Disaster??? I broke off a exahust stud !!!!!!

Guys in my effort to drop my oil pan on my '37 Zephyr, I broke off one of the exhaust manifold studs on the left side! Now I'm not sure what to do. I'm afraid to try the other one. Looks like I'll have to pull the manifold, which has me further concerned. What's the best answer here??? Am I screwed?? Is there a trick to removing these??? I don't mind pulling th emanifold....as long as I don't break those bolts off too. Then I'll REALLY have a problem. I thought Ford had these problems only with their later cars. I need help here. Darn it!!! :mad:

If it is broken flush,the best bet is to center punch it and step drill it up to the size requiered to tap the hole with new threads(Example=drilling it 5/16 for a3/8 course stud.)

if there is a 1/4 inch or more of the stud protruding I would use an oxy acetlene torch to turn the area around the stud cherry red and attempt to turn it with vice grips or a stud socket.

of course this advice is given without seeing you actual situation and is based on years of experience doing this on modern vehicles.

Kroil and Easy Out?

Remove the manifold , those bolts shouldn't give you any trouble . Then you can work on removing and replacing the broken stud on the bench instead of under the car .

Remove the manifold , those bolts shouldn't give you any trouble . Then you can work on removing and replacing the broken stud on the bench instead of under the car .

Thanks to all who have replied. Because of where the stud is located, I like Flathead's advice best. Why don't you think I would break those bolts off? Are they not the same metal?

John,

If you need to remove the nut holding the exhaust pipe on, heat the nut to a cherry red and use your impact wrench to remove it. The heat will break the rust bond and the impact wrench will ease the nut off without breaking the stud. You may have to tighten and loosen in order to free up the nut. You may have to remove the right side nuts to get the cross over pipe to lower enough to remove the manifold. Use an extension and a universal joint to get at the nuts.

The bolts holding the exhaust manifold to the block usually do not break off, because they are not exposed to the same heat as the manifold to pipe studs and nuts. They do not usually rust in place. I like to use an impact wrench with an extension and a universal joint to break them loose on an engine that I do not know the history.

Do not heat the manifold with an acetylene torch, it will crack, heat the stud. If the stud is broken off flush, arc weld a smaller diameter bolt to the stud and then use the impact wrench to remove it. If there is enough of the stud left, arc weld a nut to the stud and use the impact wrench to remove the stud.

To prevent this from happening again, use brass nuts the hold the pipe to the manifold. I also put some anti-seize on the studs before assembly.

Thanks Tom, I do not have an acetylene torch, will MAP gas perform as well??? Thanks for the info on the manifold bolts. Hopefully I'll get lucky.

Also, not sure if its original but my crossover pipe is fixed with a sleeve so once I get the remaining nut off, I should be OK. Thanks again, stupid on my part!

You will not crack an exhaust manifold heating it , I was a tech at a Gm dealer for 25 years, we heated hundreds of manifolds to cherry red in that time.

I don't remember even one cracking.

and no map gas won't get you manifold hot enough.

Actually disregard my prior advised and take it to a muffler shop, they will have it changed in an hour and charge you $75.

They do it every day.

John, map gas may work on the nut. I have used it successfully in the past to free a nut. It will probably not free the stud.

Manifolds are easy to remove...studs are not...remove manifold and drill and easy out, with heat and or

simply get another manifold, many v-12s were junked many manifolds survived...remove it...

post a good photo here and see ...

Well I have the manifold off the car. I ended up splitting the nut and everything came apart. You guys were right, removing the manifold bolts was no big deal. Now I need to replace the studs, think I'll take RP 1967's advice and take the manifold to Midas. Should be like taking candy from a baby for them. Thanks to all!

Now back to removing that pan!

When you replace use a product never seize on threads and nuts. I use on all bolts. nuts, sparkplugs etc. If you coat them with never seize they can easily be removed after years of usage.

Bruce Nussman

1941 LC

1951 Jaguar XK 120 roadster with high performance power train

2004 Corvette convertible

Will do Bruce, I have used never seize for years and it's great stuff.

Well I have the manifold off the car. I ended up splitting the nut and everything came apart. You guys were right, removing the manifold bolts was no big deal. Now I need to replace the studs, think I'll take RP 1967's advice and take the manifold to Midas. Should be like taking candy from a baby for them. Thanks to all!

Now back to removing that pan!

you know, I've been thinking. I've had for years an oxyacetylene torch set and never got around to getting the tanks. Well I'm going toget them now, it might be a good thing that I broke off the stud as I'm going to fix it myself. A good learning experience.

John, I have a spare Ford manifold that you can use for experimenting. I will be home this afternoon, just give me a call.

Thanks Tom, but unfortunately I need to work today. :-(

Do you have a manifold with a broken off bolt???

John, I believe that I do have one with a broken bolt. I will check my garage this afternoon.

Hi Tom, well I used MAP gas and it worked beautifully for one of the studs. The other one that was broke off almost even? Not so much and I tried everything and ended up drilling it out. That was working pretty well too and then the drill bit broke off inside. Not good. I ended up taking it to a machine shop here in town that will drill it out fully and probably insert a helicoil if it can't be tapped for about $50. Not a pleasant experience but that's part of working on these old Lincolns.

Hi John,

I'm sorry to hear that you broke the drill. That is why I recommended welding a bolt or nut onto the broken stud. The welding process heats the stud enough to break the rust bond and the impact wrench will usually finish the job.

The Ford manifolds sell for under $20 for a used one, but the Zephyr ones seem to go for a higher price than the $50 that you are being charged for removing the remains.

Hi Tom,

I've been out of the country for about a week so I coul not respond. I did try to weld a nut several times and could not get the nut to weld to the stud well enough to take the stress of the wrench. I've done some welding but can't say I'm proficient.

The good news is that I ended up taking it to a machine shop here locally who will drill it all out and then helicoil it for $50-$60. Not the best senario but could have been worse.

I'll post pictures.