So I'm finally installing cups (with Clay's cup tool) and following Riffraff's instructions (almost) to the letter...I set my torque wrench for 30 ft-lbs (5 ft-lbs shy of the recommended 35 ft-lbs). I started with cylinder #2 to practice then moved onto #4, #6, and #8. Things were actually going well and smoother than planned. Feeling confident I tackle #7 next while I still have patience. As the cup reaches the seat (I hope)...BANG! The bolt in the upper hole snaps before my torque wrench clicks. Wanting to finish since I opened the bottle of 620 I did the remaining 3 cylinders before lamenting on this new problem. On the last one (#1) same thing and the same hole (upper). Thank goodness Clay puts 4 bolts in his kit so I could get all the cups in but now I'm...in a pickle (family forum) with two broken bolts in the head and, of course, one of them is in the worst place (the dreaded #7 cylinder).

Upon visual inspection the cups look seated in #1 and #7 when compared to the other cylinders.

I'm going to try reverse drill bits to get them out. Has anyone conquered this mountain and lived to tell about it without removing the head? Any best practices/backyard tricks to share? I only have so many attempts before it's game over and I'm totally...pickled (again, family forum)!

 

I see by the views without replies that this is a conundrum for many.

As luck would have it the bolts were only finger tight and not bottomed out so I was able to back them out and remove them using a small screwdriver, pliers, and a straight pick tool. Took me about 30 tedious minutes to dig them both out. That does not include the 2 heartsick hours of frustration, pain, and agony that I went through before discovering the remedy.

 

This must be a hush-hush issue here. Excellent job!

 

I'm so glad that this worked out for you the way it did, Brian. You've had one issue after another here lately, and it's about time something went positive for you!!

 

Brian, you are one lucky man!

Tell me, the bolts that snapped, are they the same ones that are used to torque the injectors down when they are installed?

I ask, because it might be to my advantage to order a new set when I go to install my injectors, whenever that may be.

 

I have several different ways of dealing with these things depending on how bad it is but I expected that someone with experience on this exact thing would come along. Glad it went as well as it did under the circumstances.

 

Thanks. I have never had such a swing from top to bottom and back again so quickly. I was feeling pretty good about my progress and was going to finish earlier than what I told my wife...then this happened. Visions of pulling the engine danced in my head and I just wanted to jump off a cliff. The bolt in #1 was broken off at a 45 degree angle so I used a pick tool to try and make a starting point for a reverse drill bit. When I pushed on the bolt to start making an indent I noticed that it moved slightly. It took about 10 minutes but I backed it out. The one in #7 was more flat so took various tools to actually get it to start turning and took about 20 minutes to do. I think I held my breath the whole time.

No they are not. There are four longer bolts to use that are in the kit. Some of them fit better than others so I test fitted the bolts in each cylinder to see which ones were the smoothest. There was one that had a rough spot on each revolution so I didn't use that one at all since the second bolt didn't break until the last cup. The tools were amazing as advertised. I don't know how people did this effectively before.

The bolts were M6 hex head bolts and are 2" long. Here's what is written around the head: H-K 129 USA M6 B480.

I wouldn't hesitate to use Clay's tool again...that thing is awesome! I don't know how unique these bolts are but, if I were to do it again, I would get my own bolts since I don't know how many cycles the one's in the kit have been through.

 

Makes sense now. The bolts that broke were part of the kit and you were the lucky one to break 2 of them.

 

The collar on the tools is much thicker than the injector hold down plate so he includes longer bolts to hold the tools.

 

How is Clay's injector cup removal design? Can you post a picture of it?

 

Ask and ye shall receive...

His current tool design is excellent on both fronts (removal and installation). Picture below.

The one on the left is the removal tool. Spin the top bolt until you get a good bite into the cup (most of mine were about 1/2-3/4 turn once it started to engage). Use a deep socket and ratchet (bottom nut) and remove the cup. When it's out I put the tip of the cup in a vice and used a 1" open end wrench on the threaded removal nut to get the tool off.

The one on the right is the installation tool. The bottom machined part fits the cup perfectly and the o-ring provides the perfect amount of pressure to hold the cup on the die. The bolt goes into a coupler/bearing so that when the cup makes contact with the head, the bolt rotates and inserts the cup but the cup and die do not rotate.

The one I have was obviously well used by its condition and the bolt issue I ran into. The units themselves are very solid and the threads in the removal tool were still fresh enough to grab the cups and remove them. I had a couple of times where the tool popped out as I was trying to engage the minimum amount of threads for removal so that it came out easier. I dropped a penny into each cup before removing it so there was no problem with debris/shavings.

There are some other nuances I developed through this whole process and I'll share those when I post a write-up of my 8 weeks (and counting) injector escapade. It won't be anything earth-shattering but I will share my experience and some of the little things that help me through it. Hopefully it helps someone. I'll get that started soon. I'd like to get the injectors in first since those holes have been empty for over a month.

 

On mine, the installation tool you have to hammer the injector cup it into place, works really good but seeing Clays tool makes you appreciate that they design it with tight space in mind, trying to hammer on cyl 8/7 is a bit more challenging but doable.

 

Wow, you were very fortunate those broken bolts backed out of the holes. That tells me the bolts were compromised and should have been replaced. Is that a rented cup installation kit or one you borrowed?

 

Rented. Clay (Riffraff Diesel) doesn't have any for sale right now, only rental kits.

 

Good to know. That explains the bolt failure. Probably been stretched a few times.