So we were removing some manifolds from an old engine and some of the bolts snapped off. Luckily they are all out and non are in the heads but is there a way that i can get them off without removing the heads??
As always TIA Sicky

And the one with the holes in it was me trying to use that easy out thing....

 

Heat them good then try a small pipe wrench (6 inch) on the stud. If a welder is handy you could try welding a nut ont the stud. The center one does not go all the way thru so it may be more difficult. Again use heat and try and turn it out.

 

Soak them well with penetrating oil or a mix of acetone & trans fluid fof a couple days first. Welding a nut on the remaining part is a good idea.

Don't worry too much if the top bolt over the center port doesn't come out. The manifolds/headers won't leak without it.

 

Heat is your friend. Warm up around the bolts with a torch and use a real set of vice grips (not the chinese knock off crap. you can never get them tight enough) very tightly clamp them and it should brake loose. If you have a welder weld a nut on to the stud. This does two things. The heat breaks it loose and the nut give you an easy way to back it out.

EDIT: you guys type faster them me LOL

 

Time to buy a torch i guess and borrow someones welder lol. But until then i will spray PB Blaster on it lol

 

If you use vice-grips, make sure they have good sharp jaw serrations. Olds worn ones just slip and cause more foul language to ensue.

 

Heat is the trick, but warm them up is an understatement. You have to use an acetylene torch and heat the surrounding area until it glows orange, then they twist right out, if when removing them they start to tighten back up heat them up again because it's cooling off faster than you are moving. Always have a bucket of water and some wet rags just in case you set something of fire during the process. I've done this many times and it works almost every time.

 

This was already discussed at length here.

This is the gist of it:


- Eric

 

Sicky, it was mentioned above to use vice grips...please don't! Use a PIPE wrench, it is designed to function on smooth surface pipe. The harder you "wrench" on it, the tighter it grabs the bolt. Vice grips don't grab as well.

After it is soaked, try the PIPE wrench. It won't slip, just be cognizant of how much torque you are putting on the bolt...you don't want it to break off inside the head.

Steve

 

I recently broke some of those myself , I beleive one side is righty and the other is lefty when you go to remove the bolts ... remember that

 

Now don't go trying to mess with the guy, Bry!



- Eric

 

I'm going through this now on my 55. I thought I only had a simple exhaust leak, turned into a nightmare with three bolts broken less than flush with the head and there is no room to work on the left hand side, so the head had to come off. The bolts were then drilled with a small hole clear through the bolt then heat and a easy-out. All went well except my car is again spread all over someones else's shop. ....Tedd

 

Does anyone know if MAPP gas will get hot enough to remove these?

Not everyone has acetylene but most of us have a propane torch that can be used with MAPP gas.

 

MAYBE.

But you might just be urinating into the barometric disturbance.

MAPP / Acetylene would do it.

Bernz-O-Matic makes a tiny crappy torch that runs on propane-torch-sized tanks that might be just big enough for this sort of job for something like $20-40, but if you get one, get extra oxygen (at $10 a tank) because it don't last long

- Eric

 

I would say a propane torch can usually get things hot enough. Sometimes even heating they spraying with penetrant and heating again will work.... at least you can give the propane torch a try, cant hurt just dont snap the stud off if it does not start to move!

 

After you get it good and hot, try touching a candle to the bolt and let the wax wick into the threads. You'll be suprised at how much easier they are to remove.

 

A propane torch isn't going to work. I also wouldn't soak it in PB Blaster it just increases the risk of starting a fire when you put heat to it. You can rent a torch, you don't have to buy one.

 

I do not want to argue but you really dont know if a propane torch will do the trick or not. Every situation is different... I respect your opinion as I hope you do others. i too have done this job many times and a propane torch worked well. I would not have a bucket of water handy to douse anything due to the risk of cracking hot cast iron with cool water. As always just my opinion.

 

I agree that there are jobs that a propane torch would NOT work , but it has never let me down so far ... always got the bolt off , but it took a combination of things.

 

I have found the heat and spray penetration oil on to work for me too. shocks the bolt and lets it back out with out breaking the stud off . Map gas (yellow bottles ) heat up more than the blue tanks.

 

hmmm, the engine looks familiar

 

As far as the propane question goes, I would say that the quality of your nozzle will probably affect your success rate with a propane or MAPP torch (and MAPP is a bit hotter, and transfers a lot more heat per square inch of flame) significantly.
A lot of nozzles are cheap and tend to spread the flame out too much for an application like this. A nozzle that concentrates the flame core will do a better job, and might make the difference between success and failure with propane.

- Eric

 

X2 , The torch nozzle I use to use was from the 70's and was kinda wide on the end , but I obtained a better one later one with a narrow tip and it does seem to work better .

 

Heat plus 1 of these http://www.google.com/products/catal...ed=0CHUQ8wIwAg#

 

Tried the heat trick with a torch and the yellow bottle gas and nuffin.... soaking it in Blaster overnight but i cant seem to get any of them to budge. except the one i broke in the head...

 

Needs to be hotter .

- Eric