If it was easy everyone would do it......

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gtgto

gtgto

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Bought a 72 340 Duster about 6 months ago......I am no mechanic and have taken on a huge project.....The latest issue I have run into is the original matching number engine which runs pretty good and came in the car has an exhaust leak on the passenger side. Further inspection of the problem today and I found a broken stud closest to the firewall. I don't know if it can be drilled out and fixed with the head on the engine. Has anyone done the work needed without removing the head?
 
I know you're supposed to pull the head but I didn't. Made the mistake of trying to run a bolt extracter and broke it off inside too, went to a carbide bit and finally got it. I went to HF and picked up a 90 degree adapter for my drill and drilled and tapped for a new one, installed with red loctite. Also pumped up my cooling system with a coolant leak tester to flush out any drillings as I went along. BTW Remflex exhaust gasket and you won't regret it. Best of luck.
 
You can rent a magnetic base drill, remove the exhaust manifold.
Drill the broken stud out, possibly use a thread extractor to get the remaining part of the stud out.
Or at last resort drill it over size and use a heli-coil to put the right threads back in.
The threads are 5/16-18
 
Use the mounted manifold as a pilot to guide a short drill bit of that same diameter. This drill deep enough to create a good center in the broken stud. Drill 1/8 pilot hole then drill 15/64, then 5/16 tap.
 
I always have better luck with reverse cut drill bits, A.K.A left hand drill bits.

The broken parts usually come out on the end of the drill bit.

PS: you may want to sand the manifold face flat to ensure no warpage.
 
RedFish said:
Use the mounted manifold as a pilot to guide a short drill bit of that same diameter. This drill deep enough to create a good center in the broken stud. Drill 1/8 pilot hole then drill 15/64, then 5/16 tap.
Click to expand...
this
 
If you can remove the manifold and have exposed stud remaining, I've had good luck with heating the stud and shocking with water, if it won't come out with vise grips in the first place. If there isn't anything to grab onto then the other methods noted above will work. It can be done on the car though may try your patience......LOL!
 
DONT break off any kind of tool in there!, Tap, extractor, WHATEVER. Net to impossible for a "shadetree" mechanic to get out, and IMO NO WAY if head is still on the engine, be careful. MT
 
Get an old nut and MIG weld it onto the end of the stud. The heat from the welding will loosen it up and you can remove it with a wrench on the nut.
 
If you have someone in town who does bolt removal as a profession, get them in to do it. In my job, I have to remove broken studs now and again, but I know it can be real easy to mess up if your doing it for your first time...
 
Hard to see and hard to get at in the engine bay. Easier on the bench.
And, if yer drillin, make sure you center punch first in the center of the stud. Last thing you need is to be off and drill the threads out.
 
Today must be my lucky day....I got the stud out.....Took a few hours after an 8 hour day at work.....Got antifreeze all over the place...no big deal....Now I need to order manifold gaskets and some new hardware to mount it back up....69conv recommended REMFLEX for gaskets. I'm looking into them now. Has anyone used them? I assume they are more expensive than the others.
 
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