Ignorant (not dumb) Exhaust mainfold Q:

So, thanks to an un-named hero, I have a very solid manifold from a You-Pull place. I've got an appointment Thursday to get it installed on my '96 SE, so I'm trying to tidy it up a bit. (In case you're wondering, yes, I've seen ALL the other header & replacement options, but I am very cash-poor at the moment, hence the junkyard part....AND the reason I'm not a full-fledged puppy yet.)

Anyhoooo, do the two bolts going from the flange on the manifold to the downpipe need to be replaced?? Are they welded in place? Basically, I want to have this ready for the shop, and will do everything I can to make it easy for them- aside from removing the fuel rail.... I ask, because there is some oxidation (rust is SUCH a dirty word) there, and I want to have this sucker ready to be bolted in Thursday! Before I go Blasting & wrenching, I'd appreciate a clue!

Thanks, gang!!

They are pressed in, as I recall - splined shank. I don't remember seeing any hex heads on them, anyhow (at least on my RENIX...)

There's no really easy way to get those two nuts off - soaking them with PB Blaster, with all that heat, doesn't strike me as a good idea. I've found it best to just take it very slowly when breaking them loose, and maybe pray a little, if you're so inclined.

They should be 3/8"-16 - which makes it easy to find replacements for those nuts. I use brass - doesn't give me any trouble, and won't seize up over time. I've taken to using as much brass hardware as possible on exhaust over the last 20 years or so - that way, I don't have to fight with them the next time.

Always work on your vehicle with the following thought in mind - "The next poor schmuck to work on this thing will be me, and all I'll have is a multi-plier and a Swiss Army knife." (Substitute whatever you carry - but it won't be a full toolkit.)

MacGyver's got nothing on me...

5-90

5-90, I've read many of your comments - thanks for answering. You are a wise man! Thanks so being so generous with your knowledge.

(And that "Swiss Army Knife" comment is particularly appropriate!) So - leave 'em be and let the shop deal with it??? Actually, that'd suit better!!

That's pretty much it - there's no sense in trying to help, when it's a shop and they're responsible for anything they break anyhow.

Granted, you'd learn a lot more doing it yourself, but something tells me you live somewhere that they frown on DIY mechanics (I had a landlord trying to tell me I couldn't work on my car. I said, "Fine. Recommend me a mechanic to whom I can provide parts, and you pay the labour." That "no mechanical work" clause got stricken from the lease, and I left the house just as clean as when we moved in anyhow.)

It's not that changing the thing is technically difficult, but it can be physically difficult, and time-consuming as Hell. I've done it a couple times - starting with a DEAD COLD engine, it can be done in an afternoon fairly handily. You don't need a lot of special tools, but you'll want a 9/16" socket with inbuilt universal joint, and a light-duty torque wrench (as I recall, those bolts get torqued to 21 pound-feet, or was it 23? I'd have to look it up.)

Have you checked out my site? I've put a Tech Archive up recently, and I'm looking for input on what else should go into it. REQUEST LINES ARE NOW OPEN! (and have been for a while - I'm trying to make a "one-stop Tech shop..."

5-90

On my '96, there are hex heads viewable from the top. After 20 minutes of frustration and bitter tears, I discovered that the heads are welded (or seomhow secured in there as good as if they were), and that the nuts on the bottom side come off quite easily after a little schpritz of PB.

Must be a ChryCo "innovation", then - because all my RENIX rigs have studs.

Granted, you could probably knock out the studs and install bolts, but it's a pain to reach both ends at the same time, I'd think, and just not worth the hassle...

5-90

How bad are they? Take a die, clean the threads up. Use brass nuts.

FWIW the replacemnt I just put in used loose bolts and it was no big deal to get a wrench on both ends.

OK. Not having to think about it has resulted in my not finding an easy way to do a job that, at first glance, looks like it might call for a monkey with three elbows in each arm...

If I had to deal with it as a problem, I'd probably find a way to handle it fairly quickly!

The bolts/studs themselves aren't so much a problem as the fact that steel will seize on steel given heat and time - not much to do about that, but change one component (the easiest one) out for brass, like I suggested.

The threads themselves don't usually want cleaned up, so no reason to.

5-90

5-90 said:

Must be a ChryCo "innovation", then - because all my RENIX rigs have studs.

Granted, you could probably knock out the studs and install bolts, but it's a pain to reach both ends at the same time, I'd think, and just not worth the hassle...

5-90

Click to expand...

Mine got replaced with bolts after I snapped both off with the impact wrench. The studs popped out with a few quick hits from the air hammer.

Yeah - that's why you'd not want to use an impact wrench on seized bolts - except as a "weapon of last resort."

Call me cranky, but if I can't do it with hand power, it's probably designed badly.

5-90

You all are INCREDIBLE! Thank you.

Lilredwagon - thanks for the '96 input. I've decided that that was a "special" year, since just about eevery generic write-up I've found is not quite dead-on for my old red girl!!

5-90, The main reason I'm not going in there myself is that I don't have a suitable covered location for projects like this, and I have no one who can give me a hand with even the simplest things (ie "hand me that wrench"). No problem w/ neighbors since we're more-or-less in the country out here. Plus this is my DD and if I did anything to screw her up, I'd be so majorly peezzed that you fine folks to the west would hear me screaming!
So gang, I'm leaving the studs in place, and the only project I have this afternoon is gently cleaning the threads and making sure all the mating surfaces are purty.

I guess y'all can go on to helping the next poor sucker in line now. You're good at it, and thanks to all again!