I got quite a few miles on my 02 ws6.
195k
How much of a pain is it to take exhaust manifold bolts out without breaking them? Putting new headers on and my lovely instructor says I will FOR SURE break them. But as far as I'm concerned, I've proved him wrong enough.. How about I listen to ls1tech crew and succeed again? Lol
..is it a decent deal or certain procedure to easing them off?
Thanks

 

I went 11/12 unbroken on mine at the cylinder heads. soaked in PB blaster overnight before pulling them. on the flanges where the Y pipe bolts to the manifolds, I broke all 6, but who cares when youre putting the headers on, right? it's a steel bolt going into aluminum heads, so they don't rust together nearly as badly as iron heads

 

He has a fair chance of being right this time.
soak them like Darth_V8r said. Before trying to break one free, put a short (3") extension against the bolt head and give the extension a smack with a metal hammer. Light smack, more than a tap.

 

He may actually have a point on this one lol. I would soak them after the motor has cooled off each night for about 3-5 days before you tackle the job. The heating and cooling of the motor the next day will help the PB blaster penetrate deeper, just dont spray it then start the motor as it is flammable after all.

When you go to take them out if they feel like they are getting stiff, stop and reverse the direction of the bolt slowly working them all out. Are you ready to buy headers yet?

 

Sounds like a deal breaker. And yes, im ready to purchase as soon as my next pay stub comes, just deciding on a decent pair at the moment. I didn't know if I should do them myself, I don't think any shop around me will install for me.
Bolt busting is my fear on this part lol

 

Dont be lol as long as you use the pb blaster for a few days they should be good, you could also try to apply a little heat with a propane torch but be VERY CAREFUL WITH WIRING.

For 1-7/8 headers you have about 4 choices. Tsp and Speed engineering both make them in stainless and are the best budget options. Both fit great the speed eng ones are 379.99 WITH a y pipe the tsp ones are 539.99 with a y pipe. The tsp may be a little better quality but its marginal. The speed eng ones are on backorder till sometime in May though so you wont get them for a while. The Tsp's are in stock.

If you want the best of the best 1-7/8 then look at Kooks or ARH which is what I run but be prepared to spend 700-800 for just the headers

Headers really arent bad to install, just get the car up high enough. You also want to do poly motor mounts while youre there. They're cheap and even if you dont think you need them, you need them lol

 

If the car is only a couple of years old or you live in the south it would probably be ok. Being in Iowa you are probably going to snap some bolts with a car that old/miles.

It doesn't take much force to break them. I got all but one out on my truck and the last one broke. In fact that last bolt broke with less force on it than it took to break the others loose so I had no way of knowing it was going to happen. I even snapped both bolts on my muffler.

Second on the PB Blaster. It helps a lot.

 

Thanks for the description. I'll look more into it.
I'll soak the bolts pretty good before hand then, seems to be the ideal choice. & what happens if I break one or.. 5? Head removal and bring to shop?
I think I'd be more into getting new heads to skip the headache lollol
What's your take on that?

 

Also when you reinstall the new bolts, use anti-seize on the threads. I would use it on the spark plugs too. Aluminum has a way of gauling the threads sometimes which isn't good when you try to take the bolt back out. We have even had the threads in the spark plug hole come out with the plug a couple of times.

 

I broke one once, usually the bolt breaks right at the head so you can usually grab onto it with a good pair of vice grips. But if it breaks off inside the head then ya its most likely coming off then its up to you. At that point a 350 dolalr set of 243's looks pretty good

 

i think i got all mine out without breaking any if i remember correctly. but that was way back at 47k miles. im guessing you're gonna break a few at 192k

 

And the one that breaks, you can be guaranteed will be drivers side all the way back

Another warning from experience on the cheap headers - the two bolt holes in the middle don't always line up perfectly with the bolt holes in the head. If it happens, it'll be one or the other that will want to cross thread. If that happens, take off the header and make that hole a bit bigger or else live with an exhaust leak ticking all the time.

Also, like redbird said, get the car up high. Too high is almost high enough

 

Do you know if the same 'bolt lining' problem comes with the 243 heads as well? Or is that only on the cheapo headers? I'll definitely stay away from them regardless lol

 

I think it was the cheap headers