Hey Guys,

Heads were machined and reinstalled and now trying to get the exhaust manifolds back on, they're not lining up very easily. The entire driver side went on and lined up except for the top center bolt hole. The passenger side is another story, none of them are lining up and before I try to Tim Allen these things with a pry bar and some of my other favorite tools, I wanted some advice from you guys who have probably been there more than I have.

I have a couple of manifold spreaders but the way the 350 stock manifolds are designed, there's really no space between the flanges for the spreaders to grab ahold. I've hard more negatives than positives about switching to headers so I want to keep the stock manifold but do I disconnect from the pipes and put the manifolds on then reconnect the pipes or is there another method?

It's weird that the drivers side went on fine except for the top center hole and none of the passenger side is cooperating. Is that just a price I pay since the exhaust side of the heads were machined?

 

Not a Chev engine, right?
manifold spreaders are Chev voodoo for poorly designed engines.

All the exhaust manifold to head holes should line up easily, I have NEVER seen issues there. Yes, you should of course put the manifolds on the engine before putting the pipes on the manifolds. Think about it.

Can you test fit the manifolds on a spare head to ensure that the holes match? Worst case, you should be able to drill larger or go in with a die grinder and elongate the offending hole in the manifold a little to get a match.

Chances are, the pipes holding the manifolds in the wrong position is your only problem.

 

Yep, not a Chevy, it's a stock Rocket Olds 350. Thanks for the level set, I was thinking it would line up pretty easy when the heads got put back on but I guess any shifting in the cast iron or the crossover pipe shifted it a couple of millimeters. I'll disconnect from the pipes and then put them on the heads first. I would imagine it would be easier to shift the pipe to fit then end of the manifold rather than the entire manifold to fit the head.

 

^^^This! It would be a miracle if you got them back on doing it the other way.

 

Believe it or not, I pulled the engine several times and with my Sanderson Headers I left them hooked up to the pipes and they bolted right up to the heads. But I agree, in most cases bolting the manifolds to the heads is the best approach.

 

I always appreciate your posts Joe, even the smarta$$ ones. I got half a miracle as the drivers side went on smooth as silk. Of course that gave me the false sense the passenger side would mirror that....nope.