Cursed exhaust
#1
Cursed exhaust
About a year ago I put hedman headers on my truck. 3 studs on the passenger side broke causing and exhaust leak. Me and my dad drilled and tapped all 3 BUT unfortunately the tap broke off in the very last hole which happens to be the very front bolt on the pass side. I've been told to can either
A) get a tap extractor
B) take the head out, put a drift punch to the tap and hit it real hard which will cause it to shatter or,
C) get a diamond tipped drill bit and drill out the tap.
Oh btw the tap has been I there for about 5-6 months xD
A) get a tap extractor
B) take the head out, put a drift punch to the tap and hit it real hard which will cause it to shatter or,
C) get a diamond tipped drill bit and drill out the tap.
Oh btw the tap has been I there for about 5-6 months xD
#2
I've never heard of a tap extractor, but if you can find one I would try it. Otherwise I would take off the head and try to work the tap back out. If that didn't work I would take it to a machine shop & have it done. Then I would remove the headers & put the stock manifolds back on with new bolts. IMO headers on a Bronco, or other heavy rig, are not going to gain enough power or MPG to be of any benefit unless you have a really built performance motor. The cost, maintenance, and added heat under the hood offset any gain you might see. My 2 cents. Good luck.
#3
About a year ago I put hedman headers on my truck. 3 studs on the passenger side broke causing and exhaust leak. Me and my dad drilled and tapped all 3 BUT unfortunately the tap broke off in the very last hole which happens to be the very front bolt on the pass side. I've been told to can either
A) get a tap extractor
B) take the head out, put a drift punch to the tap and hit it real hard which will cause it to shatter or,
C) get a diamond tipped drill bit and drill out the tap.
Oh btw the tap has been I there for about 5-6 months xD
A) get a tap extractor
B) take the head out, put a drift punch to the tap and hit it real hard which will cause it to shatter or,
C) get a diamond tipped drill bit and drill out the tap.
Oh btw the tap has been I there for about 5-6 months xD
I've never heard of a tap extractor, but if you can find one I would try it. Otherwise I would take off the head and try to work the tap back out. If that didn't work I would take it to a machine shop & have it done. Then I would remove the headers & put the stock manifolds back on with new bolts. IMO headers on a Bronco, or other heavy rig, are not going to gain enough power or MPG to be of any benefit unless you have a really built performance motor. The cost, maintenance, and added heat under the hood offset any gain you might see. My 2 cents. Good luck.
#4
#7
I got curious & started looking. Sears has tap extractors on-line, maybe in stores too. You might be able to get one locally if you are near enough to a Sears, or other store that carries Craftsman tools. Our local Ace hardwares have a decent selection of Craftsman & other good tools.
Dylan, I didn't mean to start a controversy over headers & such, but a 302/5.0 that came in a truck is a "truck" motor. As you can see I have two 5.0s. In a Mustang you could get a "performance" motor. Mucho difference in the two in "stock" form. As I said, a "built performance motor" could enjoy headers in a truck. The word "built" is typically used to signify a motor that has been enhanced for performance. When a motor is bored oversize, stroked, cam & timing changed, head work done, etc, etc, it has been enhanced. The extent of "enhancement" determines it's output, and all have to work together to obtain "maximum" output. The old saying about how fast do you want to spend, or something like that applies. I've tried to keep up with the trends for "performance" & "built" type motors for over 50 years. My first "built" motor was a y-block in a '57 Ford Fairlane 2 dr ht. Not usually known for speed. At the time, Chevy 327/4 on the floor cars were the thing to beat on the street. I ran ported & polished heads, cam, 3 2s, Hedman headers, & a 4 speed hydromatic trans. I was almost never beat on the street, & never beat on top end either. My speedometer pegged at 120 still in 3rd. I never totally wound it out in 4th, just enough to stay ahead of whatever was behind me. I was told by some guys their speedo went to 130 & I could stay well ahead of them. The first new car I bought was a '66 GTO. Factory "performance" motor. (with cast iron exhaust) Just as much fun to drive, but there were bigger & faster motors on the street by then. Sorry to have hijacked the thread, I'll try to stay off the soapbox.Hope the tap comes out soon.
