Exaust leak 360
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Elder User
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 790
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From: Danville, Pa
Exaust leak 360
I am looking to buy a truck w/a 360 but it has an exaust leak on the #4 manifold pipe. Looks like the p/o tried to fix it w/jb weld. Would that be a bad gasket or warped manifold or cracked head? I'm leaning twards gasket, it looks original. Maybe busted stud? Anyways, what I would like to know is there any known issues about this and if I had to replace the head, is there still factory ones available? I know junkyards around here are getting rid of all their old stuff(prices of steel being so high) and fe motors are becoming really rare. What do you guys think? Thanks -Dave
Postmaster
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 3,447
Likes: 1
From: Littleton, CO
What's a liitle exhaust leak among friends 
. If you like the truck and it runs good and is priced where you want it to be, I say buy it up. There are plenty of FE motor parts to be had, heck you can upgrade to the aluminum ones if need be... These motors have a history of exhaust leak problems and many a folk have come up with remedies for them.
Enjoy --Mike
. If you like the truck and it runs good and is priced where you want it to be, I say buy it up. There are plenty of FE motor parts to be had, heck you can upgrade to the aluminum ones if need be... These motors have a history of exhaust leak problems and many a folk have come up with remedies for them.Enjoy --Mike
Mountain Pass
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 128
Likes: 0
From: Arlington, Texas
JB Weld fix
I hate to admit this in public, but I recently did a JB weld fix on an old ranch 
truck manifold. From the looks of it, it had been leaking for a long time. It was so eroded around the exhaust ports on the manifold that it would never have sealed otherwise.
After cleaning the manifold thoroughly, I built up a bead of JB Weld around all for ports. I then flipped it over onto a large plate glass mirror covered with a sheet of heavy duty tin foil. After it hardened, I peeled the foil off and used a die grinder to reshape the manifold ports. With this newly flat manifold, a good layer of hi-temp silicone on both sides of the gasket and careful reinstallation, it worked.
I would not have tried this on a regularly driven truck, but this was a ranch truck that will be used perhaps twice a month for an hour or two, so I figured why not? Even if it starts leaking again in a year or so, I am OK with that.
Chris
truck manifold. From the looks of it, it had been leaking for a long time. It was so eroded around the exhaust ports on the manifold that it would never have sealed otherwise. After cleaning the manifold thoroughly, I built up a bead of JB Weld around all for ports. I then flipped it over onto a large plate glass mirror covered with a sheet of heavy duty tin foil. After it hardened, I peeled the foil off and used a die grinder to reshape the manifold ports. With this newly flat manifold, a good layer of hi-temp silicone on both sides of the gasket and careful reinstallation, it worked.
I would not have tried this on a regularly driven truck, but this was a ranch truck that will be used perhaps twice a month for an hour or two, so I figured why not? Even if it starts leaking again in a year or so, I am OK with that.
Chris
Lead Driver
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 9,893
Likes: 12
From: Ohio
Good luck fixing it for good. I went thru this with my '67. There were 1/8" gaps around some of the ports. All the jb or silicone in the world only worked for a week, maybe.
I finally just put a set of cheap headers on it and for the last year it has been quiet as a mouse.
You could remove them, have them machined flat and re-install. That is if there is enough meat left to do this. Mine looks like it would clean up, but I'll keep them for a rainy day.
I finally just put a set of cheap headers on it and for the last year it has been quiet as a mouse.
You could remove them, have them machined flat and re-install. That is if there is enough meat left to do this. Mine looks like it would clean up, but I'll keep them for a rainy day.
