I was changing the spark plugs when I made a stupid decision of taking off the y-pipe to have easy access to the last but one plug (on the passenger side), i.e. the one near the O2 sensor.

As a result the exhaust flange bolt snapped off and i have tried to drill or punch the bolt out, but to no avail.

Any suggestions Gentlemen.

Thanks Sean

 

First, remove the manifold.

Next, if there still is a reasonable amount of stud sticking out, clamp the manifold in a vise (taking care not to gouge any sealing surface), heat the area around the stud, give the stud a couple smacks with a hammer, and remove it with a pipe wrench. (I've heard of some people taking a candle and touching it at the threads, supposedly the wax gets pulled between the threads. Never tried it though) Usually once it breaks loose the rest is easy.

If it snapped flush, you're stuck with drilling it & using an easy-out.

Or, use this as an excuse to get headers. Can't get a better excuse than this, and there are a few Ca. legal systems.

That's all I got, HTH

 

Thanks you Sir.

Quick question.
? Will I have to take the heads off because i am wary of stripping or breaking the exhaust studs at the header area.

Here is a picture of the problem:

 

I am having trouble understanding the picture, I'm guessing thats not a picture of your stuff since it shows manifolds removed already.

I have never stripped/broke an exhaust manifold bolt; not saying its never happened, but it would be extremely unusual to do so. I don't think you should worry about this at all.

Exhaust manifold studs are screw in, not press in, not sure what you're trying to say on the picture. Once you remove the manifold, treat it like a bolt with the head broken off; thats essentially what you are dealing with.

Good luck.

 

In the picture where I say "The Heads" I actually mean the pipe (in the passenger side) which connect to the exhaust heads in the block.

I was able to drill a hole by an angle through the broken stud and I realized it's screw, because it just wont pop out.

Why did Chevy make it so I don't understand (I mean why have a screw-in when a bolt/stud dropped through the upper hole would have sufficed) but I plan to replace it with a drop in bolt-nut combination so i can place a wrench at the top and tighten the bolt at the bottom.

This way if it ever breaks again then i can dremel cut it right at the centre of the bolt and the two ends will just come apart.

 

The bolt and nut may sound like a good idea, but it's not. There's a bunch of reasons why.

You'll need to drill and tap the remains of the stud out of there. You can do that yourself, by starting with a real small bit and working your way up, and probably using a Heli-Coil when you get it out; or just take the manifold to a machine shop and get them to do it. Don't let them weld one in though, that's a PITA to deal with if anything ever happens to it later.

Put a stock type stud back in there, just like it was, and use brass or stainless nuts.

Or you could do like somebody I know, who drove around a 58 panel truck for years and years with a little C-clamp doing that for him. He also use a pair of Vise-Grips for a floor shifter in it.

 

Yes the clamp sounds such a better idea. Where would I get C-clamp and what size.

Maybe I can throw them in without having to drill out the part of the stud that's stuck-in there.

And RB, 377Z, Gentlemen Thank you so much for your help and patience. Appreciate it

 

I hope you are kidding about actually using the c-clamp. Take the exhaust manifold off, and go to any exhaust shop. They replace them all the time. In my area it runs 5 bucks a piece. done.

 

Well I was thinking of taking the manifold off, but the problem is the stud is stuck in the pipe which follows the headers and not in the y-pipe manifold.

So I have to take the headers off from the block and in the process if I break another stud or so within the block then it's more trouble.

Hence I opted to drill out but that being so time consuming and painful I don't mind putting c-clamps if only temporarily.

 

have you broken off any of the exhaust bolts in the head? If not, your best bet is to take the thing off. that or my suggestion would be to just get in the car and drive it to an exhaust shop. Like I said, it is the easiest to just let them fix the thing when it breaks like that. It usually isnt an expensive fix. And dont worry, this isnt going to make you look like a wimp for not fixing your own car. I have two rules, I dont do trans work, and I dont do exhaust work. Take em to the shop. DO NOT PUT A C-CLAMP. That is probably the most rigged up thing i could think off. I mean, honestly, would you use vise grips for a shifter? Then why use a C CLamp for that? Just drive it strait to the exhaust shop and get it fixed. For your piece of mind, one broken exhaust stud is no big deal, it may cause a leak, but you can drive it for a while till you get it fixed.

 

The cast iron thing that the stud is broken off in is the manifold.... not headers. You can remove it fairly easily. 6 bolts, maybe a few brackets attached to some, but not a huge challenge usually.

I wasn't suggesting that you use a C-clamp; just telling you about a hilljack method that some people (no one that would come to a place like this) might use.

 

RB, you mean these ?

 

Oh yea, they work very well. Had 'em on a '79 454 'burban. Came with it and they never budged the entire time I had it.

 

Actually, more like these.

 

once again a nice way to pay more to rig it than to fix it

 

the price to have them removed by a shop is minimal compared to the hack job that is ..lol...but hey its your ride man do what you want...LMAO

 

Now I'm sorry i brought it up, even as a joke.

 

not ripping on you RB, i know it was a joke, I was just afraid this guy was gonna use them

 

same here man ...lol

 

He used a regular c-clamp?!? Wow. That's funny!

 

not gonna slam anyone ive seen it done and it can work but its very very trashy lookin but if you need to get it goin then you have to do what you have to do but for the money as i said before id just take it to a shop for maybe 5$ a stud they will replace them

 

Gentlemen,
Update on the issue. I was able to drill through the stud so I have a hole only smaller in diameter. That broken stud is one tough "nut". So I plan to get some dremel and grind away the remaining part.

BTW: Can you show the pictures of the C-clamp , cause I can't see them here.

If I lose my patience then I will just get a C-clamp or as suggested by "theGeneral" I will take it to a shop as my passenger side wheels are bolted too tight and I want to bleed my brakes.

 

do you have access to a impact ???

 

I got the C-clamp picture . I think I have a couple of those at home. And thinking about it it might work.

If there is a portrusion on each end of the c-almp which i can place through each hole then a c-clamp will hold.

 

So a friend of a friend of mine, not me of course tried the C-Clamp and it worked great. Of course I would probably never try it, not me. But if I did it would probably work great just like it did for my friend's friend- not me.