i have some broken studs on my exhaust manifold. i have all new gaskets and studs. going to try to change them tomorrow. Is there any tricks you guys know of to get them out? Or how the to get to them?? how tight do you put the new studs in? can you get the old ones out with vise grips and some heat?

 

i just installed headers on mine today and yesterday for that same reason. words of advise, 1:soak the holy snot out of them every day for a week or so with pb blaster, dont be stingy 2: be prepared to replace the manifold to y-pipe studs as well, they are gonna break on you. 3: if you dont have an extractor set and a right angle drill, pick up some cheapies from harbor freight. you wont be able to get even a small drill in there to drill out a stud that breaks off below the surface of the head. 4: be prepared for a couple studs to snap below the surface of the head, it may not happen, but if you budget the time for that, the worst that can happen is you get done early. 5: get a big container of anti-sieze to coat the new studs with and once again, dont be stingy 6: HAND TOOLS ONLY, unless you just want to break off more studs, anything longer than a 10" rathet is too much, I broke one off with a 7" ratchet 7: make sure you have some sort of knee padding of an old coat or blanket to kneel on. you are going to spend a few hours in your wheelwells, My knees are killing me as i didnt think of this until after a couple hours of it and dozens of times in and out of the wheel well.

have fun, be safe, use jackstands, dont start the job if you dont have MORE than enough time to do it twice, you dont want to be doing this racing the clock, it gets frustrating.

 

Do a search in the 4.6l, 5.4l and V10 forums and you will get tons of good info.