Exhaust replacement advice

[kcdehart]

Hey all...at some point in the near future I'm gonna need to replace my headers (planning to go with longtubes from JBA). Before that, though, I'll need to get the bolts off.

Does anyone have any recommendations for doing so that don't involve pulling the head? I'm pretty terrified of tackling this. Pretty much all of them look like the ones in this picture.

 

[JONBOY345]

Do you have experience extracting studs from the block? Those studs are definitely gonna break and be a royal PITA to get out.

Hate to be a buzz kill, but that's gonna be a shitload of work.

 

[kcdehart]

Do you have experience extracting studs from the block? Those studs are definitely gonna break and be a royal PITA to get out.

Hate to be a buzz kill, but that's gonna be a shitload of work.

Not a buzzkill at all. I'm extremely worried about it and am just looking to see if anyone's dealt with something similar. 99% chance I'll be taking it to a shop (if they'll even take on the job). My only thought is cutting the nuts in half before even trying to unthread them.

I guess I'll take it to an exhaust shop and see if they have any recommendations or can get me a quote. It's currently leaking, and slowly getting worse, so I'm wanting to get it taken care of before it burns an exhaust valve.

 

[JONBOY345]

Not a buzzkill at all. I'm extremely worried about it and am just looking to see if anyone's dealt with something similar. 99% chance I'll be taking it to a shop (if they'll even take on the job). My only thought is cutting the nuts in half before even trying to unthread them.

I guess I'll take it to an exhaust shop and see if they have any recommendations or can get me a quote. It's currently leaking, and slowly getting worse, so I'm wanting to get it taken care of before it burns an exhaust valve.

Gonna be a chore for sure.

But, over in the group buy for the premium headers, there's a link to Burtman Industries where you can buy titanium studs and nuts. They may also work for the V6.

 

[kcdehart]

Gonna be a chore for sure.

But, over in the group buy for the premium headers, there's a link to Burtman Industries where you can buy titanium studs and nuts. They may also work for the V6.

Thanks for the tip. Those would be very, very nice.

 

[MikeinNH67]

My passenger side was leaking, it took a while to get it off. A torch or dremel with a cutting disk will do the job. Slice the nuts so you can tap them off with a chisel. Once all are off you can pull the manifold and either replace the studs or run a die over them. I had to replace one that I butchered a bit but the rest accepted a die quite well, heat helps to get them out if replacing. I bought a new manifold/cat from Rockauto. Don't bother trying to just replace the gasket because you won't get it to seal with the old manifold. Good luck.

 

[kcdehart]

My passenger side was leaking, it took a while to get it off. A torch or dremel with a cutting disk will do the job. Slice the nuts so you can tap them off with a chisel. Once all are off you can pull the manifold and either replace the studs or run a die over them. I had to replace one that I butchered a bit but the rest accepted a die quite well, heat helps to get them out if replacing. I bought a new manifold/cat from Rockauto. Don't bother trying to just replace the gasket because you won't get it to seal with the old manifold. Good luck.

This is the kinda info I was hoping for! I already have a full set of exhaust studs/nuts. So hopefully I'll have some success with this method. Definitely gonna take a while, but better than pulling the heads.

 

[Trumpet]

Knock the rust off with a wire brush and start soaking them down with kroil or pb blaster.

I'd start doing this a few days to a week before touching tools for removal.

 

[GupsT4R]

id brush and spray those bad boys week or two before starting the initial change. Any stripped ones..i nipped the nuts off with air die grinder and ran a die to clean.