can't use it on flight critical components, can't use it on high heat components, can't use it when the safety wire is a critical component in the assembly, etc.

 

[Erik the Awful]

Different story when Uncle Sam is paying for it.

When we were planning and purchasing our tool boxes, I pushed for Snap-On flank drive wrenches and Fluke meters, but told the guy buying to go second-tier on everything else. Uncle Sugar might be buying, but I know where that money comes from.

 

[Road Trip]

I'd say you are both missing the REAL secret here, infact that Ford marvel of cam chain stretching engineering does not really have it. That NRE BBC does, by the looks of it. Keeping the flange cool is good/necessary for it to work but there is more to it , something that works when all else fails, and safety wire ain't it.

Anyone care take a guess what this crazy Swede is on about?
Clue: regardless of what she says, size does matter.

Greetings '90Z71Swede,

Nice to make your acquaintance! This is such a cool website, for GMT400
enthusiasts all the way from New Zealand to Sweden are sharing their
perspective. Good stuff!

By the way, your comment "...that Ford marvel of cam chain stretching engineering"
has tickled me ever since I read it. Folklore has it that this setup
was given the go-ahead / designed / manufactured within 3 months -- often
referred to as "The 90 Day Wonder". This is lightning fast within
the confines of a company that's normally focused on maximizing the bottom
line with the sheer volume of mostly low-tech grocery-getters popping off the
assembly line.

But, thanks to a fellow perfectionist, a racer named Pete Robinson,
we can now admire the no-compromise full cam gear drive which
superceded the quick-n-dirty stretchy chain on his Cammer:

You must be registered for see images attach

Q: Was Pete Robinson actually a crazy Swede who also couldn't stand the thought of stretchy 6' timing chains in his ride? :0)

Anyway, for the guys running the 'good-enuf' chain drive, their band-aid
workaround was to slightly mis-time the cams statically in such a way
(by a handful of degrees, each cam slightly different) ...that
they would be in near-perfect time dynamically while the engine was being
twisted to the top of it's powerband. Sometimes you have to cheat in
order to be competitive.

Anyway, glad you stopped by...and yes, I'm 'interested in what
this crazy Swede is on about'. Please share!

Game on --

 

[1990Z71Swede]

Anyway, glad you stopped by...and yes, I'm 'interested in what
this crazy Swede is on about'. Please share!

Game on --

It is pretty simple, Its what she said, size matter. Or rather lenght does.

In that blurry picture of that very Shiny NRE Big Block it looks like the guys at Nelson has installed spacers on the header studs (or bolts cant really tell)

Whenever a bolted connection refuses to stay tight, and when a guy has tried everything else, putting a solid spacer over the bolt seem to work very well.

Any fastener acts somewhat like a spring. Increasing the spring lenght will allow the fastener to suck up more movement in the joint without loosing too much of its clamping force and will stay tight.

Some examples:

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

Now. about the clusterfornication beeing FORD BigBlock offerings... Thats way Off Topic so not going into that, other than to say, the BOSS "9" is my favorite example of the above...

 

[Road Trip]

It is pretty simple, Its what she said, size matter. Or rather lenght does.

In that blurry picture of that very Shiny NRE Big Block it looks like the guys at Nelson has installed spacers on the header studs (or bolts cant really tell)
Whenever a bolted connection refuses to stay tight, and when a guy has tried everything else, putting a solid spacer over the bolt seem to work very well.

Any fastener acts somewhat like a spring. Increasing the spring lenght will allow the fastener to suck up more movement in the joint without loosing too much of its clamping force and will stay tight.

Very astute observation re: taking advantage of the additional bolt stretch
(clamping force) available w/additional length!

When I first started wrenching on stuff, I was under the impression that
when I torqued a fastener down it was the thread friction between
bolt & nut that kept everything together. (Working at/just above the
'Fix Machine, Get Banana' level. :0)

Later, when I reading about the Pontiac SD 455, instead of the normal
ft/lbs of torque spec for the connecting rod bolts, they instead specified
tightening these bolts until they were s t r e t c h e d exactly 0.006".

Since then, in my own engines I've upgraded the connecting rod bolts
to ARP fasteners, and have tightened them to a stretch spec, and then
proceeded to twist those motors up into the soprano range...and live
to type about it. :0)

So yeah, we're in violent agreement about all things bolt stretch. Thanks
for sharing, I have just filed your observation away in my noggin...no doubt
I'll end up trying this out if/when I'm asked to work on something unfixable
where everything but the kitchen sink has already been thrown at it
and to date no joy.

