Chevy & GMC Vans

I know this should be mind numblingly easy, well except for the need for patience while working in those cramped spaces our engine has been jammed into, but I am stuck. I am 99% sure I have the mounting stuff removed for the coil bracket. There was one nut 10mm which is attached to a stud that also goes through another metal bracket, and a sort of odd bolt where the nut is attached part way down the bolt also 10mm. Both are out, but the bracket the coil it attached to does not move. Am I missing something, or is one of the two things I removed not the correct thing? I would like to get the job done as we are hoping to go camping tomorrow.
The nut/bolt:


Coil mount:

after looking at that pic for 30 minutes i remembered there is another nut there if you look under that steel dip stick bracket there will be the third nut holding down the coil bracket. It wasn't that long ago that i properly mounted mine so my memory should be correct if all else fails i can drive up there i'm sure i can rememeber at that point


HMB
Cobra

You are correct, there is a bolt under there, but he bracket it is attacked to is one that I can't move, which seems to wrap around and hold two cables that run through it. I tried to take a pic of it with little success, but will try again.

i just gently forced it up off the stud i can't remember if i had to loosen another bolt from under the hood but i think so i'll take a look before i leave work

Edit: i didn't see anything obvious from under the hood so i can't remember lol good luck

Yup, another bolt had to be undone, then I could gently put it aside. Got the coil out, dremeled the rivet and knocked it out, got the mounting bolts 25mm or 30mm M4 with lock washers and nuts. Mounted the coil to the bracket, got the one bolt back in. The one where the mount for the trans tube bracket is, is presenting a challenge for me. I'm hoping to get it in with a little fiddling, but it would really help to have an extra hand, especially a small one

Coil is in, and other than dropping a couple of screws into inaccessible locations, everything looks good. Now to do the wires while the engine oil drains.

How many barley pops were consumed during this arduous undertaking? Were any new words created? How blue was the air in the engine compartment?

I think the GM engineers had it in for the astros and safaris. The coil on my '89 has two bolts that, believe it or not, you can get to with a socket and a straight extension. Obviously, that was not difficult enough. By all appearances, by '97 the crack team of gm designers had rectified that situation.
When faced with a tight situation always remember the two acronyms I live by. BTF and PTM ( beat to fit, paint to match)

No barley pops, although maybe some once I get the wires done. Language was barely under control, and throwing things was tempting. Now I am struggling with the wires. The first one (rear most on the passenger side) when I pulled the boot, it broke apart. Took a while to get that one out. The rest were easy. I think I need a 2" body lift.

get a packet of dielectric grease and add it to the wire boots. Most I buy these days have it already, but it'll keep the boots from welding themselves to the plugs and terminals.

edit ( or is it spelled idiot?) I almost can't work on my van without a bit o' the barley, the blue smoke gets too thick.....

kings-x59 wrote:get a packet of dielectric grease and add it to the wire boots. Most I buy these days have it already, but it'll keep the boots from welding themselves to the plugs and terminals.

edit ( or is it spelled idiot?) I almost can't work on my van without a bit o' the barley, the blue smoke gets too thick.....

I already have a big tube of it from when I did the last tune-up. It helps a lot, other than the one plug when the boot fell apart, everything else came off as expected.

now I know you've got the addiction

Been addicted for a long time. I was shocked when I was away and my DW too her mazda in because it was running really badly. All it needed was cap, rotor, plugs, wires, and two belts . . . almost $500 later it runs well enough, but I could have done all that myself for much less. Oh well, if I'm not here, what else can she do, but never again.