They are item number 10049 on jeff's bronco graveyard. I found the receipt. Says it fits 289,302 and 351w engines. Anyway you are right about not needing them with thick flanges. The shop that installed my headers said they weren't needed and in fact didn't like it they weren't longer. These say for cast heads. There are two others on there and one says for aluminum heads and the other for L&L headers. Whats up with that? OP yeah if your headers have a thick flange the ones i have might not work out for you

 

This is what I pulled out of the head. That threaded piece is a spacer because the bolt was too long. The head threads are fine, but what a way to solve a problem. I put the right bolt in and torqued it down but the leak is still there. Must be the header gasket. If it is blown, I'll just have the shop remove it. I'm dropping it off in the morning at the same shop so they can tell me what it is going to take to fix it. Can they remove the gasket without removing the header from the truck? I mean, can't they just take out all the bolts and slide the gasket out?

 

Yeah, these won't work for me but thanks anyway.

 

I am surprised you could get the standard 9/16" head against the header pipe. I also see metal stuck in the threads (tell tale sign of a stripped hole)

 

I agree with Diesel Brad. The 4-5 threads appear to have metal wrapped around the flights. Looks like the shop didn't do something properly and its gonna need to be helicoiled now.

 

I have yet to find a local exhaust shop that I trust to do anything. This is the kind of work most of them do, whilst charging absurd prices.

If you want something done right...

I understand the OP's gripe about the existing bolts breaking, etc. I have been using an oxy acetylene torch to heat the area around exhaust manifold bolts for years (when they are suspect), and have never broken a bolt. Even the top row (through holes) on FE Fords. Headers are a pain in the rump, but if you take it to an exhaust shop, and the guy working there is making $12/ hr, how motivated is he to do it the 'right' way; how you would do it at home.

I'm glad to here it wasn't an issue with the headers; I am still planning on using them.

 

So, the exhaust shop pulled the bolts on the header and examined the head and exhaust flange. The tech said it appeared to be flat with no burned areas that might indicate a leaking gasket or previous manifold leak. He removed the gasket and bolted everything back up but the noise is still there.

I'm at a loss as to what is causing this. I have found several things that could be the problem like the stripped bolt and the broken air tube bracket but nothing is eliminating the noise. I haven't spoken to the tech yet, but he clearly cannot find a leak (although I'm not sure he even tried). He simply sent me a text informing me that the truck is bolted back up and ready to picked up. I can only assume that he does not believe there is an exhaust leak. I'll know when I talk to him this afternoon.

At this point it HAS to be the header, right? What else could it be?

 

I think the metal is from the old stud that was in the hole or possibly metal shavings from where they drilled out the old bolt. The rigged bolt did not go all the way in the hole with that makeshift washer on it. My guess is that the hole is 5/8" deep (or thereabouts) since the flange is 5/8" and the bolt is 1 1/4" long. The bolt may not have been the right threads (needs to be 16 threads per inch) so that might explain why the tip of the bolt was stripped.

The new bolt tightened up just fine and seated perfectly against the header flange. I'm not sure I can run a tap in the hole with the header on to clean up the threads but I might give it a try. The problem is turning the handle on the tap. I will have to figure out how to put some kind of extension on the square end of the tap. Otherwise, I am going to have to pull the header off and try to do it from the wheel well. If I have to pull the headers, I will definitely clean up the the threads on the head.

 

So far, it hasn't cost me anything other than the initial $650 I paid the shop to install the headers and y-pipe. They haven't charged me anything since even after 2 trips back to the shop, which is good, but also bad because the problem still exists. It is becoming quite clear that I am going to have to fix this myself or I will be chasing this problem for months. The good news is that a replacement header will be here Friday (if I find it is leaking). I'm also going to see if Banks will thrown in a new set of bolts or at least a couple of them so I can replace the Grade 5 Lowe's bolt with a 12-point Banks bolt. I haven't looked at it yet but the exhaust shop may have replaced my substitute header bolt with a Ford manifold bolt or stud. The tech said he has a bunch of new ones laying around somewhere.

At this point I cannot rule out the headers being bad. Maybe there is a leak I am not seeing in a weld on the collectors. At this point, I don't know anything except that I am not fixing the problem.

 

here, these are a necessary tool

 

I've always used an eight point socket.
Didn't realize those tap sockets existed.

Thanks.

 

So I was worried about pulling the threads out on my heads with the JBA supplied header bolts. I went ahead and purchased ARP header studs. These screwed into the cleaned out threads to the bottom of the shoulder of the stud. The other end of the stud is fine thread and has 12-point nuts to fasten the header assembly to the head. New studs and gaskets installed and torqued. Had to retighten a couple of times and they have stayed tight since then. Expensive? Yes, but I haven't had to tighten or change a gasket for years.

 

Get a set of remflex gaskets.

http://catalog.remflex.com/FORD_Head...ket_p/3018.htm

 

I think the reason its still leaking is because the gasket is no good. If the problematic bolt was loose (not tight, stripped thread, whatever), and you ran the truck for any period of time with those fibrous gaskets, the gasket is compromised. Which is why if you just clean the thread, replace the bolt and tighten it, you will probably still hear a leak.

 

Post #37 says he is running without a gasket now.

This is how these trucks left the factory, and the Banks flange is probably thicker than the stock cast iron.