Broken studs on exhaust manifold..

[masonater]

Today i was going to remove the rusted front exhaust pipe from my IIA and after days of soaking the nuts with PB blaster i still managed to break 2 of the 3 bolts off. I guess the good news is there are about an inch of the studs still sticking out of the manifold. Am I in big trouble? are the studs reverse threaded in? any help would be great! thanks

[ScottT]

I had the same issue.
I used a torch and vise-grips and it came pretty easy.

[masonater]

I had the same issue.
I used a torch and vise-grips and it came pretty easy.

So does that mean they are reverse threaded in?

[Nium]

They shouldn't be reverse threaded. Was the one you managed to get off without breaking reverse threaded? Just asking because if it's not then the others shouldn't be either, not that I think they are reverse threaded anyway.

Regards

[masonater]

the nut i got off was regular thread. I just got the nut off though, the stud stayed in like im assuming it was supposed to so thats why i was thinking the studs are reverse threaded into the manifold or it would have come out as well. I knew id need a torch someday working on this rover so now may be the time.

[superstator]

They're standard exhaust studs, no reverse threads. I was able to remove mine just by putting two nuts on the end and wrenching the whole thing out, but I think I got lucky they weren't so fused in place...

[masonater]

Thanks for the info. Ill try using the 2 nuts that i broke off and see if that works. Im thinking ill need some heat to help though...

[rwollschlager]

you are lucky that there is still some meat to grab onto. The last two that snapped on me were flush with the surface. First, I tried to weld a nut onto the stud and try and back the remaining piece out, but to no prevail, weld wouldnt stick. I ended up drilling and heli-coiling a new thread in there. Snapped studs are always a bummer because the tend to turn a half hour project into an all day affair.

-Rob

[4flattires]

Im thinking ill need some heat to help though...

Never underestimate the power of a smoke wrench! :thumb-up:

Jeff

[masonater]

well i tried using a snap on stud puller. first broken stud came out like a charm. I was pumped but the next broken one broke even more! and is now flush with the manifold so thats now tomorrows project. The one stud that didnt break in the first place ended up snapping anyway when i tried to remove it to replace with a new one... the rover didnt like that. Oh well, nothings ever easy or even close to easy on this rig so far.

[thixon]

Masonator,

Do you have a torch? Everyone's advice about the smoke wrench is spot on. If its stuck that bad, you'll likely end up breaking the end off an extractor if you go that route, without heat.

If you don't have a torch set up, now's your opportunity to invest in one:thumb-up:!

Instead of an extractor, you can try to weld a bolt to the end of the stud, but again, I'd still heat that sucker up, independently of the heat from the welder.

Good luck! We've all been trough it.

[JackIIA]

i've had good luck with good old mapp gas. it's pretty cheap at HD or Lowes, and i'd think it would be plenty hot to work out a stud stub. just a thought.

[rbonnett]

My new exhaust system arrived on the UPS truck today - so that's a job I'll be tackling in the next couple of weeks. I fully expect to face some level of nightmare getting the old studs out of the manifold when I do.

Since I am putting in shiny new ones, is there some way to prevent or at least slow down the way they corrode themselves into one-ness with the manifold? I've never really understood why these seem so much worse about it than any other random steel fasteners anway.

Maybe a different material for the studs? I was also thinking about hi-temp stove paint to try and protect the exposed length at least.

[4flattires]

is there some way to prevent or at least slow down the way they corrode themselves into one-ness with the manifold?

Anti-seize.

Don't worry about the composition, whether is it aluminum or copper, just use something! Liberal distribution is the key.

Old skool cars often used brass for manifold nuts and the dissimilar metals prevented fusing. I prefer grade 8 nuts on installs, not for the torque aspect, but because they are markedly stronger (read as harder) years down the road compared to grade 5 or worse yet, grade 3 stuff found locally.

[greenmeanie]

[QUOTE=rbonnett;50351]
Since I am putting in shiny new ones, is there some way to prevent or at least slow down the way they corrode themselves into one-ness with the manifold? I've never really understood why these seem so much worse about it than any other random steel fasteners anway.
QUOTE]

Your problem is carbon steel mixed with cast iron plus heat = corrosion. When I overhauled my manifold years ago I drilled and installed helicoils.With high temp anti sieze on install I've never had a problem since.

[Jeff Aronson]

Rick,

I used a lot of anti-seize upon installation of new studs and brass nuts to help minimize corrosion. I also found that loosening and tightening the nuts a few times between oil changes helped reduce the chance of seizing up.

That said, I've noticed recently that a one nut simple won't tighten up even though there's a wobble in the header pipe. I'm probably headed towards new studs soon, too.

Jeff

[daveb]

drill and tap the manifold for 3/8 or M10 studs. The 5/16" studs are just too wimpy for the job.

[SafeAirOne]

drill and tap the manifold for 3/8 or M10 studs. The 5/16" studs are just too wimpy for the job.

Or, to keep it more consistent with Rover engineering, you may want to drill and tap one for 3/8, the other for M10 and probably want to throw in a BSF thread on the other one. ;)

[yorker]

The genuine exhaust nuts are brass- or they were when I last bought them. That does help. If you buy others you never know what you might get.

[LaneRover]

Or, to keep it more consistent with Rover engineering, you may want to drill and tap one for 3/8, the other for M10 and probably want to throw in a BSF thread on the other one. ;)

Don't forget the SPOT fixes with c-clamps and old hangars.

[TriedStone]

If you do end up having to use a treaded insert, http://www.timesert.com/ are much better than helicoils. A bit pricier but well worth it.

[NickDawson]

watching this thread with interest... exhaust manifold is the only thing keeping me from passing Va inspection ... going to try and put it off until fall, but glad to know what I may be up against.

[Donnie]

Today i was going to remove the rusted front exhaust pipe from my IIA and after days of soaking the nuts with PB blaster i still managed to break 2 of the 3 bolts off. I guess the good news is there are about an inch of the studs still sticking out of the manifold. Am I in big trouble? are the studs reverse threaded in? any help would be great! thanks
Everyone has pretty much covered your query, I'll suggest getting a blue tip "torch" set up for the future, a can of never sieze, I like the copper color better than the grey, brass nuts for your studs & a little luck........

[Cutter]

Another aspect of using brass nuts apart from less seizing worries was the softness vs/stud as to preserve the integrity of the studs threads and if you mangle something if it does somehow get stuck, its more likely going to be the nut. My rover's manifold (6cyl) some previous owner just drilled out and put carriage bolts. Not pretty but it works.

[rbonnett]

Thanks all for the great info. Since I have a couple other reasons to pull the head at some point, my plan is:

- Pull the head; take it and the exh manifold to the machine shop
- Have inserts put in for the manifold studs in the head as well as for the down pipe in the manifold itself
- Use lots of anti sieze when I reassemble

The fixings for the down pipe did come with brass nuts. Hopefully with the inserts and anti sieze things will be easier next time.

Jeff A. - the instructions that came with the exhaust did mention using washers when fastening the down pipe in case the nuts bottomed out before everything was tight. Have you tried that to correct your wobble?