RJD2

Thanks for all this valuable info, folks! I appreciate it. For the record, the car in question is a 1976 Lamborghini Espada. It's not a huge displacement engine-4L-but maybe due to the layout, the oil temp takes probably 6-8 minutes of idling to even move from it's resting position. Common knowledge with this car is to let it idle til the oil temp gauge moves. I'm looking for an alternative to doing that, cause it's a drag and stinks up the whole area. The oil pan is ribbed aluminum, so I may need to fashion a spring system or something for the magnetic oil pan heater thing to work. The radiator coolant heaters are interesting as well. Thanks!

I have several classic cars, and in general, I try to let each car warm up before putting it in gear(I'm less diligent on a mid-80's F.I. car than I am on 60's/70's carb cars). One of these cars takes a long time for the oil gauge to move at all. I'd love to find a way to heat the oil previous to driving the car. I see 3 types of heaters exist on the market: -dipstick style heater(seems the riskiest) -pad-style heaters that are sealed to the oil pan with silicone(car in question has a ribbed oil pan) -magnetic oil pan heaters the last of these three seems ideal. I would love to be able to plug in a heater an hour or two before I drive the car and shorten the driveway run time. Almost all of the reviews for these products seem to be centered around tractors. How safe are these to use on a 45 year old V12 car engine? Thanks for the tips!

awesome info here, folks. for the record, i have not stripped any of the threads on my carbs. the question came about cause i don't have a torque spec for the banjo bolts, and i'm fighting a fuel leak at both the banjo bolts, and the 19mm flat faced brass screws. if you see these images, you'll see the washers are "OEM Weber", but don't look like the greatest fitment to me. I've got several sizes in hand from McMaster-Carr, and may end up just figuring it out through trial and error. I DO however have at least one intake manifold stud that needs to be helicoiled. Still kicking myself over this one. My local classic car tech will be doing the job, as he's got decades of experience on it. I didn't have a torque spec on it at the time I first did the rebuild, at least now I do.

Ok, at risk of asking an "adjacent question"-but definitely related to torque and stripping threads: Is there an elegant, low-risk means by which to test if a stud has been pulled on an intake manifold? My initial thought was to put a few copper washers on the stud, fasten a nut, and torque it to spec. In this instance, I do have an advantage, in that I have a reliable metric to go by: 22n M. Is there a better technique for this purpose?

I am a foolish man, but I am not foolish enough to think I can rebuild a carburetor. Luckily, I have a great local shop that rebuilds carbs/starters/alternators. I just grabbed a digital torque wrench that will go down to 2.2 ft lbs. I'll use it to test my wrenches against, and come in with precision when it's time for re-assembly. Thanks folks.

Thanks guys! Forgive my language; when I said "whatever", I was not disregarding the difference between inch lbs and ft. lbs; I meant "whatever", as in 10ft. lbs. or 120 inch lbs, either one. No conflation! Sorry if I spoke poorly. TTR: that's great info. Thanks. Since there really isn't much empirical data on the net around fuel lines, banjo bolts, and torque in this usage, me being able to gather several anecdotal pieces of info is very helpful! Ok, last question here: TTR is reading around 10ft. lbs. of torque on a secured, non-leaking, Weber banjo bolt. I seem to be seeing somewhere in the 8-15 ft. lbs. range. When I re-assemble, I will start around 8ft. lbs, and work my way up to 10-12 ft lbs. Where should I set my "cap" on a torque wrench, if I've got a leaking banjo bolt, and am attempting to rule out nut torque? 15 ft. lbs? Oh and yes, for the record, I have several ratcheting torque wrenches, one beam, multiple click type, both in inches and ft lbs., so I can dial this in to the inch. Thanks again folks!!!

I used a "bendable" torque wrench to measure; it is fundamentally imprecise. When coming off, I would guess it was around 7-10ft lbs, but again, that's just a guess. I don't have a digital torque wrench. I can guarantee I haven't stripped the threads yet, but yes, the drive for a number in ft. lbs(inch lbs, whatever) here is so I can avoid potential stripping. If I know my torque number is right, than I can rule out lack of torque as a cause of leak. thanks!

ok, so this is an inexact science, but by backing a few bolts out one "skip" in the wrench, and then backing it back in with a torque measuring wrench, it looks like i am somewhere in the range of 15-20 ft. lbs. on the bolts that don't leak. so, maybe i should start at 15 and work up to 20 if i need. i think i'm going to stick with fiber washers, and maybe hit them with a 200 grit sandpaper first, this seems to be a used technique. thanks for the help! getting this problem out of my head and exposed to air definitely helps. from experience, i'd much rather overthink this issue now, than have to helicoil a 50 year old carb.

shocklingly obvious, and good advice. to be safe, i may back one of them out just a TINY bit, and then apply torque while measuring. good idea!

Thanks you guys! Great info here. I'll find the measurements and get several sets from McMaster-Carr. And yes, TTR, if you don't mind measuring your torque on the 40 DCN's, that'd be very informative for me. I know that I am looking at a subjective matter with an incomplete set of data, but even a ballpark ft. lbs. reading would be helpful.

