So You Want To Do Your Manifolds DO You?

Did the nuts/studs come out together on first try without penetrant and just using the impact wrench?

Glad everything worked out.

 

Yeah. Used NO Penetrant at all. Did not remove Engine Bracket. Put heat on every Stud/Bolt prior to Impact Gun. Every Stud/Bolt came off together but one. That one partially came off together then just the bolt came off. Used the E10 Socket on that one to finish removal.

Had a Scare during New Stud put back. After cleaning the Block Surface and Air Can Blasting out the Stud Holes (high recco as lots of dust/crud in there), I noticed the lower bank 4 Threads on the Block were Janked/Stripped about 4 thread deep. Unsure how and why as all the others looked perfect.


Went into Full Monk Prayer and then added some 3 in 1 Oil on the new stud and worked the Mojo in and out a little at a time. My Hand Training paid off on this one. Living on the Edge! She threaded up and all is good!

Tomorrow will be gnarly as the Driver Side is harder from what others say. Might break this job into 2.5 days depending on what tomorrow brings.

 

You'll get there. I split mine up over 2 days as well. My back, arms, shoulders, knees and hands all thanked me for taking a break...

 

I’d be stoked to finish tomorrow.

 

I took two days on mine but there was a lot of beer and a party involved. So much that I couldn't get the y pipe and cats to line up the first night, so had to sleep it off and it worked first try the next morning. Beer goggles had me.

 

Do you need to install new studs or can you use the originals?

 

In my case, I installed new. I planned it this way per others that have done the job and said it was hit or miss on the removal with the Nuts Locked. There may be a way to remove the old Studs/Nuts from each other, but who wants to do that after a long day of wrestling with the Manifold Exhaust?

Just buy all new Studs/Bolts.

 

Any luck today Handy?

 

Yeah. Got the Driver Side Manifold off. Had three Studs act weirdly coming out. 2 stripped near the ends again like that one did on Pass Side. Got one of those back in perfectly, but the other went not so easily. Third one I left in place. Other than that it was another brutally long day. Much harder than the Pass Side.

So far Pass Side was about 8 hours (complete). Driver Side 10 hours (80%).

Should finish today on bolt ups, put backs/etc. Not in a big rush as most of the grunt work is done. Still not out of the woods, yet. Hoping on finishing strongly and smartly today. Weather is beautiful.

 

Great thread!

 

Success! Got her all buttoned up after about 8 hours today with clean up and some drive time. My Rear Wheels actually chirp a bit on the stomp!

Since the 285/75/r16 went on in 2004 my wheels never chirped afterwards. Definitely a little something extra going on. My Stock Exhaust everywhere else sounds a little different. Still quiet as I prefer, but a little extra Rumble in it. Stoked.

Its a Brutal Job guys. Lots of hard work. Everything is in the way. Nothing is the same from one bolt to the next. You are never allowed to relax as the next step intensifies. Honor the Process of Torque and Snug (where Torque isn’t allowable) multiple times. Criss Cross tighten and repeat. Keep things clean and take your time as its easy to get flustered. Have on Hand every wobble bit, extension length, adapter/reducer, and ratchet available to Man-Kind. You’ll need them.

 

Nice work PMH!! I'm jelllllllly. Shorties should give you a little more grrr on the small end... hence the sweet chirps.

 

I found my exhaust went from being a fairly consistent tone to having more of a blub-blub-blub. Especially at lower engine speed. Great job!

 

Thanks. Lots of curve balls and ups and downs especially on the Driver Side. I could see if one didn’t have 4wd this job would be way easier as the CV and Front Diffs not being there would open up some better angles. I could see how some have thrown in the towel after attempting and getting rejected at every next step.

Work and re-work and never give up. I did have to wallow a couple holes on the New JBA only on the Driver Side as some of my new studs didn’t line up for some reason. The one stripped one had me puckered overnight as to what to do, but I got her in there and she wobbled out of square just enough to make me ease about 1/16” off a couple Manifold Holes to get here to lay in without messing up the new Stud Threads.

The one and only Original Stud I left on due to knowing it would be problematic removal based on the others (creaking sound) wasn’t taking on the New Nut and I had to put a little pressure on it to go.

