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

[1990Z71Swede]

Reflecting upon this previous post, I may have inadvertently breached
the unspoken bowtie protocol by sharing a SOHC 427 F**d photo
on the GMT400 website?

Problem is, photos of a BBC at full chat on a dyno w/glowing headers seem
to be as scarce as hen's teeth on the internet?

****

Well, I decided that I should attempt to make amends with my new friends,
so I scoured the internet, and finally came up with a twin-turbo 632ci BBC
that purportedly makes in the neighborhood of 2500hp.

The good news is that the headers on this engine have both a good glow on
+ the area adjacent to the cylinder heads are *not* glowing. It seems that
the laws of thermodynamics transcends which brand the powerplant is:

Twin turbo Big Block Chevy on dyno making a purported 2500hp

You must be registered for see images attach

This now adds a 3rd data point to the theory that keeping the header flange secured to the cylinder
head creates a heat sink to the water jacket allowing the header gaskets to remain cool & leak free.

NOTE: Back when I was being dogged by blown header gaskets they hadn't yet put the copper jobs
on the market. Today, a set of soft copper gaskets backed up by safety-wired header bolts would be my
personal recommendation. (That along with the thickest header flanges I could find.)

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.

 

[GoToGuy]

Has anybody tried the carbon fiber exhaust flange gaskets, with a good flat and trued header flange, or manifolds?
Many years in the Military Aviation, general maintenance, and years in engine build shop. So when I went to work in General Aviation, I still had the same Safety wire pliers. They one of 4 pairs now. The handles are smooth years of twist.
What you don't see in the bolt heads wired in series is through holes from each head flat . There are 6 holes through. Even easier for starting point.
The first week I was working " oh you use a safety wire pliers ?". Yeah, would you rather I do by hand? " No as long as it's good" After you've worked with people for a while you tell who wired what hardware, everyone has a " tell " .
T. O. 's, Technical Orders military or ex military aircraft. And military equipment.
Manufacturer Maintenance manuals, B-777, B-747- 400 series. Cessna 337
And then the FAA rules guidance ,where a lot of repair info. Advisory Circular, A.C. 43-13 , you can get it free all the cool repair information. It's one of the references for unusual repairs. This was a repair evaluation a couple years ago. Not pretty.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[dave s]

Seeing all that safety wire brought back some memories! One story. I had just arrived at my first duty assignment in Torrejon, Spain. October 1975. 401st OMS. F4-C models. They assigned me a trainer, nice staff sergeant, Bill King. Second day Bill and I get to fixing some stuff on his aircraft. For the life of me I can't remember for sure anymore but I'm guessing it might have been a starter replacement.

Bill says reach in there and cut that safety wire and remove those bolts. Well only thing you could do was get one arm in and if you twisted your head just so you could barely get an eyeball on any of it. I monkeyed around with that for an hour I bet. Finally got it all apart and dropped the part out. Bill popped the new one in and had it tightened up in minutes. Lol. Then he says do the safety wire.

Again, I monkeyed around one handed in there for half the afternoon. Finally close to quitting time Bill comes over, big ol smile on his face and asks if I need some help. I swear to you, he reaches in there one handed, pulls the wire, goes back in with his satfety wire pliers and in minutes he's all done. I grabbed my flashlight and shined up in there and it was a masterpiece! Perfect in every way. I was only 17 years old and eventually mastered the art of one handed safety wiring but I always think of Bill when I see any done anywhere. Anyways, that's my story.

 

[Erik the Awful]

Good safety wiring is an art. Turbine engines require safety wire, and I got plenty of practice on air start carts.

For the Blackbird?

Blackbirds didn't use air start carts. They used AG330s. If you want a fantastic rabbit-hole, google it. The AG330s are the reason 425 Nailheads are so rare. I worked mostly around KC-135s.

Also, veterans, even though some clueless people are posting the TOs on public-facing websites, they're still FOUO and we shouldn't be posting links to them.

 

[Road Trip]

Blackbirds didn't use air start carts. They used AG330s. If you want a fantastic rabbit-hole, google it. The AG330s are the reason 425 Nailheads are so rare. I worked mostly around KC-135s.

The flightline possessed some of the sweetest max-effort mechanical songs
heard anywhere on the planet. Our AGE (Aerospace Ground Equipment)
guys & gals took real pride in giving us equipment that worked reliably despite the
fact that it seemed that the equipment had to be run right into the stops in order
to deliver what we needed. (Thinking of the Detroit Diesel wailing away inside
the hydraulic mule that gave us the 3,000 psi hydraulic fluid needed to ops check the
F-16's flight controls on the ground.)