This is exactly why I enjoy this website. Learned a cool tip today, shared
by a crazy Swede. Good stuff!

 

[Schurkey]

Whenever a bolted connection refuses to stay tight, and when a guy has tried everything else, putting a solid spacer over the bolt seem to work very well.

Any fastener acts somewhat like a spring. Increasing the spring lenght will allow the fastener to suck up more movement in the joint without loosing too much of its clamping force and will stay tight.

Thanks for that.

 

[Road Trip]

Now. about the clusterfornication beeing FORD BigBlock offerings... Thats way Off Topic so not going into that, other than too say, the BOSS "9" is my favorite example of the above...

As a matter of fact during my teen years there was a lot of ink
spilled about the Boss 429, so as an excitable motorhead wanna-be
every month I'd go down to the library and read up about the latest
& greatest about this motor. Always wanted one, but it was simply not to be.

For what it's worth as a teenager I *did* work on several friend's
conventional canted-valve 429/460s, and they all delivered
on the promise. And the one that ran the best of all? It was
brought to me because the factory installed Autolite/Quadrajet had
turned into a Quadrabog. (And the nitrofill float had saturated
with gas, so it was also dribbling fuel down the primary venturis
at idle...so the thing simply ran bad no matter what you tried to do.

Anyway, once I rebuilt the Q-Jet, dialed in the secondary spring, and
troubleshot/replaced the failed vacuum damper on the passenger
side, that thing was a hoot! It turned MPG upside down &
backwards into pure GPM. (Grins Per Mile)

Today? If I got hurt in a car, I'd call William Mattar (444-4444)
take my settlement, and give it to Mr. Kaase so that he could
build me a 600ci Boss 9 overachiever.

Just look at his Boss 9 cylinder heads with the modern
combustion chambers -- I openly weep when I gaze at their 'form
follows function' layout:

You must be registered for see images attach

Again, glad to make your acquaintance, and I'm glad that we have several things
to agree about. Cheers --

PS: I declare this posting to be relevant to the safety wire discussion, because
if I ended up with a full-house Kaase engine, I would festoon the thing with
safety wire, gratuitous or not. And in your honor, I'd also add some extra-length
fasteners for extra clamping force...and then safety wire those for good measure
with some special Swedish stainless steel wire. Hubba Hubba!

PPS: The Quadrajet angle helps to make this a a non-taboo entry in this forum.
(I mean, Ford had to purchase Q-Jets in order to get the 429CJ past emissions
and retain performance, I think this speaks volumes about the General's engineering
prowess. (!)

 

[Schurkey]

The Quadrajet angle helps to make this a a non-taboo entry in this forum.
(I mean, if Ford had to purchase Q-Jets in order to get the 429CJ past emissions
and retain performance, I think this speaks volumes about the General's engineering
prowess. (!)

...and Frigidaire/Harrison A/C compressors. I'm thinking Ford also bought some Saginaw steering gears, and Delco starter motors on certain engines...

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

...and Frigidaire/Harrison A/C compressors. I'm thinking Ford also bought some Saginaw steering gears, and Delco starter motors on certain engines...

Yes I do remember some of the big block Ford engines did have "Chevy style" solenoid mounted on starter units. I remember the Cobra Jet too; not old enough to be around them, but just knowing they had to use a GM carb was good enough to yank my Mustang loving buddies' chains.

 

[Road Trip]

...and Frigidaire/Harrison A/C compressors. I'm thinking Ford also bought some Saginaw steering gears, and Delco starter motors on certain engines...

Yes, yes, and yes.

In high school my 2nd car was a $350, 10 year old '66 Olds with a 'Ultra High Compression'
425ci engine, with a switch-pitch Turbo 400 behind it. Factory Olds diff w/posi.
This car is the reason why I originally bought Doug Roe's Rochester
Carburetors book.

The longer I owned the car, the more I was impressed by the robust
engineering. It taught me a lot, and I tinkered with it constantly in order
to get every single erg I could get out of it.

It never broke despite enthusiastic usage, and incredibly I had one of the
faster cars in high school. (NOTE: It was a low bar, since the newest
fastest cars at the time were low-compression '76-'77 Pontiac Trans Ams. :0)

So, yeah, I may admit to some F*rd in my background, but at the same time
I think that GM has put it's fair share of excellence out there for the common
man to enjoy.