Hi guys, got a question about a messed up exaust manifold Went to separate the exaust pipe from the manifold and found that the flange nearest the firewall on the exaust manifold is cracked off about half way through the bolt. Must have been like this for 40 years, someone had goobered it up with some sort of liquid metal that came off in my hand when I pushed on it with a screwdrive. Any ideas on if this is fixable If not, anyone know where to get a new manifold. (I looked in all of the websites and catalogs I know of and have only found split ones) Thanks!!!!!
216 or 235? I've got a couple of 216 manifolds that might work if that's what you've got. Otherwise, you're best bet would be to go to a salvage yard, way outside of our neck of the woods and look for one.
216 Ken, I do have a 216 and would be interested in buying one of yours if there is no repair. (Looks like cast iron to me so I know I can't weld it!)
Cast Iron Repair (Welding) Steve ; Take Ken's offer ! welding cast iron so it stays welded is a PIA ~ you must heat the entire piece up nearly red hot then weld the broken part then cool it off ever so slowly in a box of ashes so it doesn't crystallize and break again.... Look carefully at the threads on the studs of your new (used) manifold and wire brush as best you can , before trying to remove them , post back here. Use the intake alignment rings and remember : NO fasteners at the very ends ! EXTREMELY IMPORTANT !
Nate, thanks for the advise!!!!!!!!! Ken, whats the best way for us to connect? Tomball is nice weekend afternoon drive for me (I'm not in any rush, it'll be a few months before I'll want to run the engine.)
New (old) Manifold My replacement manifold showed up today. It looks pretty ruff. I plan on swapping the intake manifolds since my original looks a lot better. Need a new gasket anyway. On the new (old) exaust manifold, the bolts have thinned to the point that I know as soon as I start turning anything something will break Nate, you said to post before I touch those bolts. I'm sure you have some good advice on this one Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rusty Bolts O.K. , this you can do @ home . I assume you've allready been soaking it with a really good penetrant like KROIL or Gibbs or P.B. Blaster ? . Now take your ' Hot Wrench ' (gas torch , a propane one will do) and heat up the bolt's head untill it's cherry red , remember to always keep the flame tip moving , never let it rest on one part , it's glowing as bright as it's going to get ? O.K. shut off the torch and instantly begin spraying either penetrant or water untill the bolt is 100 % cooled off ~ the idead is : heat it up to expand it then rapidly cool it off so the rusty threads actually seperate from the bolt's contracting as you cool it , faster than the surrounding metal . using penetrant helps as the penetrant gets sucked in . It's cold to the touch now ? good ~ use a box end wrench or a 6 point socket and gently try to loosen it ~ if it moves , even a tiny bit , STOP and spray some more penetrant in there and tighten it back to draw in the penetrant , often you'll need to barely turn it one flat , back & forth untill by degrees you can turn it more and more . DO NOT force it else it'll sieze up and snap off . New bolts of course . This same trick with the two nuts on the other side of the joint . I hope this helped .
Rust Bolts Nate, thanks for the very quick response I've started spraying with the blaster and tomorrow will try your trick. Sounds good to me!!!!!!
Slow & Steady Wins The Race .....If you hurry , egg on your face Seriously , take your time here , I've ruined many exhaust manifolds over the years from rushing .
Took me over two weeks of soaking, heating with torch, etc to remove the old studs out of my exhaust manifold flange. One stud was broken off so short that I had to grind it flush with the flange. Then I drilled a VERY small hole EXACTLY in the center of the grided flat stud (centerpunch). Progressively larger holes were drilled until I could get a 3/8" tap into the hole and re-tap the flange threads, forcing out the remains of the old stud. This was very time consuming and really stressful as if I hadn't drilled it right this procedure would have screwed up the threaded hole in the flange and made it unusable. I did all of this with the manifold attached to the engine and the engine upside down on an engine stand. It worked out perfectly and I didn't even have to take it off the engine. If yours is already off, this procedure may work for you if you don't have enough of the stud exposed to get a grip on it. The other stud was long enough for me to get a vise grip on it and back it out after much patience, Kroil and heat. Andy
Ugly studs! Andy, I do have studs but they look like their about 2/3rds the size their suppose to be. One may also just be a bolt where the original threads were drilled out. (Not sure until I start removing it) Mine should be a little easy'er with it being off, but good to know your experience and Nate's reminder to be patient!!!!!!!!!!!!
Easier??? Famous last words. There is no such thiing as EASIER when it comes to manifold studs. I wish you luck. I heated the flange instead of the stud, then cooled down the stud with Kroil penetrant. Vise grip and wiggle back and forth. repeat and repeat and repeat, etc. until it comes loose and breaks free just a bit. Then as Nate says, hit it with more penetrant and turn it back in till it stops. Heat again, more Kroil and it SHOULD back out a little more each time. Patience is the key to this one for sure. Andy
Patience This one is really starting to sound like a challenge. Now the pressure is really on. I have to get it done before my kids show up for the holidays. They'll want to put the grips to it and start twisting!!!! The good news is they (twins) will be around for over a week and we'll make huge progress on the truck. (we rebuilt a 54 together when they were around 12 years old, 12 years ago).
Steve, I learned about Kroil from this site. Now my kids call me "King Kroil" because I can un-freeze the nastiest rusted out crud you have ever seen using that stuff and some torch heat. I was always good at it, but the Kroil brought it to a new level. Just ask Kevin. He was the proud recipient of some of my work when I sent him a set of rear cab mounts that I had freed up. He needed them after he cut through them with his torch when cutting out bad floor sections in his cab. (Sorry Kevin, but I can't be the only one being razzed for silly mistakes). Oh yeah...I almost forgot. Heat, penetrant...SCRUB HARD around base of stud with stainless steel wire brush. Home Depot sells a three pack of small stiff brushes in the paint dept. Perfect for this job. One each, stainless, brass and nylon. Use the stainless one. It will remove a lot of scale and make the removal of the stud easier. Andy
King Kroil Andy, keep the tips coming. I actually have one the Home Depot 3 packs sitting on my bench and didn't even use them! (yet) Will do in a few minutes I've been heating and spraying with PB Blaster. Makes lots of neat smoke and fire Unfortunately, one of my studs was a bolt which came out easy, but I can't see much tread left in the flange. Looks like I'll go back with a bolt for that one. (its the one with lots of room so this should not matter) The other one is in the heating/soaking process. I figure I'll do it a couple of times a night for a week or so and see if anything loosens up.
Oh yeah, When you finally put it all back together on the truck, get some Permatex anti-seize and use liberally. Great stuff. Andy
Lucky, I think?? Worked on the bolt on and off for 4 days. Must have heated and cooled them 20 times. Unfortunately, the nub finally broke off so I had no choice but to grind it down and try an easy-out. Even then, nothing happened. Could barely see a slit between the stud and flange. No movement at all after 2 cans of blaster I drilled all the way through with a small bit and amazingly hit the center on both ends. Decided to go with bigger and bigger bits until it was all drilled out. Tapped it with a 3/8 "fine" tap and it all now seems to work. Even cleaned up the other hole with the tap and it also seems fine. The local hadware store had hardened automotive studs so I'm good to go Will paint it tomorrow with 1200 degree primer and then manifold paint. Time will tell on this one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good deal ! . Remember the sheet metal alignment rings in the intake ports , you should have the intake & exhaust loosely assembled as you tighten them to the head then tighten the four connecting fasteners .
