Hey together,

this is my first post, and I would like to start with 2 questions

But first things first, I'm driving a 1989 7.5l 460 efi F250 2wd which is my first us car and also my childhood dream!

Question 1: It was leaking a bit at the exhaust manifold when I bought it. had the gasket changed to a new, metal one. drove off from the garage, after 10 miles the leaking sounds came back. I guess the manifold would have needed some smoothing?! just can't find the leak for clarifying. It's definately on the drivers' side. Some guys told me it's totally normal with the old Fords..But I won't accept that

Question 2: I think about changing the cat from the stock one (like this Walker® - Ford F-250 1989 Direct-Fit Catalytic Converter ) to another one: MagnaFlow 200 Zeller Sportkat Katalysator FORD USA F250 5.8 76 mm Y10 | eBay

Now the stock one does have 2 pipes on the top. the other one doesn't have them. what to do? any clues?

cheers from bavaria/ germany
Chris

 

The factory did not use gaskets on exhaust manifolds.

The 460's would break a bolt, that would allow the manifold to flex and leak. The leak would erode away at the cast iron. NO gasket in the world will fix a damaged exhaust manifold surface. It might for a few minutes, but it will just blow out. Only real fix is to replace the manifold(or have it re surfaced).

The factory cat hooks to the Y pipe which has two pipes(one from each side). You would need to fab up something to hook them up and get to a single pipe to be able to use that Mangaflow cat.

 

Hey Freightrain,
thanks a lot for the quick response. Yeah, as I expected, the manifold probably is flexed. will have it checked at my garage tomorrow. was trying to get all done at an "us-car specialist"..only thing they're specialised in was doing nothing than bull****.

Idea behind the cat thing is that I would like to lift the exhaust system a bit, as it is fairly close to the ground..

 

btw, could you help me with which bolts I need for the manifold to replace? think they should be of 0.33" thickness, but dan't find right ones. Hardware Stud Double-Ended Stud Parts | RockAuto

 

This should hopefully be what you need:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/r...view/make/ford

 

Take note of the reviews, there was a recent thread with the same issues mentioned in a 1 star.

 

its possible that the manifolds were milled so much that the bolts bottomed out in the chase before actually clamping...I've seen this before in all sorts of applications from manifolds to cylinder heads.

of course, they could also just as easily be garbage design.

I always use stainless bolts for headers or manifolds; they'll be the last bolts you buy, and retorque or removal will never be an issue. theyre not that expensive either.

 

Hey guys, thanks a lot for the great advice! really appreciate your help!
Would those fit as well? https://www.summitracing.com/int/par...view/make/ford

I attached some shots..just found out the preowner teared off the egr and plugged it. great work..

 

Those bolts will not work, they are meant for header flanges not the stock manifold.

 

You can take your bolts to fastenal or even hd to get the bolts you need

 

(did anyone notice he is in Germany? )

 

:P yeah, no worries..getting parts here is more like treasure hunt or spending a fortune on shipping costs.
I'll order at rockauto.com; they do have the bolt kit @lead head mentioned, but I'm just not 100% sure if it's right and how many kits I'd need.
Point is, there are always 2 stud bolts to every cylinder as far as I can see it. the bolt kit consists of screw bolt and stud bolts..dunno where to put the screw bolts..that's why I posted the pics as well.

 

I'm thinking that they used studs only for ease of factory assembly. That also gives them a stud to mount other items(like brackets) after the manifold is bolted on.

Yes, you will need 16 total(2 for each cylinder). Typical thread for most manifolds of this vintage are 3/8"-16.

 

There's your leak. Time to try to braze it back together.

 

The manifold entry is already blocked..I'll try to find out where the tube starts and if it blows as well.if this would be the leak, I would be happy as .... :P