I'm getting my 460 prepped to go in and one of the last things I need to take care of are 3 broken off exhaust manifold studs. Anyone know of any good tricks for getting these out? They are broken off flush with the head. I was planning on carefully drilling, and using an easy out, but my experience with them has been about 50/50, and I really don't want to bust one off with this project.

 

yea, broken off studs what a mess!. i've been there myself. what i have done and has worked for me in the past is drilling them out. the way i've done it is alittle time consuming but works. start drilling with a small one first (start with a 1/8 drill for instant) this is a good size to start, any smaller and you could break them off. before you make the first mark, MAKE SURE you hold the drill straight and drill your first hole. you can use a piece of tape at the end of the drill to know how far to drill into. then after using the 1/8 drill, move up to the next size drill and repeat drilling another hole. each time you drill move up to the next size drill, this will probally take about 6 to 8 times to increase the size of the hole. on one of your exhaust bolt holes that doesn't have a bolt in it, using your fingers find a drill that will slide into the hole, i don't know the size right off hand, you don't want to go any larger than this. the very last drill hole you make should be about 2 sizes smaller than the drill you were able to slide in by hand. at this point you should be just about flush with the treads in the hole. at this point if you drilled a straight hole you should be able to clean up the treads with a tap. but take your time doing this also( break one of these off and your in the same boat ). use lots of oil especially like wd-40 so you can spray into the hole to get all of the loose metal to fall out ( keeps the tap clean also). and just be patience and take your time. this is just one way to do this i'm sure there are other people that have there own ways also. it has worked for me many times over and over. hope this helps ya out. Ray....

 

I had this problem once. I took it to one of my friends, and they sprayed some WD-40 on it then let it sit over night. Next we drilled it out with a "Left handed" drill bit. It is the same as a regular bit except you put the drill in reverse. Most often you will get half way, then the bolt will come out...

Later
Skud

 

Been there myself.
If you are using a drill press it will help you get dead-center.
With a hand drill, you should use a center punch first, getting dead center is the key.
After that start with a small bit and work your way up.
Plenty of patience is a factor here.
Just take your time and remember center punch dead center, or the rest of the job will become a nightmare.

dre.

 

I echo all your efforts... I was lucky I only had one to do... but then, I did it while the head was still on the block, and the block was still in the truck... I used an angle drill and followed a process similar to what Cobrajet discribed... eight hours of sitting on the floor, hugging the frame, peaking through a hole in the fender well... trying to extract broken off easy-outs, chasing threads, inventing new ways to cuss... well you get the picture... LOL!!! Oh yeah!!! It was party alright!!!

I'm real glad I don't have to contend with that any more... I didn't put the stock manifolds back on, which are notorious for warping and breaking the studs. Thanks to a heavy investment in a Banks Power Pack, I don't expect anymore exhaust leaks.

Perry

 

If you really don't want to mess with it just call around to welding or machine shops and they will get em out for you. They shouldn't charge you that much either.

Bob

 

Sorry for the late reply but theres always someone reading the archives right!!!

I had to pull the heads with the exhaust manifolds. I wound up with 3 flush snap offs and 3 studs with the heads missing.

I tried and tried ,WD, brake fluid, all kinds of anti freeeze stuff. Wound up bringing them in very locally . Cost 67 dollars. They barely charged me for the 5 helicoils.

Take them to a shop and go get a sandwich.

Enjoy.