Dylan, I didn't mean to start a controversy over headers & such, but a 302/5.0 that came in a truck is a "truck" motor. As you can see I have two 5.0s. In a Mustang you could get a "performance" motor. Mucho difference in the two in "stock" form. As I said, a "built performance motor" could enjoy headers in a truck. The word "built" is typically used to signify a motor that has been enhanced for performance. When a motor is bored oversize, stroked, cam & timing changed, head work done, etc, etc, it has been enhanced. The extent of "enhancement" determines it's output, and all have to work together to obtain "maximum" output. The old saying about how fast do you want to spend, or something like that applies. I've tried to keep up with the trends for "performance" & "built" type motors for over 50 years. My first "built" motor was a y-block in a '57 Ford Fairlane 2 dr ht. Not usually known for speed. At the time, Chevy 327/4 on the floor cars were the thing to beat on the street. I ran ported & polished heads, cam, 3 2s, Hedman headers, & a 4 speed hydromatic trans. I was almost never beat on the street, & never beat on top end either. My speedometer pegged at 120 still in 3rd. I never totally wound it out in 4th, just enough to stay ahead of whatever was behind me. I was told by some guys their speedo went to 130 & I could stay well ahead of them. The first new car I bought was a '66 GTO. Factory "performance" motor. (with cast iron exhaust) Just as much fun to drive, but there were bigger & faster motors on the street by then. Sorry to have hijacked the thread, I'll try to stay off the soapbox.Hope the tap comes out soon.
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#8
I got curious & started looking. Sears has tap extractors on-line, maybe in stores too. You might be able to get one locally if you are near enough to a Sears, or other store that carries Craftsman tools. Our local Ace hardwares have a decent selection of Craftsman & other good tools.
Dylan, I didn't mean to start a controversy over headers & such, but a 302/5.0 that came in a truck is a "truck" motor. As you can see I have two 5.0s. In a Mustang you could get a "performance" motor. Mucho difference in the two in "stock" form. As I said, a "built performance motor" could enjoy headers in a truck. The word "built" is typically used to signify a motor that has been enhanced for performance. When a motor is bored oversize, stroked, cam & timing changed, head work done, etc, etc, it has been enhanced. The extent of "enhancement" determines it's output, and all have to work together to obtain "maximum" output. The old saying about how fast do you want to spend, or something like that applies. I've tried to keep up with the trends for "performance" & "built" type motors for over 50 years. My first "built" motor was a y-block in a '57 Ford Fairlane 2 dr ht. Not usually known for speed. At the time, Chevy 327/4 on the floor cars were the thing to beat on the street. I ran ported & polished heads, cam, 3 2s, Hedman headers, & a 4 speed hydromatic trans. I was almost never beat on the street, & never beat on top end either. My speedometer pegged at 120 still in 3rd. I never totally wound it out in 4th, just enough to stay ahead of whatever was behind me. I was told by some guys their speedo went to 130 & I could stay well ahead of them. The first new car I bought was a '66 GTO. Factory "performance" motor. (with cast iron exhaust) Just as much fun to drive, but there were bigger & faster motors on the street by then. Sorry to have hijacked the thread, I'll try to stay off the soapbox.Hope the tap comes out soon.
