exhaust manifold studs - cunning plans suggested?

[scooters]

The 820 with the T series was and is proving to be a rather nice car, the power of the turbo on the t makes it economical and unlike it's K series sister, it is mechanically pretty decent

 

however, it is not without its faults - and loose exhaust manifolds are an issue mainly because in true Rover form the studs don't go deep enough into the engine block to take advantage of the whole thread bore - rather they tend to sit in the top half and strip the threads from the block every the the manifold comes off.

 

For a while I have been chasing the pisspoor turbo boost and I have worked the system right back to the exhaust manifold which proved to be as loose as a tory party's treasurer's tongue - on closer inspection only 3 nuts were holding with one other missing completely and and another very loose, removing the manifold showed that about 1/2 of the area has been badly blowing - in fact I'm amazed it got through the MOT in July as it is pretty obvious - under the manifold the engine block had two large sooty stains and the gasket was in bits.

 

I have reordered some aftermarket stainless steel bolts and studs specifically designed to fix this t series issue however, whilst four of the studs came out with minimal force the last one is proving to be a right twunt. I have tried penetrating oil, blow torch and mole grips - no effect - the moles cant seem to get a good grip and - i tried filing a nut into the stud with a hand file so I can get a spanner on it - no luck it just rounded the edges (I've used that with brake nipples before.

 

so I have ordered a sealy stud remover with a cam - the idea is you plonk this on the stud, stick a 1/2 inch driver on it and put some torque onto it - as the force comes through the cam grips the stud...we'll see if this works tomorrow!

 

any other ideas short of drilling the fekker out?

[SambaS]

Can you get a welding torch at it? Weld a bar on, loosen, cut bar back off then unscrew with mole grips

[cort16]

If you put two nuts onto the stud can you not use one to lock the other, while you spanner it?

[scooters]

not really wanting to put a welding torch in there - I don't really want to remove the turbo and alternator for access - you know what I'm like with alternators!

 

I will try the nut method as well

[SambaS]

A mate lent me some sockets that you hammer on, which grip rounded nuts then just ratchet out. Don't know whether that would work on a stud. I was working in a confined space under the Samba so they didn't help. In principle they sound okay :/

[SambaS]

Have you tried swearing at it?

[scooters]

Have you tried swearing at it?

 

loudly!

[cort16]

The two nuts should do the trick I recon as long as the threads on the stud aren't totally shagged.

[scooters]

2 studs isn't going to work - I forgot to mention that the nut on this stud sheared off taking 1/2 of the threaded part of the stud with it - there is only room for one nut on the stud...looks like I'll have to wait for the stud removal tool after all!

[jonathan_dyane]

Welding something on is always FTW, because the heat always helps with the loosening too.

 

I usually just weld the molegrips on

[scooters]

Welding something on is always FTW, because the heat always helps with the loosening too.

 

I usually just weld the molegrips on

 

 

tbh my mole grips might be on their last legs - they didn't really survive THE GREAT SUBARU SPRING CHANGE of the winter of 2010

[dieselnutjob]

in my experience, if you put a lot of force on small things like studs they just snap

 

what works better if you can manage it is to put a moderate amount of twisting force on it and hit it at the same time. Each time you hit the stud (hopefully) the twisting force will cause the threads to jump round a tiny bit.

 

If you get some small mole grips on there so that a bit of stud is sticking out past the molegrips, pull on the molegrips and hit the stud at the same time... However if you only have one nut of stud left it doesn't sound good.

[Albert Ross]

Could you not hammer a smaller manifold over it?

[dollywobbler]

Tried extracting a stud on the 2CV's exhaust manifold. It just sheared. One of the most hateful aspects of a motor car I think, exhaust studs.

