I'm trying to get my passenger side manifold off and I can't find all the bolts to take it off.. towards the front of the engine I saw two just on the end of the manifold.. one on top and one just below it.. then there were two just below the EGR... I got the two below that out (half of one of them broke off in there .. I think i'll ignore it).. but other then that gold pipe that goes into the EGR and the bolt holding the manifold to the y-pipe.. whats left?.. I don't see them... pics would be helpful if you guys got any...

 

If you don't see the last two I'd say that they already broke off. There
are supposed to be two bolts at the rear of the manifold. These are located
the same as the front most two.

(These rear two commonly break all-by-themselves).

RBob.

 

Yeah, two per exhaust outlet. So far I've taken 3 snapped bolts out of the heads... with a squirt or two of liquid wrench, and vise grips. Seems the head of the bolt just snaps, and that's it. Tighten the hell outta the vise grips on the bolt, though. You might only get one chance. You might want to tap the vise grips counter clockwise (don't hit the release trigger!!!) with a hammer to knock the bolts free. You could also, before using anything on the bolts, smack the bolt "like a nail" with the hammer. It might loosen up any rust in the threads. Strike it just like a nail, don't try to bend the bolt to the side.

Is this the kind of snapped bolt you asked about in that other message?

 

In the drill grade 8 bolts thread?.. yes.. that bolt snapped off at the end so the end of the bolt is in there.. nothing is sticking out.. drilling is the only solution I see so far.. but I wonder if a drill bit would go anywhere on one of these bolts...

 

THere's a special kind of steel that the bit needs to be made of; I think carbide or tungsten or something? It can't just have the regular black oxide coating. You might be able to buy just one drill bit for $5 instead of a whole set for $80... check Home Depot. There's a couple messages on the tech boards (if you search for something like "drill bolt") about it; I think one guy, ede maybe, mentioned to keep oil dripping on the bit so it cuts faster... sort of like a machine shop would do. Bummer to hear it's snapped flush with the head. You might be able to run without it! Are the other 5 in good shape? Put anti-seize on the threads before you install the other 5- are you using new hardware?

 

Actually, as an amateur machininst, I would have to say that you can drill a grade 8 bolt with a High Speed Steel drill bit. I have had to do this in my 1992 3.1 Liter Firebird, and on passenger's side, too. Use a centerpunch to ***** a hole in the very middle of the bolt, and start with a fairly small bit, like maybe a 1/8th inch. Drill all the way through what is left of the bolt in the head. After this, then you can increase the size of the drill bit until just before you hit the threads in the block. Then use an easy-out to try to remove the bolt. In the worst case, you may have to drill the bolt all the way out and run a tap into the hole.

No matter which way you go, be extremely careful not to break either the drill bit or a tap off in the head. Both of those are truly hardened (40 to 50 Rockwell) and will have to be annealed to be removed. Grade 8 bolts, although harder than plain old bolts, are still only about 28 to 30 Rockwell hardness. Hope that this helps you get the bolt out. If you do mess up badly, it can always be overdrilled and a helicoil added to bring it back to original size, or just overdrill all of the holes and retap them to go to the next size of bolt.

 

tungsten carbide. cool stuff

 

I haven't gotten it off yet.. trying to think of a way to get the bolts off that connect it to the exhaust pipe.. sliding under the car seems like the only option but I don't have jackstands and even if I do it seems like my jack wouldn't even take the car up high enough for them...

 

You should use air tools.
One perfect twist gets it out easily.
If it breaks, go to wrecking yard to get more. Usually the ones come out easy with vise grips.