TTR-Thanks! I have considered both going to copper washers, as well as loctite 518. when you say "reasonable", give me a ballpark. that's really what i need; a top and a bottom. 5 ft lbs on the low end, 20 on the high end? i'm using 1/4" driver for socket, and a ratcheted box wrench, so i'm not cranking away at it with all my might, but i would love an idea of what's "geez no you'll strip it" on a 14mm brass banjo bolt for a carb, in terms of an actual ft.lb number....

thanks. when you say "pass that test", which test do you mean? i don't have a baseline torque here-the WSM is in italian, and also doesnt provide torque for all the upper engine bolts. as best i can tell, the ones that weren't leaking seemed to be somewhere in the 8-15 ft/lb range, but i was doing them all by feel, so i'm not entirely sure. nylon washers may be available, but i do know the fiber washers are what are supplied from Weber with the full rebuild kit; these washers are effectively brand new, but i have had to take the carbs out a few times, so i could always go in with a new clean set. on a quadrajet, do you have any idea of how much torque is too much? i know this is non-scientific, but i feel like if i could get a baseline idea of "that's waaaay too much torque" in several different applications, that'd be great, so i can make sure i'm staying out the danger zone, so to speak.

Hi folks, I am hoping some of you will chime in with your experiences that may illuminate an issue I'm having. The car in question is a 1976 Espada, so 6x Weber 40 DCOE carbs that are newly rebuilt, 4-6PSI fuel pressure, and a modern fuel pressure regulator with gauge. As of the fall of 2020, I had a fuel system that did not leak. I went to crank the engine yesterday, and after inspecting, 2-3 of the fiber washers were leaking fuel where the fuel supply line meets the carb inlet. Now I know the obvious answer to "what should I do?" is to torque the fittings/bolts down until they don't leak, which I plan on doing, but I wanted to get an idea of how much torque is too much torque, when it comes to brass fittings, fiber washers, fuel lines and carburetors. I pulled a head stud last year, and now I'm all paranoid about overtorque-ing things, but I also don't want a leaky fuel system, engine fires, and all that jazz. So do any of you have any "parameters" here? Is ____ft/lbs too much torque? Thanks for any advice.

Thanks!!! Wow, that's amazing work he did. I'll see if he is kind enough to share that info.

Hi all, I am in the process of restoring a 1976 Lamborghini Espada. I have had a hard time finding a model-specific online forum around these cars that is even remotely populated, so, while unlikely, I am going to give this a shot here! Thanks for entertaining me on this one.... I have what I believe to be a bad window regulator in one door. I am attempting to disassemble the door interior; I've got the trim off, and the door card has a bit of play to it at the edges. This car has an armrest, and a door lever, at the center of the door. I have the only screws that are accessible removed. The armrest is not coming off easily. My best guess is that the armrest may be glued to the door card, which is trimmed in very nice leather. I've never seen mechanical + glue construction before on a door interior. Because the card is in such good condition, I am progressing gingerly(not forcing it, I've ripped door card vinyl before!). I am having a hard time finding anyone who's ever disassembled one of these doors. So, in your best guess, do you think it's possible they would have glued the armrest to the door card? Is there a non-invasive technique to progress here? Thanks for the tips!

Thanks. It's a '72 Citroen SM, Maserati V6 engine.

Hi all, I wanted to ask you folks a question. I've got experience with old/classic cars, but I recently came across a car that has not been ran in about 35 years, according to the previous owner. (I was told it "ran when parked, but spit out blue smoke everywhere"). I've never been down this route before. I will be turning the car over to a mechanic to see if it can be made roadworthy in it's current state, but for my own knowledge, I wanted to see what you think is the best plan of INITIAL action. I would assume the best thing to do would be to flush all fluids and gasoline, replace oil and coolant, and first see if I get leaks. Then see if the motor turns by hand. And if so, maybe try to crank it? I have also heard of people taking the head off and soaking the combustion chambers in clean oil, and letting it soak for a week or two, and then reassembling and cranking. Let me know your thoughts as to what's the best approach in this situation. Thanks!

SUCCESS! the tab on the new 00 gauge cable is huge; it was just barely bridging the pins on the starter relay. backed it off a bit, and she acted just as she should. THANKS FOLKS!!!!

update: so I got my new 00 gauge cables, and harnesses in today. I knocked them up, and immediately saw a behavior I've never seen before in a car. With positive and ground cables connected, the engine immediately starts to crank-but the key isn't in the ignition, and the ignition is in the "off" position. This wasn't a lark; i repeatedly touched ground cable to ground battery terminal, and it repeatedly did the same thing. I'm thoroughly confused. Can someone enlighten me? Thanks for the help!

Mike-sweet! I actually considered soldering the ends, after I have the clamps in place mechanically securely. I'll probably do that once I have them knocked up.

thanks. i just ordered them. i'm on it. oh, and i got the car to fire last night! i do think amperage is an issue, and possibly alternator. the car doesn't seem to charge a battery as i'd expect, but i'll test further once i have proper 00 cables in place. thanks everybody!!!

progress! I found ONE of my problems. the quick disconnect on the ground terminal of the battery was not functioning fully; i was seeing voltage across the downstream side of the ground cable and the +6V terminal of the starter relay, but the crimp end of the ground cable wasn't very secure. after cranking the engine, the cable felt hot to the touch. (also, it's a 4 gauge wire-should I go higher?). i removed the quick disconnect harness on the ground wire, and bolted it down to the ground terminal. but i'm still not seeing what i think i should. with the battery charged, i only got about 30 seconds of cranking before the battery lost amperage to crank. it never fired. my console gauges now hold steady with the key at the "on" position, but the headlamps don't shine 100%. i threw the battery back on the trickle charger after securing and cleaning all my connections, so i'll investigate further after i give it a good 12 hours to charge. thanks all! i appreciate the help!!!

Amp, oil, and temp gauges don't budge at all upon turning the key to the on position. The Fuel gauge would consistently engage to about 1/4 tank, and then immediately discharge. I did this probably 6-8 times in a row. FYI, I found a site that sells OEM and 6V parts for this car; I ordered a new ignition coil and some other possible ignition and electrical parts "culprits", so I can start swapping things out in a week or so, if need be. Thanks for the help, all! Would love to keep the ol' girl running!!!