CharlyG's thread about headers got me to thinking. My Ex spent most it's life in Arizona until last year, so it has little to no rust on it. It now resides in Virginia and it is garaged but will likely be driven some in the winter. Just collecting opinions, but would I be better off just replacing all of the exhaust studs with stainless steel ones now before I have issues with them? I see that there's a kit on Amazon for about $23 a side for the studs and bolts. Is it pretty much inevitable that the studs will fail/rust at some point?

 

Your typical exhaust manifold stud doesn't break because of rust it breaks because when the stud and manifold are new the elastic deformation is similar. as it gets hot the manifold and stud expand at a similar rate.

Over time the cast iron manifold becomes plastic deformation meaning it doesn't return to the same size as it heat cycles. Eventually it gets bigger then the stud can stretch and breaks it.

Personally I always use factory studs on nuts on every motor I have ever built, including race motors. There is more to it then most people consider. I'll leave it at that

 

It's a V-10.....the studs will eventually start snapping off. My EX came from Alabammy and it had 2 failed studs at 75k miles when it came up North to live with us.
You can go after them now to get ahead of the problem, but be prepared to spend some time in there, they can be a "challenge".
When I installed my Banks headers I only had the 2 pre-broken ones to deal with, all the rest spun right out after hammering a socket onto the rusty lumps that used to be the nuts. One of the 2 bad ones was broken off even with the head and I was able to MIG weld a nut to it and spin it out without any drama. The other one was recessed about 3 or 4 threads deep in the head and my 110 volt MIG just couldn't get a good enough weld to it to spin it out, that one had to be drilled and Easy-Outed.
If you want to spend a bit of coin and improve the throttle response some and uncork the engine for more grunt at higher RPMs while towing then take a look at the Banks or Thorley headers. They are both high quality long tube headers that come with good Y pipes and everything else needed for installation including high grade hardware.
Even if you don't go with headers these header installation threads should give some insight to the stud removal fun.
Here's Christina's Banks install thread, she really had a tough go of it with her broken studs, but in the end she won! https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...r-dummies.html
And here is my Banks install. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ll-w-pics.html

 

Show us, you will.....this kit on Amazon of which you speak.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Liter-Stainle.../dp/B00BTJWW02

 

I would like some clarification on the "more to it" line. Do you replace the manifold as well, or are you putting new OE bolts to an old OE manifold?

 

My experience isn't with the ford v10 in particular but a wide range of engines from air cooled VW to aluminum LS race motors, Toyotas, old school Chevys, Porsches ect and most of the time I have replaced the factory exhaust with a tubular style header,

But on a stock engine in a daily driver if I was using a cast iron manifold I'd be inclined to have it resurfaced if it wasn't cracked.

In my experience exhaust studs and bolts are a consumable product, because of the heat cycling they have a limited life span.

As far as the studs or bolts go, I like the factory parts for this application because they are an engineer product, meaning somebody picked which mateerial to use for the application and then somebody made those parts to spec. In today's world "stainless studs" probably means some Chinese product of unknown alloy content with a shiny stainless steel like appearance. Good for holding a fender on, not so good for a critical application.

 

Unfortunately, then a bean counter comes in and tries to figure out how to save a nickel -like not using quality SS manifold bolts, leaving off a rear sway bar, deleting the radiator tank trans cooler, using an aux trans cooler that is inadequate for towing even though they all come with a hitch or not using spark plug inserts in aluminum heads. Did an engineer seriously design those exhaust manifolds for the V10 to be logs or the V10 exhaust Y-pipe to be a choked down T-pipe without considering cost? Ford could have designed a real nice set of manifolds like the '65 289 Shelby's or a nice Y-pipe from the get go.

 

Alrighty then! I get it, but now I wonder if there is a going rate to get it done. I'm just old and cranky enough to hurt myself doing this big of a job. Maybe i could get the bad one done first and then the good one after a month or so(budget)...

 

Is there a gasket between the factory manifolds and the head?

 

Yes, it is a metal one and is in a few pieces.

 

The going rate is dependant on the shops in your area. If they have plenty of easy work that pays well they won't want to touch it. If they are in a dry spell they will be a little more inclined. The other thing to consider is their skill level. Livinglarge had a V-10 back in the day and took his rig to Ford to have it done and they had a tech who apparently knew how to knock these things out like no other. It's all dependant on several things. I had several shops either turn mine down or give me stupid quotes when I needed a few (like 8 IIRC) removed.

 

Check out the How-To thread in the tech folder. Section titled: "Engine Specific Threads, But Too Awesome Not To Be Included Here"

Christina did the manifolds on her rig and had a devil of a time getting some of them out, but she did a great job and included lots of pictures.

Stewart