water inlet elbow

[garyh127]

OK, I can’t be the first person with this issue. I’m trying to replace the water inlet elbow, C6AZ-18599, on the intake manifold of a '68 302. I got a new one from NPD, looked the same as the original. both the original and the replacement seemed to be an odd size, i.e. too big for a 5/8 wrench, to small for a 11/16 wrench, 17mm is close, but still a little big. Oh, and to make things even more frustrating, the material the part is made from is pretty soft, so any slip and it rounds the corners!

long story short, I got the old one out, put in the new one, got it lined up where it should be, and of course it leaked. destroyed the new part trying to get it out to reseal it.

is there some trick/special tool to put this thing in? I don’t want to destroy another new part trying to put it in. any reason I can’t just go to Lowe’s and get a 3/8 npt x 5/8 barb fitting to replace this with? only difference I could see is the Lowe’s fitting wouldn’t have the little pipe going into the water passage.

[cougarrand]

Cressant wrench.

[gah]

21/32 " wrenches are available, as are some types of deep sockets. The trick is to find one, or where to order one.
I saw this on amazon.com : https://www.amazon.com/21-32-IN-Socket-Wrench/dp/B000CCZ060
and this at Home Depot ( ! ) : https://www.homedepot.com/p/Armour-Line-21-32-in-and-27-32-in-Shower-Valve-Socket-for-Removing-Tub-and-Shower-Stems-RP77311/306699595
and an actual wrench : https://www.naminicw.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=361393
But all of these might not be able to provide a secure ‘grip’ around the part of the elbow where the facets are.
This might actually do the trick, as it is an actual open end wrench listed as 21/32" ( 17 mm ) : https://www.fastenal.com/products/details/0265629[url] you might have to check with Fastenal, as this shows that they are ( unfortunately ) for sale in wholesale case lot of 96.
And this from : [url]https://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/antique-machinery-and-history/weird-socket-wrench-sizes-322658/index2.html "When I was a kid in the 70’s many old craftsman wrench sets that the old-timers had were well stocked with what was by then considered odd 32nd size open end wrenches. "

[garyh127]

I actually filed out a 5/8 open end to fit, still wanted to round the corners. I wound up getting pissed off and using a pipe wrench to get the damn thing out! By that point it was already so damaged it didn’t matter.

any thoughts on putting a off the shelf brass fitting in there?

[gah]

21/32 " wrenches are available, as are some types of deep sockets. The trick is to find one, or where to order one.
I saw this on amazon.com : https://www.amazon.com/21-32-IN-Socket-Wrench/dp/B000CCZ060
and this at Home Depot ( ! ) : https://www.homedepot.com/p/Armour-Line-21-32-in-and-27-32-in-Shower-Valve-Socket-for-Removing-Tub-and-Shower-Stems-RP77311/306699595
and a valve wrench : https://www.naminicw.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=361393w
But all of these might not be able to provide a secure ‘grip’ around the part of the elbow where the facets are.
This might actually do the trick, as it is an actual open end wrench listed as 21/32" ( 17 mm ) : [url][https://www.fastenal.com/products/details/0265629[url](https://www.fastenal.com/products/details/0265629[url)] you might have to check with Fastenal, as this shows that they are ( unfortunately ) for sale in wholesale case lot of 96.
Good Luck - hopefully other members will give you some hints as to how they creatively solved this problem with a ‘workaround’
"When I was a kid in the 70’s many old craftsman wrench sets that the old-timers had were well stocked with what was by then considered odd 32nd size open end wrenches. "

[badcatt]

Lowe’s and get a 3/8 npt x 5/8 barb fitting to replace this with? only difference I could see is the Lowe’s fitting wouldn’t have the little pipe going into the water passage.

I had a 289 in a pick up I use to have that somebody used pipe fittings in, it worked OK, just looked ugly. But there must have been a reason Ford engineering put that down pipe on the fitting.

[LSR_Mike]

21/32 " wrenches are available, as are some types of deep sockets. The trick is to find one, or where to order one.
"When I was a kid in the 70’s many old craftsman wrench sets that the old-timers had were well stocked with what was by then considered odd 32nd size open end wrenches. "

Kinda like the 7/32" speed nuts thru out the car, and Yeah, my made in the USA Craftsman Toolset has the X/32" stuff.

[garyh127]

just to close this out and put a solution on here for the next person to deal with the problem.

I ordered a new water neck off of Amazon (free shipping vs 11.95 from NPD). The first one that I got from NPD was from Daniel Carpenter Mustang and was zinc plated, this one from Amazon was from Scott Drake and was the cad plated version. probably both made in the same plant in China, but the cad plated version seemed harder than the zinc, but I have no way of knowing if it really was.

To install it I used a 17mm 6 point socket that I ground out on one side to fit around the pipe neck. This worked really well and gave me 4 pressure points on the fitting vs 2 pressure points using a open end wrench. Bonus was that I didn’t have to pull a bunch of stuff off the top of the engine to get swing room for the wrench!

anyway, hope this helps someone with their project!

[gah]

Very clever and professional looking solution. I’m all in favor of grinding away at the Metric sockets - don’t ever do that to a good SAE socket !