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NOTE: If I did this once, I did this a thousand times. The sound of that video
still brings back a flood of memories. But being perfectly candid, even with the
mandated double-hearing protection (ear plugs + muffs) this would eventually
wear you down a bit during extended troubleshooting sessions. :0)

...But this doesn't hold a candle to what it must have been like to listen to the
AG330s on the SR-71 flightline. Here's a nice rabbit-hole entry point for those
who are interested.

Sincere tip of the hat to anyone/everyone who contributed to the overall success
of the SR-71. It's humbling to see how much they accomplished with the
relatively primitive technology of the era. (!)

 

[Road Trip]

Also, veterans, even though some clueless people are posting the TOs on public-facing websites, they're still FOUO and we shouldn't be posting links to them.

Copy that. My understanding was once I left the flightline for the last time
that I was to never divulge the Capability of the my unit, aircraft, or systems
I was responsible for. This is a statement that I had to put my signature to
during my outprocessing, and I have always honored this for obvious reasons.

Given the above, I thought that sharing a little insight into the land of safety wiring
(to the civilian taxpayers who paid for all this) would be on the right side
of the expectations my commander set during our outbrief.

Then again, I'd much rather err on the side of caution with all things
security-related, so I have edited my previous posts & removed both
the link(s) as well as cropped out the internet address showing on the
screen snap, leaving behind only what is relevant to the discussion
itself.

And for what it's worth, the way you handled this is appreciated. Will
be a bit more careful in the future, thanks for being a good wingman!

I can tell we are definitely on the same side of the ongoing controversy
that surrounds us about keeping secret stuff secret. :0)

 

[Road Trip]

Has anybody tried the carbon fiber exhaust flange gaskets, with a good flat and trued header flange, or manifolds?

Interesting question. Wondering what the heat range for carbon fiber is, I just learned
that there is regular carbon fiber, and then there's the high-temp stuff:

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With my luck, the seller would claim it's the good stuff...but then,
working in a cloud of blissful ignorance, would drop ship me the
carbon fiber that's only good looking yet thermally wimpy. :-(

On the other hand, copper is low-tech & a good conductor of heat.
This, along with a truly flat yet thick flange would seem to be
a thermally robust, long lasting solution.

After you've worked with people for a while you tell who wired what hardware, everyone has a " tell " .

Well stated. My great Uncle Hank was a senior in high school
when Pearl Harbor was attacked. He volunteered to join the Navy
instead of waiting to be drafted by the Army. (He claimed his
motivation to do so was because the Navy was supposed to
have better chow. :0)

He ended up being an aircraft mechanic stationed on an aircraft
carrier out in the Pacific. Fast forward to the late '60s, and as
a youngster I remember watching him be able to fix just about
anything. If asked to take a look at something, he would always
agree with a twinkle in his eye. He never got flustered, always
seemed to enjoy the thrill of the troubleshooting hunt.
Watching him from a respectful distance, I always had him on a
pedestal about yay high.

One day I showed him something that I had done -- maybe fixing
the derailleur on my bike? He took a close look at it, and then said,
"Good. Always remember that your Work is your Signature."

This simple statement rang my 10 year old bell. I can still
clearly hear him saying this with his slight Ozark twang.

So, yeah, when I was taught how to do safety wire (almost
note for note what 'dave s' just described) I always tried to
make my great uncle Hank proud. And like GoToGuy said,
you really could tell who safety-wired what -- just like
handwriting, it's always similar yet unique to the individual.

Good stuff!

 

[Spareparts]

I safety wire 90% by hand. Pliers are to much like cheating.

 

[454cid]

Blackbirds didn't use air start carts. They used AG330s. If you want a fantastic rabbit-hole, google it. The AG330s are the reason 425 Nailheads are so rare. I worked mostly around KC-135s.

Oh, I've always heard the the Buicks were only powered by Buick V8s in the early days and later they were BBCs before going to air.

If I recall the KC-135 was a tanker... I think I had a poster of it in my bedroom as a kid.

 

[454cid]

Man, I just think that hydraulic tester sounds annoying. I couln't turn my volume down enough. Must be the pumps, as I loved the sound of the 6v53 I owned (for a few weeks) in a truck.... I'd love to have one again.