Exhaust manifold rusted bolt

[Vash71]

Snapped off 3 bolts. Pre soaked for a few weeks, still broke 3. Any suggestions?

[Ohiotinkerer]

50/50 mix of acetone and ATF.........soaked mine with that for a week and they came right out........

[Busboy]

Well its either try and drill them out and use extractors or more than likely you'll be pulling the head off.

[59yblockf100]

heats helps alot,sometimes

[tnlprt]

Weld a nut on the bolt if any of it is still exposed

[Vash71]

Tried the welding. Trying again tomorrow. Pre soaked 2-3 weeks with Krul, I think is what it was still no luck.

[Ranchero50]

Run the engine up to operating temps after soaking for a couple days. If you have any threads protruding out the back on the top bolts, cut them off with a cutoff wheel. Makes a huge difference.


For broken top bolts I'll drill a 1/8" hole through the bolt and use a torch to melt the steel bolt out of the cast iron head. Takes some technique but works well.

[Zorm]

not trying to steal the thread but this is kinda related.

ok so Ranchero50, I removed my 360/C6 to clean up the engine and replace the freeze plugs, but broke off an exhaust pipe bolt on the manifold. I really don't want to remove the manifolds as the bolts to the heads look like they would fall apart if I tried, I have no issues with leaks though. So I should try to cut the bolt even with the manifold, drill a 1/8 hole then use a torch to try and melt the bolt out?

[cep62]

If you're talking about the stud that holds the pipe to the manifold?,
Heat the Manifold cherry red where the stud is and it should come right out.
Don't mess around with a propane torch , you need oxy/ acetylene.
that works even with Michigan rust.

[falter]

Pulling the head may save a lot of time and frustration

[Mikeincool]

I had the same problem 3 weeks ago. After bending over the fender for a week, I was getting no where. I tried to weld and then drilled the bolts. I would have never fixed it in the truck.I pulled the engine. I drilled the bolts out completely and now have a longer bolt with a nut on the back.. Luck for me it was the top row. I also cleaned a very nasty engine and repainted the whole thing . New pan gasket, valve cover gaskets. Just finished dropping it back in. Looks like a million bucks compared to before. I tries the ez-out and broke one. I used PB blaster and heat. I would post picks if I know how. It should be back on he road in a few days. Good luck, pull it if you have a lift. I would pull mine again in a heart beat. Not that hard and I was able to clean the engine bay. I did pull the front clip after the engine. I would do that first next time. Much easier to work with out the fenders.

[Mikeincool]

If you do not have a lift, pull the front clip for access. The steering box and master cylinder should be the only thing in your way. If I had it to do again, I would take off the front clip before I pulled the motor. But if you need more room, then pull motor. Mine had 50 years of leaking valve covers and farm dirt from top to bottom. I am not sorry I pulled the motor because of that.

[Zebra312]

I broke all four of the top bolts from the passenger side, and two of the top driver side when I quit. Two of them are flush or below the flange surface. I soaked them every day for two weeks, and then heated them...they were just too far gone from years of running with blown gaskets. Funny thing, the bottom bolts were barely finger tight.

The front clip is coming off this weekend.