A cutoff wheel and "V" shaped cuts beside the head just close to being thru the plate.
A chisel in the cut will crack the plate.
Knock the piece out from under the head,
Remove the plate.

On the weld/nut deal.... Not enough heat.
Have to use care to start the weld puddle on the bolt and not on the nut.

 

Heat, i have an oxy torch, i just don't know how to use it. its got full tanks, i just don't know how to safely and properly balance the oxygen and acetylene, adjust the flame and heat, and how to shut it off. I've heard about all over the place that acetylene is nothing to play with. That and i've never got around to having a purpose to use the torch so why would i waste the acetylene doing so?

Ive watched videos on how to use it, everybody contradicts each other on what to do, what valve to shut off first, etc. So i just put it off to the side.

 

The heat I'm referring to is the welder setting.

 

If you're gonna try the welding-a-nut method, might wanna just go grab a MIG at the rental yard. Renders the temp discussion moot.

 

I know, I already did the welding trick. I’m just saying I have a oxy acetylene torch. I’m gonna attempt the drill method soon.

 

This...gotta' get the puddle started on the screw first...

 

Grinder had some really good pics of how it should look with good heat.


These are broken exhaust bolts but the idea is the same...

 

Personally, I'd avoid cutting into that plate!! If you make a mistake judging how deep you are, youll be cutting an oil trench into the block!!! With my luck, I'd be scared to try it.....

 

Not really many options ATP. im going to continue using the screw extractor with the LHBs. havent been able to get to working on this damned thrust plate recently.

 

Screw the plate! It's being replaced anyway so drill the heads of the bolts off and remove the cover. After that you'll be able to weld nuts to what's left of the bolts and wrench them out.

 

@66OldsLS How did you make out with those damn retainer plate screws? FWIW, I followed the advice from the forum on the Mahle cam retainer plate. They are the original style with regular hex head cap screws. It fits fine, and I have no interference with the timing gear. I suspect GM went to the flat head design to clear some of the DOD timing gears, and just went with it for all the LS engines, DOD or not......

 

I haven’t been able to get to the screws recently. I’m going to use the Dremel and cut the heads off this weekend.

 

somebody had better start praying for the **** who smoked crack before their meeting at GM in 97 for LS motors and got the idea of screws over bolts. This is getting beyond ridiculous. I’ve taken the dremel with a carbide bit and a drill to it. Not budging yet

 

Im gonna be honest with you I’m about this close to pulling this whole motor apart, pulling the cam out the back of the block and sending it to the machine shop. I’ve completely butchered this plate and screws with no avail, I’ve got shavings everywhere in this motor. I’ve used heat, welding, penetrating oil, LHBs and screw extraction kits, dremel with carbide and diamond cutting discs.

 

Man, I'm sorry to hear this. I still think a good welder would've gotten them. He did mine. Yeah, it was $200. But at my not-so-young age, it was worth it to me....

 

I was skeptical about drilling the screw heads. Because there's damn little bolt length left sticking out on a flat head screw once the heads are gone. My welder used the biggest nuts he could still weld on the screw heads. He did this, according to him, because he wanted all the leverage he could get when twisting the nuts. With nothing but a small, short thread to weld to, the leverage will be considerably less.......

 

I gotta be honest with you I’m far past any possibility of welding.

ive just started making stress cracks under the plate and going from there. I’ve beat the hell out of the cam journal under the plate that I’ll have to sand out from attempting any kind of progress.

 

finally got the plate off and the screws out after breaking it into 8 pieces. But I’m afraid I’ve majorly F8&ked up. Wedging the screw driver as carefully as I could I somehow still managed to scratch the seal surface on the retaining plate.



Am I SOL and out of a good oil pressure maintaning block or what do I do?

 

Are both pics of the same block?? The top pic doesn't look nearly as bad as the bottom one. At this point, IDK what to tell you. The block in the bottom pic has a pretty deep ditch in it, and sure doesn't look good! Where are the threaded holes for the retainer bolts?? With the retaining plate removed, and the timing chain off, be careful about accidentally pushing or bumping the cam towards the back of the block. It can be pushed far enough to fall off the bearing diameters, and that wouldn't be good at all!!!

 

yes they are of the same block, the bottom one was before I cleaned it up. The rocker arms and lifters are all properly installed. So there’s no way of me getting any movement in the cam.