Dylan, I didn't mean to start a controversy over headers & such, but a 302/5.0 that came in a truck is a "truck" motor. As you can see I have two 5.0s. In a Mustang you could get a "performance" motor. Mucho difference in the two in "stock" form. As I said, a "built performance motor" could enjoy headers in a truck. The word "built" is typically used to signify a motor that has been enhanced for performance. When a motor is bored oversize, stroked, cam & timing changed, head work done, etc, etc, it has been enhanced. The extent of "enhancement" determines it's output, and all have to work together to obtain "maximum" output. The old saying about how fast do you want to spend, or something like that applies. I've tried to keep up with the trends for "performance" & "built" type motors for over 50 years. My first "built" motor was a y-block in a '57 Ford Fairlane 2 dr ht. Not usually known for speed. At the time, Chevy 327/4 on the floor cars were the thing to beat on the street. I ran ported & polished heads, cam, 3 2s, Hedman headers, & a 4 speed hydromatic trans. I was almost never beat on the street, & never beat on top end either. My speedometer pegged at 120 still in 3rd. I never totally wound it out in 4th, just enough to stay ahead of whatever was behind me. I was told by some guys their speedo went to 130 & I could stay well ahead of them. The first new car I bought was a '66 GTO. Factory "performance" motor. (with cast iron exhaust) Just as much fun to drive, but there were bigger & faster motors on the street by then. Sorry to have hijacked the thread, I'll try to stay off the soapbox.Hope the tap comes out soon.
Anyways i think if you got some big vise grips and clamped it down then tapped it with a hammer that might twist it loose. Also maybe you could drill a small hole through the side of the tap and cram a small screw driver or something in there to use as a sort of T style lever. I don't know how much tap material you have to work with nor if a traditional drill bit can get through those. Good luck
#9
When the factory prioritizes performance over 20yr longevity they use headers too.
For the OP, one trick if the break is outside of the head removing the header and welding a nut onto it will give you something to grab.
Cheers,
- Jeff
#10
GruesomeJeans... Taps are a hardened metal that SOMEHOW manages to snap when you twist it just a 1/32" too far so I smashed the crap out of it with a drift punch and got some of it to break out. Then I drilled out the hole and now all I have to do is get a tap/bolt that will work in the new hole and NO MORE EXHAUST LEAK!!!!! then all I have to do is hook up my egr tube using copper tubing
#11
So the broken tap is out?
One trick if your carfull, to get out a broken tap, bolt, etc is to use a cutting torch. If you carefully and quickly heat ONLY the tap the heat wont travel to the head enough to damage it so when you do a quick pop of oxygen on the tap it will blow it out leaving clean original threads.
If you have drilled it out larger then the old thread then I recomend a heli-coil to fix the threads back to the original size.
Also exhaust leaks suck, I strongly recomend gaskets from Remflex, they are the shiznit of exhaust gaskets. http://catalog.remflex.com/
Hijack section;
Darn right headers will help BOTH power and economy, IF done right. Yes under hood heat is a factor, but that can easily be delt with. The issue most have is they put on WAY TO BIG headers, and exhaust. This is made even worse on slower RPM truck engines. The ideal that can rather easily be done is small stepped tube equal length header with a port match on the head and a equal length Y-pipe.
One trick if your carfull, to get out a broken tap, bolt, etc is to use a cutting torch. If you carefully and quickly heat ONLY the tap the heat wont travel to the head enough to damage it so when you do a quick pop of oxygen on the tap it will blow it out leaving clean original threads.
If you have drilled it out larger then the old thread then I recomend a heli-coil to fix the threads back to the original size.
Also exhaust leaks suck, I strongly recomend gaskets from Remflex, they are the shiznit of exhaust gaskets. http://catalog.remflex.com/
Hijack section;
Darn right headers will help BOTH power and economy, IF done right. Yes under hood heat is a factor, but that can easily be delt with. The issue most have is they put on WAY TO BIG headers, and exhaust. This is made even worse on slower RPM truck engines. The ideal that can rather easily be done is small stepped tube equal length header with a port match on the head and a equal length Y-pipe.
#12
Well my exhaust is cursed too.. the last bolt on the passenger side of my manifolds sheared off in the head.. So that is going to be fun to remove. Hopefully it isn't too hard since my truck is my daily driver and I can't have it down for tool long. I bought a bolt extracter from Oreillys but have yet to use it since I had to cut the y pipe with a hack saw to remove the manifold since the collector bolts wouldn't budge. I'm replacing the whole system so I can cut up my exhaust as much as I want.. but that stupid Y-pipe is a complete pain to remove and now I have to cut it again to slide it out...