Never out of the woods on this job until she starts up. No leaks and no code error as of yet. Some say there is better MPG with these as well as the little performance achieved.

All my old Manifolds were in great shape. No cracks. No out leak signs. Maybe a couple vacuum leaks coming around on a few ports as some White Chaulky Calcium looking deposits were built up on the Aluminum Block. I Acetoned and Fine Sand Blocked it off.

 

Glad it all worked out for you. Nice job. Rest tomorrow and have a cold brew on me

Enjoy...

 

Hoping not to have to start a new thread here, but on removing my cats I now have a problem with the nuts on the studs at the collectors.
What a son of a bitch job, after two hours of slowly working back and forth the nuts with a small torch and pb blaster for many hours I got one off, one snapped the stud right at the end of almost coming off and on the third one the nut or stud just lost all its thread and is now just stuck on the stud, it just spins tightly on the stud, I can't get a chisel in there, anyone got any ideas?
much appreciated

 

I just had a think about this, I'm probably best off towing to a shop to get someone with a proper torch to heat the manifolds up and remove the stud,

 

I'd probably get in there with a sawzall and a carbide metal cutting blade.

 

Thanks mate, its going to be a bugger - due to being right up against the flange, I'll see if that is feasible.

 

I had to look at that a while before I realized its the V6. Do you have a dremel with the diamond cutting wheel (or a few)? You could maneuver one in there and slice through those nuts.

 

its the v8, don't have a dremel. The key thing I'm missing here is an oxy acetylene a torch to get enough heat into the manifold and take the studs out. Im going to need that to get the broken studs out anyway . Ive been lying on cardboard in the snow doing this and I've resigned to the fact that is probably going to save me a lot of headaches to get the shop to do it. I fu**ing hate exhaust bolts, I can't think of any other job on a car that I hate more than this.

 

Yeah, either that or a roto-zip if the crossmember is in the way. You do want to be able to see what you're doing though.

 

Looks like its running between motor and firewall and under the steering column. My v8 manifolds don't do that, I've only seen v6 doing that.

Edit- ooooh I see it now. Had to go look at my truck, thats a funny angle.

Either way, get a Dremel and the cutting wheels for about $100 and have the tool for life, or take it to a shop and avoid frustration.

 

Yikes. I would not want to be doing that outside in the snow; at least not voluntarily.

I used to have my inspection due in February, but after years and bumping it a few days into the next month, it's the end of September just for these reasons.

 

lol, I used to delay my inspections until one day driving through a village a cop coming the other way did a u turn and flashed me gave me a ticket to appear in local court for driving an un-inspected vehicle. I asked me what he pulled me over for, he said "I saw the rego sticker was out of date " bloody hell hawk eyes or what coming the other way at 45mph and he spots that??

 

Its worse today. They randomly scan plates and check status now. I got pulled over for being 10 days late and got a citation. I fought it and it was dismissed by the clerk magistrate.

 

I assume you don't want to hack through the pipe to gain some working room? WhenI replaced my exhaust system, that was the first thing I did. Cut the old pipe off, as high as possible, get it out of the way, and then you may have some extra room to get a sawzall blade on the stud.
For what you'll pay someone to do this, you probably could buy a Harbor Freight torch kit, bottles, and get the bottles filled...

 

True this, thanks for the input, cutting it which I don't mind doing, would give me the room and I can get a small torch kit for 300 bucks, Ill go have a look at it tomorrow and a carbide blade for the sawzall.
I'm also taking into consideration what its going to take to get some of of those studs out ( snapped almost flush) which will need to be done in below zero degree temps on the mud, going inside every 15 minutes to bring the ends of my fingers back to life. I don't mind doing the job if I have a garage with concrete underneath it, but I guess the comfort zone here is worse than what the cashless zone is. Appreciate the suggestions was thinking there might be a shortcut someone has found but it sounds like this is going to be PITA.
Ah well I guess I'll appreciate it once I get it running again. Only driven it once for about 3 miles so looking forward to some trips.

 

Here’s the racing muffler that came out of it, guy must have driven it like that for a while