I was replacing my thermostat in my 305 TBI engine. When I went to remove the left bolt on the thermostat housing, it kept getting harder and harder to turn. Eventually the darn thing broke, and now I have half a bolt in the intake manifold. What should I do?

 

Take your intake manifold off and have someone drill it out for you, I've have no luck extracting bolts myself from anything made of aluminum.

Other than that, a temp fix is to just put the one bolt in with a lot of silicone so it doesn't leak until you can fix it.

 

Spray it with something like WD-40,let it sit for awhile . Take and heat lightly around the base with a torch,the difference in the rate that the metals exspan should allow easier extraction with a pair of vise grips.If you can't get vise grips on it you''l have to use an e-z out.

 

what would be an alternative would be to bring the intake in and have someone drill it out and install a heli-coil kit in it...or, buy a new intake

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That's pretty easy to get to if you take the runners and plenum off. Get a titanium drill bit and drill it out then use as big an easy out as you can. Heat it up with a propane torch too (only the base). That should do it.

 

he has a tbi motor

 

Hey man, I feel for you. I had the same problem, only on a TPI. I tryed to easy out it, but felt I was going to snap the easy out, so I paid $20 and got a helicoil kit and put that in.I also put a little anti seize agent on the bolt. It worked great!
Good luck man!
Mike

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Gran Turismo Americano "The Ultimate Firebird"
Smokin 1989 GTA- Bone stock except for exhaust. (no catalytic-stainless pipe into Flowmaster 2 chamber) & AC Delco Rapid Fire Plugs; Removed Smog Pump and all other Smog related parts.

 

Same here, helicoils worked for me. The helicoil tap fit perfectly into a 12 point 5/16 socket, it made taping it sooo much easiers. Do not over torque those helicoils though, they do not sit all that snug in aluminum. not to mention you can warp you water neck by over tightening.

 

before you do anything, try an EZ out kit. It's really simple to do, and usually works pretty well. Definitely a must have tool. If it doesnt work, you're pretty much as screwed as everone said you are. I've never had to drill out and helicoil, so maybe it's easier than it sounds. Heating, like someone said before, helps too. Good luck.

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90 IROC convertible, dead stock 305TPI and TH700R4
79 Malibu, 350, ZZ3 cam, Vortec heads, Performer RPM manifold Th200r4, GN rear, real sleeper(excuse for not doing any body work)