i was driving around to day and met an ol friend at the shop today, he has a 80's model firebird with 305 stock nothing fancy. well nicer interior then mine...hes got some kind of power issue,, smoke's when he gives it throttel. just dont seem to have as much power as he should have with his auto matictrans..well point here is i raced him with a farly low mile rebuilt 3.1 in my camaro R/S also auto matic, we raced about four blocks i one a bout a good 15 feet to the finnish. then i noticed that my ride was a little louder then usual,, so i checked it out thinking the worst...but come to find out im missing a exsaust man bolt on the right side... "musta came loose and fell out.." " .now im hoping i can just put a bolt back in it without having to replace the gasket,,, Also i was wandering if any one could tell what size bolt i need thanks.....????????

 

Your missing one bolt? You could take out one of the other bolts and head to a hardware store. I'm not sure what the exhaust manifold bolts look like, but if they are "normal" a parts store/hardware store might have one. Just take one of them in and show them, they'll match it up for ya.
Concerning your friend, if he is getting black smoke upon punching the throttle, it usually means the motor is getting too much fuel. Good luck bud!
-Greg

 

sounds like the carbeurated version of the 305 and the carbs they came were s*1T a buddy has the same problem. we are pulling his 305 and putting a 2.8 in for gas mileage. may even put the 3.1 in i was gonna put in mine durring the build. it has been proven time and time again, a stock 2.8 or 3.1 will smoke a stock 305, heck i proved that this weekend. dude looked at me and couldn't believe it. i now got alot of respect from him and alot of the import guys just standing around with their turbo civics and integras!

 

i had a 87 formula with a 4bbl 305 stock(at least for a short time) and that would leave a 20ft trail of rubber if i mashed the gas and would pull 75mph in 2nd gear with an auto. and that has over 180,000 miles on it. my friends dad did some work on it so we could drag and i couldnt mash the gas on the road anymore. 440hp at the wheels can be hard to handle at times, especially in the snow. i miss that damn car

 

not stock though. i got a 70 mustang, that doesn't mean it is stock. it even got the stock engine block(with some major modification) i can't get 1/4 throttle with it without smoking the 18" wide rear drag radials i use for street driving. yes the car is tubbed. i was talking about a stock 5.0(not a mustang as they are only wannabe 5.0's) against a stock 2.8 or 3.1.

 

Got a couple choices.
Hit wrecking yard for the bolt and score them all for "free" or find a new one.
Gaskets....
You MAY get lucky & then.....
BUT sooner in goes that bolt the less chance of manifold damage.
These manifolds are known for cracking problems.
The bolts size is a 10mm.
IF your bolt head cracked off, also common, remove the whole manifold from car.
IF ya remove the exhaust manifold, do add new fel pro gaskets to both sides. My manifold cracked, I replaced gasket & was fine until the motor blew many miles later on.

 

if it was the rear bolt on the passenger side it is very common. the tough part may be if the bolt snap off and wiggles out. if u find urself in the situation where u will need to be taking the manifolds off, u might as well get the pacesetter headers and some locking header bolts and go all out with it. i had that same bolt missing and when i had the shop put my headers on, 4 bolts were cracked in the heads and only that rear one had fallen out.

 

karl, what pitch thread is that, 10mm is the outside dia, but as you know, they make different pitches of thread too. i may do that this weekend only after i get a new header gasket set. speaking of, does anyone know where i can get a set of header gaskets, not the manifold gaskets. i know that i am going to have to drill and tap the old studs out but i really dont' want to fly by wire unless i have to!

 

Bolts crack, not due to heat (yes the bolts are aged that way) but by people floor jacking up cars at wrong point. It is an "easy mistake" to make.

 

86blue, why get a set of short tube headers when you can have a set of hooker super comp long tube headers? i just got a set from a friend from pennsylvania. i plan on putting them on this weekend if i can find the gaskets. the long tube headers are smaller in dia than the shorty headers, but they promote better flow. better flow means better horsepower and more torque up high, i drag race, i need that power up high.

 

they dont make the long tube headers for these cars anymore. u would have to find someone with a set that will sell them like u did. the pacesetters and the pf&e headers are the only available right now.

 

i think that i am gonna be having a local welding shop reproduce some of them. so if you want a set, let me know. i will get a price and email it to you. i think that i am gonna have them make the primaries a little larger though

 

I already have a set of the pacesetters installed and they suit me fine. could definitely be a good market if u can get some of the long tube headers made up.

 

i know, maybe i will go after this weekend sometime next week and find out how much it will run to make say 10 sets for the first run. if they go well, then i may have them do more. i think that i am gonna have them do some out of carbon steel and some out of stainless. the problem will be getting someplace to do the mandrell bends on there.

 

can some one give me a link to the pacesetters i need for my 91 3.1 r/s

THANKS

 

sorry i deleted the link that i had when i bought my new set of headers. i can tell you that summit has them for the cheapest i could find at 209.?? just do a search for them on there and then do a search for them on the pacesetter website. the p/n and price from pacesetter is almost at the bottom of the page.

 

i know the last part of the part number is 1206. i dont know if this will apply to u, but they rnt smog legal for the 3.1 as they dont have the AIR hook ups, only the egr

 

there you go gottfuel, go to summit and do a search or go to pacesetter and do a search

 

for some odd reason, pacesetter will actually charge like 300+ dollars where summit only charges 209(217 with handling). summit may have a ship date like a month away. call them on the phone and they can have pacesetter drop ship them like the next day and u will have them in less than a week

 

ive been lookin around and i cant find pacesetter headers for my 3.1 but i do see that they have the headers for a 2.8 liter.. also im confused,, are the pacesetter's leagle? im in cali

 

yes for the 2.8...no for the 3.1, especially in cali...the 2.8s will fit the 3.1 since its the same block, but since it doesnt have the AIR hook ups it is not smog legal. i believe that someone said they r trying to convince them to make legal ones for the 3.1 but i dont know if it will ever happen...sorry buddy

 

yup the cali guys are kinda screwed, but maybe rftc knows of a kit out there!