I went to take off my lower manifold off my L98 and the very front passenger side bolthead snapped off. This is one of the two bolts around the water jacket, i've been told this is a common problem. Here's an added bonus...I tried to use a bolt extractor to get it out. Drilled the 1/8 hole in the center of the bolt, and tapped the extractor into it....then twisted till the inevitable happened, the tip of it broke off into the bolt. This extractor is hardened steel so it won't drill.

Basically the plan is to put my new manifold on anyway, and RTV that corner to hell!!!! If it doesn't hold...the car will be down for the winter. I've got a spare set of heads I'm planning to port, polish, and freshen up. This may put off my porting though...don't wanna mess up my only free heads.

By any chance does anyone know how to get me out of this mess totally and get this bolt and extractor out of my head?

Ryan

 

soak it with pb blaster..
let it sit... tap the intake with a hammer.. soak it some more
if it's on the very end you can typically take the intake and wiggle it back and forth.. kinda off the engine and up...

 

the intake is offf....I need to get the broken bolt out of the hole

ryan

 

very, very, very carefully weld a nut to the top, you would have to be very careful of the surfaces around it.

 

ahhh i got it... i thought the intake was still on.

pb blaster... soak it.. soak it good... tap the head around the bolt with a small hammer. and try to get em on out. if the bolt is sticking up someyour in good... keep soaking it.. and work it back and forth with some vice grips or whatnot.. if it's inside.. you gotta get em to spin one way or another.. easy out. or drilling it all the way through and breaking it up if you have to

 

If possible try drilling one or two small holes 180 degrees apart near the edges of the bolt and use a punch to turn it. Ive done that in the past and have had some success.

 

Well, a guy i found over at stealthram.com gave me a good idea...

Using a cutting wheel... cut a slit in the top wide enough for a screwdriver...then use pb blaster or heat to loosen it.
That's what I'll try first...then the nut welded on is next.

Will report back with success or failure.

Ryan

 

That should work if the bolt is still above the surface of the head.