Hello,
while working on taking off the exhost manifold on my 1976 f-250 with the 360 ci, I snapped off the first bolt and don’t want to risk snapping the rest. should I buy a nut spliter? (I used plenty of wd-40 but they still wouldn’t budge) some of the manifold bolts are bolts and some are nuts,how do I go about getting the bolts and nuts off? and should I drill out the broken off bolt and retap it? thanks
This is always a pretty nasty job. First off, WD40 is not a penetrating oil so it’s not what you want to be using on rusted bolts. You’ll need to get a penetrating oil such as knock 'er loose or PB blaster and soak the bolts liberally and then let it sit and soak in and repeat several times. You may even consider letting them sit over night after a good soaking.
Failing that, another thing to try is getting an inexpensive propane torch and using that. Heat applied to the area around the bolt will often cause the metal to expand and flex, loosening the bond between manifold and bolt.
Of course, make sure you’re using a six-point wrench or socket that’s the correct size. Hopefully you’ll be able to get the other bolts out without too much trouble and once you have the manifold off, you should be able to grip the remnants of the first bolt with some vice grips and remove it, possibly using some of the same tricks to prep it.
Good luck!
Agreed on all points: heat and PB Blaster, over and over, for hours. And you’ll still end up snapping a few, it just always happens on older motors who’ve never had their exhaust manifolds off.
is liqued wrench a good sub for that stuff? I tryed that and left it sitting for a few days (I looked up the stuff you suggested and it is a little more than I was hoping to spend). I tryed anther bolt today and it snapped off with ease… oops. and one more thing, the bolts have been snapping flush with the other portion of the manifold so I can’t really get vice grips on even after I take the part off.
A lot of people say that PB Blaster is better than Liquid Wrench. I have a stuck, rusted screw on a shaker down in the lab right now, but it will be nuthin compared to your manifold project.
I think PB blaster works better than Liquid Wrench. Think a can is about $4 at Walmart.
Ok, I found some at ace for a good price, I hope it works better (if not…well you will hear from me again)
well good (er) news. I got the manifold off only breaking off three bolts in total (says something about tapping the bolts with a hammer as you try to loosen them)And I think I figured out why it blew the seal… someone left the bottem four bolts loose! The face of the manifold is kinda rusty so I am smoothing that out before I put it back on. I took off the fender and fender well to get at it better. I am planning to repir the rust on that part of the truck while it is apart and so on, but is there any tricks or extra things to do to the manifold that they neglect to tell me about? or anything that should be looked at? Thanks.
HELP!
I need to find a hood to cowl seal for my 1976 f-250, I looked at jc whitney and on e-bay but they only go down to the '80s. Can you tell me any other places to look? thanks.