Certain models of Chevrolet vehicles have a stupid little nozzle screwed into the back of the intake manifold. The water pump pumps water through the coolant openings in the block and header, out the manifold through this nozzle and thence through the heater core. This nozzle is one of the dumber ideas Chevy has ever given birth to; and trust me, they've spawned some doozies. These heater hose outlets are bad for corroding and leaking. Corrosion locks the threads in place, and as the process continues the probability of twisting off the nozzle and leaving the threaded end behind in the manifold approaches unity. Needless to say, I was not surprised when exactly this occurence happened. I came prepared with all the necessary replacement parts, and an abundant supply of appropriate language and words.
However, that still left me with the old cruddy threaded end of the nozzle stuck in my manifold. Tap an easy-out in there, grab the easy-out with a 5/8 in. socket wrench, and go to town with a cheater bar; should be easy, right? Should be... but isn't, if in the process you crack the nozzle socket wall and break off a significant chunk of your intake manifold.
What began as a fairly routine maintenance procedure has now left me with my intake manifold removed and sitting on the workbench pending some rather tricky work. My cousin claims he might be able to weld the piece back on; weld it solid, tap it for threads, and screw an oversized nipple in there and it may work. If not, I'm looking at swapping all my crap over to a new manifold; either way, the clock is ticking. Being a sub-contractor, I need my truck. I need it the way a software engineer needs his computer or a Mafia thug needs his lead pipe. Monday looms ominously closer, bearing with it an enormous pre-holiday workload.
Needless to say, I got exactly nothing done today on Golem, on Accidental, on anything. And I won't get anything done tomorrow either. Monday's looking questionable.
Buh bye, now.
