broken exhaust manifold bolts

my simple exhaust leak fix now on its 3rd week. the exhaust manifold had a little leak so i figured 8 bucks for a new gasket and 1 afternoon and it would be done - was i wrong after soaking them for a week with penetriating fluid and heating them up with a torch 6 out of 12 broke off now i have to get in there and drill each one of them out. - what a job this turned out to be -

I had the same issue.

Same thing happened to me with the white Econoline. Was at a buddy's shop to do a simple exhaust gasket replacement. Broke half the studs off too! Without hesitation, I pulled the head off and took it to a machine shop for them to deal with it. They got half out OK and heli-coiled the rest. The money spent was a lot bettter than the headache would have been if I tried to do it myself.

Another trick similar to Dons is to take a piece of heavy guage sheet metal strap about 6 inches long, center drill it and mig it to the stud if its broke off flush or protruding. This is easier to weld than down inside the nut and you can tap back and forth on the ends to hopefully ease it loose, again this is hoping the heat during the welding helps. It does not always work but I have had success on anything from a caterpillar engine to rusted in bumper bracket bolts.

Mine was the same.. It looked like way too tight quarters for me to start drilling down in that manifold...

I took off the head and after much penetrating oil and wrestling I finally got the manifold off... turns out that the problem was that the studs were rusied to the inside of the hole in the manifold... once I got the manifold off the rest of the broken studs came out fairly easy....good luck..

finally got them all out. took the starter & alternator off then then loosened the bolts on left side motormount bar and removed the right side bolts lowering it to rest on leaf spring this put the motor at just enough angle to get in there with a regular hand drill . after drilling tap out retreading all the holes

delraydoug wrote:finally got them all out. took the starter & alternator off then then loosened the bolts on left side motormount bar and removed the right side bolts lowering it to rest on leaf spring this put the motor at just enough angle to get in there with a regular hand drill . after drilling tap out retreading all the holes

Wow! That's a great idea! I will be using this way when I do mine which will be within the next week.




BloodyKnuckles

Dude you shoud get some kind of VV bloody knuckle award for the month of october....You drilled and tapped all of them while it was in the van?? YOU DA MAN!!!

i just want to get it drive able and put it on the road . i feel like im going in the wrong direction every week i am taking something off or apart

Don't feel bad, just rebuilt my carb, now my radiator is leaking. One step forward and two steps back.

These things are really old and a labor of love... When I first got mine it was a mechanical nightmare.....I was slightly fooled because somebody had spent a lot of time sanding and prepping the body to paint it so I thought i must not too bad mechanically....Ya right!... Fix the exhasut leak...like you did...then I see freeze plugs....leaking... even in the head...then the rocker gasket...then the carb...then the front seal...might as well throw in a timing chain while Im at it... fuel pump...distributor shot...clutch....harmonic balancer...driveshaft was bent... master cylinder shot....all the wheel cylinders...hydraulic brake hoses...tie rod ends.. king pins...and the axle itself....steering box was shot..

But hey its got a good heater and windshield!

Im tired of typing ....now that the clutch is laying on the bench after just having the flywheel turned......

It's the same way in Chevy land, fix something find another problem. The repairs almost always take 3 times longer than you think. I guess it part of being a early owner

Magic Bus wrote:These things are really old and a labor of love... When I first got mine it was a mechanical nightmare.....I was slightly fooled because somebody had spent a lot of time sanding and prepping the body to paint it so I thought i must not too bad mechanically....Ya right!... Fix the exhasut leak...like you did...then I see freeze plugs....leaking... even in the head...then the rocker gasket...then the carb...then the front seal...might as well throw in a timing chain while Im at it... fuel pump...distributor shot...clutch....harmonic balancer...driveshaft was bent... master cylinder shot....all the wheel cylinders...hydraulic brake hoses...tie rod ends.. king pins...and the axle itself....steering box was shot..

But hey its got a good heater and windshield!

Im tired of typing ....now that the clutch is laying on the bench after just having the flywheel turned......

Thought I had it bad.....

That is the Fun of owning an early. Just remember they are a lot easier to work on than most of the late models.

yep i thought a van woulld be alot of fun to work on something differant i was thinking of all things you can do with the interior and working with wood and rug, fabrics . well first things first