I was tightening the last bolt on my Accel Intake runners to the correct spec and one of the mounting ears snapped off. It was the bolt underneath the plenum in the front under the throttle body. Has anyone else had this problem, and can it be repaired?

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89 Transam GTA, 350TPI, auto, 3.27 rear, dual cats, gray.
Magnaflow cat-back,
K&N open element,
Best E.T. 14.63@95mph

 

i'm sure it can be repaired find a good weld shop that does aluminum.or if it was a recent purchase return them saying that's how it came to you

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87 trans am 350 L98 aluminum heads,LT4 hot cam,slp runners,1 5/8 headers,y-pipe,edelbrock base,hi flo cat,air foil,afpr,ported plenum,t-5 tranny w/centerforce clutch and a 3.27 9bolt(11.9in. brakes),ads strip chip,relocated iat sensor,hollowed maf

14.10@97mph w/2.01 60'
superram and chip coming soon

 

JB WELD will save the day!

I broke off a thermostat bolt in the intake and cracked the intake trying to get it out.... I JB Welded the ear back on, filled the hole in, redrilled it out and tapped it, and good as new.

Creativity counts


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Mike L.
It ain't pretty.......

1987 IROC Z TPI 350 A4 3.27 Borg-Warner.

Mods: 2300-2500 Stall Converter, Shift Kit(GM parts), TPI Specialties Stage 3 PROM, Modified Airbox w/ K&N's, homemade cold air, Relocated MAT sensor, Gutted MAF, 160* thermostat, Accel 8mm Wires, bypassed TB coolant, Flowmaster 3 chamber single 3" in/out muffler, 3" MAC mandrel intermediate, custom dual !cat Y-pipe. airfoil, ported plenum. !smog

http://www.MichaelLasiuta.home.att.net

**BOYCOTT LAPEER DRAGWAY**

 

JB weld will not work...you will need to take it somewhere and have it welded. JB weld is good stuff, but that's not really a good application for it.

 

You must have had the runners not squarely seated against the intake manifold. I can't see the ear getting snapped off unless there was a large gap you were trying to close by tightening the bolt.

That said, yes cast aluminum can be welded but it takes a specialist. And then, the welded area will need to be milled flat again.

 

The cracked runner is at the shop now being welded. They are going to machine the mounting surface too. It was either a defective piece, or my fault in that I torqued each bolt too much at one time. Most likely the latter. I will try it again torquing the bolts in 5 ft-lb increments.

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89 Transam GTA, 350TPI, auto, 3.27 rear, dual cats, gray.
Magnaflow cat-back,
K&N open element,
Best E.T. 14.63@95mph

 

Sorry for bringing up such an old post, but I having the same problem with Accel runners.

I had the ear break on the rear-most bolt on the pass side.
Took it to the weld shop and for $100 it was fixed.
Went to install the runners tonight and the front ear on the drivers' side cracked.
I'm using a new Accel intake and my stock plenum.
I'm tightening the bolts (allens) with a long reach T-handle, so I doubt if excessive torque is the cause.

Could your average machine shop mill the surfaces so everything mates properly?? Seems like the milling would be pretty tricky since there's 3 surfaces and 2 different angles that all have to be just right.

 

The easiest thing to do is bring all of the bolts down barely finger tight, then apply torque in a center to outward pattern in several stages on each of the bolts. Something isn't going together right if you are following those suggestions and it's still cracking.

You don't really want them to mill much off of the surface since the fuel rail is already a very tight fit on those runners, other than a very minor resurfacing. You should be able to have them check is for a flat surface though to make sure it's not warped.

 

I thought Id bring this post back up. Has anyone heard of a product called alumaloy? It will repair aluminum with a propane torch and will have better tensile strength than aluminum welding.

 

ohhhhhhhhh man!! does this bring back some bad memories Had a similar prob w/ my SLP's, except mine cracked where the bolt comes through the manifold, into the runner. I did a lot of welding and modifying on them....thats why they cracked...just too much heating and cooling, annealing, etc.....the material is crappy on runners....BOTTOM LINE.

after about 5 attempts (professional attempts i night add) i had to scrap 'em anyway.

you r in luck b/c the part u broke off is nowhere as crucial as the part i cracked.....its more of a simple straight flange....my luck was on that weird inner angle :/

anyway, u should be fine

P.S. I looked at alumaloy as an option....i didnt like what i heard bout it for THIS application...but it is ghreat stuff in many other ways IMO