Exhaust Manifold bolts

Dunlap is where I learned to ski some 25 years ago. There have been three floods since then and the hazards have changed locations a few times. Most of them are maked now (until the next flood). The stumps aren't the only problems, there's a concrete waterfront sitting out in water where there used to be a salom course, there's a sandbar where there used to be a ski jump and it's shallow in some places that weren't shallow before.

Our new house is up in the narrow part of the river. It's great to ski up there on weekday mornings--the water is like glass. There are a lot of wakeboarders churning it up on the weekends! But our house is protected by a small island (those big wakes reek havoc on the water fronts).
Anyway, I got some new bolts and I'm going to put them on Sunday morning, then spend the afternoon playing. I went with the gold irradium bolts (or some maketing word) with the allen wrench head. The deminsions (for the Commander 351-- with the header type manifold) are 3/8" dia, 16 threads/inch and 1" long. Next project, the wiring (dash and engine).

Lake Dunlap. I grew up I couple of miles down river from where we're moving. My wife's grandparents had a house on the other side of the lake (HWY 46 side--Highway from I-10 to New Braunfels). We're living above Landa Park now. Our new house is pretty close to town, not far past the public boat ramp. I suspect we can tube the Comal River, stay in until it joins the Guadalupe and end up at the dock in about three hours. Then have a little lunch and go skiing. However I'm not looking forward to packing and moving -- any volunteers?

Good for you. New Braunfels is a very nice town. (And a beautiful area.) Are you on Canyon Lake?

In that case let me say that I manage to throw back a few and appluad the sunsets at the Oasis every now and then. Austin is my #2 favorite city. My son went to UT and still lives there. He likes my '66 as when it was repainted the paint mix was incorrect for red and the deck and side stripe are, accidentally, an almost exact UT Burnt Orange. (Almost the color of the left side bar on this forum.) He keeps asking me to bring it to Lake Austin - he thinks we'll get free beer.

All this is probably in the wrong thread but, who cares?

Hey David, where do you now "dock"? Have you ever thrown back a cold one at Boondogles or T-Bone Tom's?

Jimbo,

If you are near Clear Lake go to Kemah Hardware on Hwy 146 near the Kemah bridge. They cater to the marine community and sell at a much lower price than West Marine.

I agree with all of the above. Grade 5 are not nesessary. I buy them out of habit to make sure I am not getting some ungraded cheap import knock-off. Waste of money? Maybe, but I doubt it. But do go with the stainless if they are available. Ya'll pardon me, I have to run out to my boat and see if the heads on my bolts have shrunk.

Like 79nautique said, you don't need high grade bolts, you don't torque the exhaust bolts very high, I think mine are 15 to 18 ft. lbs. and just a dab of antiseize on the threads.

Well, I just searched the Summit Racing web site and bolts kits for exhaust manifold did not pop up and complete bolt kits are too expensive.

I would purchase stainless steel bolts and lock washers from a local hardware store. If those are not available use a Grade 5 bolt with lock washer (and lots of anti-seize). Also, I would use only Fel-Pro marine gaskets. (Everyone on the forum will probably agree with me on that.)

Some manifolds may require the use of a bolt other than a hex-head type because of space problems. Yours? I dunno. I use hex-head bolts whenever possible just because I have tools to fit them.

I cannot imagine why your heads would have different size bolts in them. Do not use metric bolts. They may be close enough to seem to be the same size but they are not.

I changed the exhaust gasket due to a leak on one side of the motor. The side I changed had regular 7/16" head bolts about 1-1/4" long. The other side had hex-head or allen wrench type bolts that were either 8 mm or 5/16" (both seemed to fit equally well). I didn't take those out. The ones I removed were rusted pretty badly on the heads but thankfully the previous owner used anti-sieze and they came out nicely.

I want to replace the bolts. Should I use just regular bolts from the hardware store or are there special bolts I should get? Should I go with the hex-head type or stick with the conventional ones?
Thanks!
James