broken bolts from exhaust to manifold

[jcool]

so today I got the tranny out of my s10 to replace. and well the exhaust was fused with the manifolds basicly I tried soaking with wd40 and heating it but still ended up breaking 3 of the 4 bolts hooking it to the manifold. should I just attempt to drill them out or pull the manifolds off and do it. or go all out and replace them with headers. before I even bother doing anything though I am going to make sure the tranny I am installing functions good and go from there.

 

[truckie481]

From a performance stand point I would say headers but from the economics side drill them if you can get at them in the truck if not pull the manifold and do it on the bench.

 

[FastCR]

I broke 2 of 3 on one side of my old GM pickup with a 350 in it. drilled them out and stuck a bolt through. simple fix.

 

[Sparky8370]

I've done this before myself. Your best option is to remove the manifold if it isn't already, then get some nuts. Put the nut over the broken stud and mig weld it to the stud. This not only gives you something to grip and back the stud out, it heats up the entire stud. It works awesome. When I did it, it was on an aluminum head and the studs were broken off below the surface.

 

[jcool]

From a performance stand point I would say headers but from the economics side drill them if you can get at them in the truck if not pull the manifold and do it on the bench.

wife told me no to the headers:nonod: its pretty rusted to the head, im kinda scared to try

I've done this before myself. Your best option is to remove the manifold if it isn't already, then get some nuts. Put the nut over the broken stud and mig weld it to the stud. This not only gives you something to grip and back the stud out, it heats up the entire stud. It works awesome. When I did it, it was on an aluminum head and the studs were broken off below the surface.

the stud is below the surface unfortunatly on both manifolds. i tried to drill and remove them on the passenger side with no luck. on that side the bolt will go all the way through so i just got a big ass drill bit and opened her up i will replace it with a nut and bolt. unfortunatly on the driver side that will not work as the bolt cant go through or get any drill i have to it. at a standstill now but did get rear main seal and rear cam cover gasket replaced as they both had slow leak.

 

[Pepperidge]

no opinions here other than you shouldn't have broke them in the first place Mr. Impatient:nono:


):h

 

[Sparky8370]

wife told me no to the headers:nonod: its pretty rusted to the head, im kinda scared to try



the stud is below the surface unfortunatly on both manifolds. i tried to drill and remove them on the passenger side with no luck. on that side the bolt will go all the way through so i just got a big ass drill bit and opened her up i will replace it with a nut and bolt. unfortunatly on the driver side that will not work as the bolt cant go through or get any drill i have to it. at a standstill now but did get rear main seal and rear cam cover gasket replaced as they both had slow leak.

It doesn't matter that they are below the surface, unless they are 1/2 inch below the surface.


On Edit: Are your heads steel or aluminum? When I did it to mine they were only about 3/16 below the surface. It did melt away a minor amount of alu, but not enough to effect the seal.

 

[jcool]

no opinions here other than you shouldn't have broke them in the first place Mr. Impatient:nono:


):h

:mad2:

It doesn't matter that they are below the surface, unless they are 1/2 inch below the surface.


On Edit: Are your heads steel or aluminum? When I did it to mine they were only about 3/16 below the surface. It did melt away a minor amount of alu, but not enough to effect the seal.

pretty certain they are iron. but the broke bolt is in the manifold pretty far from the head where the manifold connects to the mid pipe.

 

[Sparky8370]

Oh, I misunderstood. I thought you were saying that it was broken in the head, and when you were talking about putting a bolt in I thought you were going to re-tap the head.

 

[jcool]

Oh, I misunderstood. I thought you were saying that it was broken in the head, and when you were talking about putting a bolt in I thought you were going to re-tap the head.

no sir. you think that the welding a nut trick might work on the one i have remaining? i cant get a drill at it..... at least without removing it from the head. and it may as well be part of the head since its a big chunk of iron...
im just scared that ill end up with 4 more broken bolts by trying to pull the manifold from the head. i think tomorrow the wife and i are going to wire wheel the underside of the truck and rustoleum and undercoat it while i ponder over a solution. will be pretty easy without a tranny/transfer case and driveshafts installed. I can sit up underneath of the truck inside the tranny tunnel.

 

[Sparky8370]

The manifold is probably cast anyway, so I would guess that it would work for ya. The weld most likely won't penetrate the cast and only penetrate the broken bolt. Wait a little while before putting a wrench to it, but do it while it's still hot. And if it's coming hard, I'd try tapping on the manifold around the bolt with a hammer while trying to back out the bolt. Just don't tap too hard on cast.

 

[jcool]

The manifold is probably cast anyway, so I would guess that it would work for ya. The weld most likely won't penetrate the cast and only penetrate the broken bolt. Wait a little while before putting a wrench to it, but do it while it's still hot. And if it's coming hard, I'd try tapping on the manifold around the bolt with a hammer while trying to back out the bolt. Just don't tap too hard on cast.

im really tempted just to run open manifold little 2.8 would sound like a pissed off bumble bee. i will have to get a pic of it, not much room to work with. i have to do something though but i need to find someone with a welder too.