Not sure if this is the correct area for this thread-but anyways-

Upon disassembly of our 1963 Starfire 394 a few of the bolts have broken-namely two on the intake manifold that hold the power steering bracket and two on the drivers side exhaust manifold, where the heat riser mounts.

The question here is- what is the proper method for busted bolt extraction and does it matter the method on the intake manifold or the exhaust manifold???

 

The exhaust bolts don't surprise me. The long water pump bolts wouldn't have. The power steering bracket bolts surprise me.

If they snapped off flush. you'll probably have to drill them out. Plenty of penetrant, or I've known people who melted candle wax into the threads, will help. Heat will help a lot. If you have a reversible drill, heat, lube and reverse rotation may get it out without a lot of heartburn. A hammer drill will really work wonders.

The manifold? I'd about as soon let an exhaust shop worry with that. They see it all the time and know tricks of the trade to get them out, and usually involves welding a bolt onto the remaining stud and then heating it red hot to get the seized threads to break loose.

If you're tearing it down for a rebuild, let the machine shop worry with it.

 

The bolts are not broken off flush, so I would think some heat and plenty of penetrating oil might be able to get with a great pair of vice grips?

I do like the idea of letting the machine shops deal with any other broken bolts, especially if there are any on the heads. Unfortunately we are not having any machine work done on the intake manifold.

 

If you heat the broken bolt,you won't be able to drill it,the heat hardens the metal.Use a left hand drill and drill a small hole ,1/8 bit works, into broken bolt make sure you drill it dead center and straight!!then get a drill bit just slightly smaller then the bolt size[test for proper size by inserting bit into a bolt hole of the same size ,it shoud not touch the sides of hole a little loose is good] then after drilling use a pointed punch and collaspe the sides of the broken bolt in on itself.many times the bolt will come out when drilling with the larger bit.YOU MUST DRILL DEAD CENTER AND STRAIGHT!!!good luck

 

greenslade- thanks for the response- I guess I am a little confused about "left handed drill"??? Could you elaborate on that?

Thanks for your input....

 

a left hand drill bit will drill in the reverse direction. many times it will grab when you get to the other side and unscrew the bolt. i find that they work very well in many places but not on a real rusty bolt. the best thing i find there is heat or machine it out. when using heat, don't heat the bolt. i good quality oil helps also. i like Kroil the best but can be hard to find.

 

That is what I thought you were mentioning- a left hand drill bit. Thank you very much. now that makes a lot more sense. Use left handed drill bits and reverse on the drill...