I have an NOS original set of plug wires, which have the dark brown phenolic type
of protective sleeve which holds the wire bundle together and sits atop the cylinder head
To attach this sleeve requires temporarily unbolting two chrome cylinder head cap nuts. I’m hesitant
about disturbing these nuts, since they require careful torquing in a certain pattern in order
not to distort the cylinder head interface.
Question: Would it be OK to remove/reinstall the cap nuts one by one? Would this
disturb the cylinder head/gasket connection?
Are you guys talking about the big acorn nuts in the valley that secure the head to the engine studs ? Especially on decades old “long stud” engines I thought I had heard stories about breaking studs after disturbing and re-torque-ing. The wire conduit was missing on my car when I bought it so when I replaced it several years ago I simply drilled the rivets out of the conduit attaching brackets and removed them. Since I was pretty sure my engine had never been out of the car in 40+ years I did not want to tempt fate for something trivial. The conduit still sits quite securely in the valley on my cylinder head especially once all the wires are on the spark plugs. To each his own though and maybe I was just overly cautious.
How important is this to you? I ask, as I see that you have a 1969 Series 2 which, if the original engine is fitted, has the “long stud” block. The 10 middle cylinder head studs pass through the water jacket in the block and go all the way down to the area of the main bearings. If the coolant has not been regularly maintained with anti-corrosion coolant, the lower end of these studs can become very corroded. An attempt to remove the nut may result in the stud failing near the bottom which requires major surgery (engine out) to rectify. At least one member here has had this happen when removing an isolated nut with no plans to remove the head. I would like to add the spark plug sleeve to my Series 2, but have chosen not to do so for this reason. The risk/reward equation just didn’t work for me. Your choice…
Thank you Mr. D. I think I’ll follow your advice. Removing & Retorquing the big acorn nuts may just bring on
some unintended consequences. Snapping an engine stud during retorque is a risk I don’t like.
I’m thinking of drilling the rivets out, like you say. If the conduit sleeve moves
around, I might fabricate a little clamp bracket that will grip the acorn nuts.
Is there less danger for a short stud XK block? Mine is a 67 Series 1 which was rebuilt in the 90’s and not installed until 2007-2009, and has seen only 1,100 miles since with 3 coolant changes from 2012-2021.
David, many, many thanks. This looks super clean. I’ll try to duplicate.
Sure makes it easier pulling & installing the plugs. Less clutter in the “valley”.