[SambaS]

I've to do mine on Samba. It's an engine out job as engine leans back at 72 degrees or something daft. Servicing: easy. Other usually simple tasks:

[michael1703]

mig welding a nut on or blobbing weld on the end and grabbing the blob with moles always works for me,worst case result was when a customer who had took his car to shit-fit and they had snapped 3 studs in the head about 2mm below flush, that was a tricky job, mild steel bolt and aluminium head meant i could weld a blob on to a blob and get them out, took me the best part of 3 hours though with the limited access

[DSdriver]

I had an exhaust manifold stud shear on a Volvo when I tried to replace a manifold gasket. With great enthusiasm I drilled a hole into it and inserted an easy-out which promptly snapped. I was now well out of my depth so I took the car around to a great guy who works on cars in a shed in his back garden. An old school engineer who works on cars for a bit of pocket money. He, using his lathe, made up a drill centering guide that fitted inside the stud hole in the manifold which he bolted back onto the head using the other studs. He could then drill the easy-out (which was off centre due to my fantastic skillz) and the remains of the stud out without removing the cylinder head or the turbo. Awesome.

[garethj]

I've had lost of success with heat, although bear in mind that the whole engine block will dissipate the heat well so you need to keep the heat focussed on just the stud for about 3 times as long as you first think.

 

Other techniques about 1/4 of the page here: http://www.thebugshop.org/bsfqtool.htm

[scooters]

Thanks gareth, that's a fantastic post a very helpful article indeed

[scooters]

- no sign of the sealy tool in the post today but my new throttle assembly turned up. I amused myself by cleaning all the induction andintercooler pipes and wrapping them in high temp silicon tape - cheapskates SAMCO solution - essentially keeps the pipes in good nick, seals any wee cracks and splits and keeps the air inside a bit cooler...also GR9 4 MAKING YR ENGIN BAE LOK WEL RESPEK WI NIZE COLORS OMG JUS LIK A SAXOOO

seriously though thanks to the age of the Tseries and the popularity in tuning circles getting hold of second handpipe work let alone new stuff is pricey.

 

I also made some space in anticipation of THE BATTLE OF THE MANIFOLD STUD so out came all the pipework at the front and the alternator (gulp- tempting fate I know) anything with oil or coolant in it I left plumbed in - I unbolted the O2sensor chamber (a sort of 90 degree pipe that attaches the downpipe to the turbocharger) with lots of butane and swearing but at least it has allowed me to move the turbo and attached manifold out the way so I can get the kit I need on the stud. Spent the last hour worrying it with moleys/heat/WD40 alternately and constructed a sort of 'bath' round it out of silicon putty - filled it with WD40.

 

tomorrow I will get the fucker out!

 

I anticipate this being the major fault of the car as the amount of carbon deposit around the exhaust ports is shocking - you can see where it has been blasting out - essentially 30% of the joint has been venting to atmos rather than to turbo. This also explains why at 3500 revs when the car should be pinning your spine to the rear spoiler - it stops pulling - the filppin gases are squirting out of the manifold!

[purplebargeken]

I feel your pain. I had a similar issue with a thermostat housing bolt on my Triumph. It hadn't been disturbed in decades and snapped when I tried to remove it to enable the fitting of a new thermostat. I tried everything; molies, 2 nut thingy, no joy. I then tried to weld a nut on the shard that was left, no joy. I then welded a goodly blob onto the top of the shard, making it just big enough to fit a spanner on and it came out. Combination of torque/gentle leverage and very focused mega-heat.

 

Good luck with yours, imagine how good it will be when it is all bolted together properly.

 

Ken

[jonny69]

A handy hint from someone who knows that worked for me is to put a punch on the stuck part and tap away at it with a hammer. You want to tappity tap tap at it for about 5 to 10 minutes. The aim is not to lamb it down the hole, but the constant tapping lightly deforms the threads on the stud so that it will be a bit easier to wind out. I put an easy-out down the middle of mine because it was buried down a hole, but it came out quite easily.

 

Irwin bolt extractors are supposed to be the mutt's nuts as well, but I haven't tried them.

[scooters]

the sealy tool turned up yesterday - basically a 1/2 inch cam drive- whap the breaker bar on it - stick it over the stud..gie it some laldy and out it comes ...

 

took 2 minutes

 

job done!

[Morgan84]

Heat and WD40 is every seized bolts worst enemy !

[jonathan_dyane]

Hurray!

[Split_Pin]

Good news!