How do I get these off?

Well, its manifold time and I have a HUGE concern. My port side manifold is sooooo corroded that there is nothing left of the bolt heads.

I'm planning on grinding the heads off, pulling the manifold off, and then seeing if there is enough left of the bolt to get a vice grip on to slowly back it out.

If the shaft of the bolt breaks I think I'm screwed. I've been hitting them with penetrating oil for about a week now and someone suggested heating the area around the bolt with a torch, but that doesn't seem like it would be good for the head.

I'm all ears to suggestions on all or part of this job.

Chris

How's about chopping the head off with a small cutting blade on a dremmel then using vice grips to get it out?
Failing that, welding a hex bit to the bolt?
Or using a small Irwin easy-out?

Resist all urges to use an easy out. If you have a mig welder weld a nut on to what you have first and see if you can get them out.The heat from welding will help break the rust.If that don't work grind the head off remove the manifold and then weld a nut on. Replace with stainless and use anti seize. Some may come out with a vice grip but be careful not to mess them up so much that you cannot weld a nut on.

I just cut off 4 of those, cut off wheel on a die grinder and some paitence is all it takes. If you don't want the manifolds it a little easier, it's hard not to saw into them a little. I also broke the spark plugs off on purpose to keep the motor sealed while I worked, pipe plugs would work for that too.   I didn't remove the bolts from the heads, but I got a ground off head bolt out of the block and anothe out of the exhaust manifold. I used acetone and ATF on both and let them sit for at least a day. They hardly put up a fight when I got around to taking them out. If you have a welder you can tack a nut on them to make it even easier.

Good info gents. I'm going by the boat one more time today on my way to work and ill hit it with the ATF mix.

I've been warned my several people already not to attempt an easy out due to bolt hardness. Ill see if I can get my welding dude to tack a nut on.

Next weekend will be d-day for this project.

Chris

Well the bolts have been soaking in oil all week so I came back to them today for a test.

It didn't go well.

All I've done so far is the riser bolts (haven't even touched the manifold bolts which are in 10X worse shape).

Broke 3/4 after using ATF/Acetone mix and sitting for 4 days. These don't matter because the lowers are garbage anyway but it makes me nervous for the big show.

The risers are in great shape but the lowers are cracked due to winterization from the PO.

I will be trying the welding technique for sure.

I've also been reading a ton of info on ford sites about the miracles of PB Blaster. Anyone want to chime in on the ATF/Acetone vs. PB Blaster oils????

Frankenotter wrote: The risers are in great shape but the lowers are cracked due to winterization from the PO. I will be trying the welding technique for sure. I've also been reading a ton of info on ford sites about the miracles of PB Blaster. Anyone want to chime in on the ATF/Acetone vs. PB Blaster oils????

8122pbrainard wrote: Here's the list of torque requirements copied from the other thread: Penetrating oil ..... Average load None ...................... 516 pounds WD-40 ................... 238 pounds PB Blaster ............... 214 pounds Liquid Wrench ......... 127 pounds Kano Kroil .............. 106 pounds ATF-Acetone mix.......53 pounds I don't even consider WD40 to be a penetrating oil so that puts PB at the bottom for me. Kroil is a on line order only so when I was taking my 1927 Flexifour apart and trying to break the rusted pistons loose, I did pick up a can of PB. A week went by with no luck and then the Kroil came in. The next day after using some of the Kroil, all four pistons were loose. I ended up using the PB as a honing lubricant!

Evidently the Ford guys on those sites fall for "Madison avenue marketing" BS and they shop at HD!!

If you fail at getting them out, a machine shop with an EDM can burn them out. It may be cheaper than a new set of manifolds and risers.

the way i weld nuts on is . grind the top of the old bolt head put the new nut on and weld the hole , if you have the option on say a 3/8 manifold bolt i try to use a 7/16 or even a 1/2 " nut over it you have more hole to weld. if you have difficulty getting the nut to stick try and die grind a slot into the top of the bolt so the weld will get into that .

i have a pristine set of 428 cj heads from my old jet drive, i bet you could find a bb ford short block to fit in there

So maybe someone has already asked, but if the manifolds are cracked due to the PO no winterizing the boat...how do you know they drained the block? Maybe I can learn something :)

got ya...just caught my attention and I hadn't seen anyone else ask :)

Well the day has arrived. I hacked into the manifolds today with mixed results.

The good news ----- 15 out of 16 bolts came out!!!!

The bad news ----- 15 out of 16 bolts came out.....

All of the bolts forward of the Aft-most cylinders came off really nice after being soaked in ATF/Acetone for a week.

The two most aft cylinder bolts (both port and starboard sides), however, were too far gone to get an allen head in.

I started by taking a cutting head on the dremmel and little by little removing the head of the bolts until I could make out the gap between them and the manifold.







The manifold popped right off exposing my two stems.




I took a chance and put a shot of oil and a vice grip on the first one and it literally spun right out.


The same was not true of the other. As I put a vice grip on it, the threads fell apart and I was too afraid to try again. You can see it in the picture above just above my finger.

I guess my last attempt at getting this one off is going to be the welding method. I hit it with ATF/Acetone about 10 more times before I left today in hopes that it will be ready next weekend when I come back to it.

On the starboard side I was not as gentle because the bolts were in much better shape. Here I used a pneumatic cutting wheel and went to town.


When I got the manifold off, I put a vice grip on the stem and they came right out nice and easy.

So.....literally one bolt lays between me and boating season (in theory). Until it comes out my nerves will be shot for the next week or so.

You"re doing good you've only got one left and you haven't resorted to the real serious stuff yet. Weld a nut on and I bet the last one will pop out easy.

Chris and Chris, was this boat on Delhi? I remember one similar on a lift up there.