Fordman, did you ever get that old bolt out and fix your leak? I hope I can get mine out and not have to retap the hole.. because that sounds a little out of my league but who knows maybe its not too hard. I just can't wait to put my Bassani headers and Y-pipe on... just resting before spending 30 more minutes cutting away at the Y-pipe some more....
Fordman, did you ever get that old bolt out and fix your leak? I hope I can get mine out and not have to retap the hole.. because that sounds a little out of my league but who knows maybe its not too hard. I just can't wait to put my Bassani headers and Y-pipe on... just resting before spending 30 more minutes cutting away at the Y-pipe some more....
#13
Well it looks like there is no getting the broken bolt out from my heads... I don't have the time or knowledge to take off the heads or money to pay someone to do it to extract that last bolt so I hope my headers don't leak with one less bolt...
The gasket that came with the Bassani headers seems pretty nice so I'm gonna pray for the best!
The gasket that came with the Bassani headers seems pretty nice so I'm gonna pray for the best!
#14
Well my exhaust is cursed too.. the last bolt on the passenger side of my manifolds sheared off in the head.. So that is going to be fun to remove. Hopefully it isn't too hard since my truck is my daily driver and I can't have it down for tool long. I bought a bolt extracter from Oreillys but have yet to use it since I had to cut the y pipe with a hack saw to remove the manifold since the collector bolts wouldn't budge. I'm replacing the whole system so I can cut up my exhaust as much as I want.. but that stupid Y-pipe is a complete pain to remove and now I have to cut it again to slide it out...
Fordman, did you ever get that old bolt out and fix your leak? I hope I can get mine out and not have to retap the hole.. because that sounds a little out of my league but who knows maybe its not too hard. I just can't wait to put my Bassani headers and Y-pipe on... just resting before spending 30 more minutes cutting away at the Y-pipe some more....
Fordman, did you ever get that old bolt out and fix your leak? I hope I can get mine out and not have to retap the hole.. because that sounds a little out of my league but who knows maybe its not too hard. I just can't wait to put my Bassani headers and Y-pipe on... just resting before spending 30 more minutes cutting away at the Y-pipe some more....
Well it looks like there is no getting the broken bolt out from my heads... I don't have the time or knowledge to take off the heads or money to pay someone to do it to extract that last bolt so I hope my headers don't leak with one less bolt...
The gasket that came with the Bassani headers seems pretty nice so I'm gonna pray for the best!
The gasket that came with the Bassani headers seems pretty nice so I'm gonna pray for the best!
And it WILL leak, you need all eight bolts per side, and the last one, now way you can go without it. What you do depends on your abilties, tools, etc and where the bolt broke.
The last bolt, you mean the one furthest back? Pretty tough to get power tools in there, that's a tough one.
Did it break off close to flush with the head, they usually do? Is there anything sticking out?
What have you done so far? Do you have access to a torch or welder, a mechanic budy, a good exhaust shop, a right angle drill? Can you afford to buy a few tools, tools are always a good investment.
Bottom line, with a little patience, a lot of elbow grease, some tools and knowledge you can get it out. Let me know more about what your working with and I'll provide some knowledge.
#15
bubba my apologies on the time it took to get back to you. I got the tap out but since I didn't put in a heli coil like possum said I now have 3/4" bolt in the very front spot of my passenger side (still no exhaust leak now). yes it is improper and doesn't look right but sadly I do not care. The easiest way to get them out is smack it right dead center with a starting punch and slowly work your way up in drill bits starting from about 1/8" up to the size you need to get the bolt fully out being very careful not to go deeper then the other bolts.
Without all 8 you will burn through gaskets like crazy and yes that is what I did for about 6 months so the cash does add up. but since I am trying my hardest to sell my bronco (with no luck at all) I'm going to leave the 3/4" bolt in there -_-
Without all 8 you will burn through gaskets like crazy and yes that is what I did for about 6 months so the cash does add up. but since I am trying my hardest to sell my bronco (with no luck at all) I'm going to leave the 3/4" bolt in there -_-