I've removed all 12 bolts. Got the front lifted but the back is stuck. Is that little nut with a square head holding it down?

 

Did you remove the distributor and the hold down bolt?
If you are sure you have all the bolts lightly tap the front of the manifold to break it free

 

Yes. Dist is out. Was a pain to get the manifold to budge but with a pry bar on the front tab that sticks out I was able to carefully break it loose. The back is definitely held on by something else, you can feel it.

 

i just torn my block down a few weeks ago..once you get down that far the only thing thats holding the manifold is the 12 bolts..... that is odd... unless the gasket is on there extremely tight or something.... i know when i first took the manifold off after 20 plus years of the intake being onto the block i had to pry it off it was almost as if it welded itself to the block...

 

be carefull
the rear water passages may have fused to the heads and might break off if forced... I would tap with hammer and go slow

 

I guess one of you broke into my garage and did the job for me.

I went out there this morning and it came right off. The gasket was like super glue.

 

yea i figured so..... being on the block warming and cooling for two decades made it like hell for it to come off... that happend to me also.....

 

It's a pain. The heads are the same way right now. I'm fighting them today.

 

Where is this tab that sticks out? I have a 91 RS and am having a difficult time trying to find a good pry point. I really don't want to use a screwdriver a and tap it into the rubber gasket, but righ now I cant see any other way.

 

Sorry to hijack but its related... Im fixing a coolant leak..

I have all bolts out on my TPI intake manifold except the drivers side rear bolt. I havent been able to budge the darn bolt. I already even broke one T45 trying to get it out. The replacement T45 you can see is starting to twist.

The other bolts came out with not a lot of effort. I sprayed it with PB Blaster tonight and going to let it sit overnight. But if that doesnt work, Im afraid Im going to break the head off the bolt or do some other damage. It shouldnt be this tough to get out..

Any tricks I can try?

 

Impact bit driver.

 

On some of my torx bolts for the runners and valve cover i used a sharp flat head bit and hammered it into the torx bolt pattern. That gave me some grip. Then i used a 1/4 inch socket adapter over the bit's head and a socket wrench and extension to get it off. Those torx bolts are stupid. I would replace all of them with regular head bolts.

 

hey thanks for the idea.

i twisted two more T45's (supposedly stronger versions) and the bolt hasnt moved at all but started to strip the bolt. i pounded in a T47 and that thing is twisting also. once it twists then you can get any torque.

maybe i can figure a way to pound in a flat head or other type bit as you suggest..

if its in this tight is there any way im going to do something like crack the head if i keep trying and take it out?? i dont want to be in a worse situation at this time..

thanks..

 

I told you insert a flat head bit into a 1/4 adapter. The back of the adapter should fit any 1/4 socket wrench,but instead use a socket extention. Preferrably 3/8 size. In order to do this you will need a 1/4 to 3/8 drive adapter also. Then hammer the end of the extention with a hammer until you feel the flat bit making its indentation into the bolt head.

 

well just tried that and the bit broke within half a second. so now ive also got a piece of bit lodged in the head of the bolt.

only other thing i can think is to use a dremel and slot the entire bolt head and try to find something like this that is a large flat head:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-Decker...-/400103007945

 

Had the same issue myself on 3 of the torx bolts.Got 2 out 3 out by welding with a tig a half inch drive socket to bolt head of about 12mm size using eutectic wire and let fully cool down naturally and they came out good. the 3rd was at the water jacket hole and sheared the head off but didn't matter as all others were out and manifold came off it ok. Got the stub out with a sharp rap with a large hammer and a small stilson wrench.Think I destroyed 3torx bits before i went down this track. Now using stainless steel socket head cap screws and antiseize.

 

antiseize......

 

antiseize would have helped 26 years ago...

FINALLY i got it out, believe it or not i used a dremel cutting wheel to trim it into a hex head shape and fit a 15mm over it. once that was on it didnt actually take too much effort to get it off.

additional questions, i realize there are not water passages on my manifold, but what is all this crap in those rear two ports? it looks same on the manifold side. should i knock this stuff out? its hard crusty stuff. just bc its a dead end for any coolant junk?

also, should i clean the intake ports, theres a lot of black deposits, but i dont want the crud to go back into the chambers which look surprisingly clean..

attached pics. thanks..

 

Hijacking as well.


The same stuck the hell on bolt snapped on me. Looks like I have 7 threads left in the block, and about 1/2-1 inch sticking out. Any good ideas to get the damn numb out without cracking or warping the block?






J

 

something like this might work (but ive never tried one)

http://www.amazon.com/Titan-Stud-Pul.../dp/B00265M8N4

 

We'll give that one a shot.



J

 

ok i got most of the junk out of the head port and manifold....

however, it seems to have corroded the aluminum manifold and it created a slot on the port to the outside... ironically the junk was stopping another leak. so this wont seal properly with the new gasket. pic attached..

can i get away with some silicon in that area? and/or silicon every port now as well? or am i looking at having to ebay a manifold?

 

I think that corrosion is a litte beyond silicon rubber, you could get it welded up but it probably cheaper to start again with a second hand manifold that has less corosion issues.

 

i think you're right. just tough to come to terms that my weekend project has become a week already and about to become even more.. thanks for the reality check..

 

Probably find a used tpi lower manifold for like $50