sailinmike

Hey everyone - hoping into the collective wisdom of the forum here for this weekend's project (gotta get the car ready for MD safety inspection).

Here's what I'm up against:
- 86 turbo, cracks in the exhaust manifold
- Bought a used accordion-style (thanks, Lart!)
- I'd rather not have to deal with pulling the head (though I could if I had to) or removing the exhaust studs with the head still in the car

Question is - if i had access to an engine hoist and a lift, would it be possible to pull the manifold off without removing the studs by lifting the engine an inch or two? Has anyone tried this before?

Also, if anyone's in the DC area and wants to help out this Sunday, I'd really appreciate the help!


Cheers,
Mike

sailinmike

I should add here that I'm assuming there will be no issues getting the nuts off the exhaust studs...

Tom M'Guinn

I've always just double nutter and removed the studs. Some folks release the motor mount bolt and jack it a bit from below for clearance (use a 2x4 between the jack and the oil pan).

Campbelljj

Double nut and remove the studs. I have to say removal is a lot easierthan reinstall.

eyeball kid

Did the same. Double nut and pray nothing breaks. I'd join you Sunday, but I've got a commitment.

sailinmike

Thanks for the tips everyone - sounds like double nut is the way to go.

Anyone ever used the snap-on stud remover tool (M8 1.25):
http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item....e=&dir=catalog

I've heard good things, but am not sure there will be enough space to get in there.

ramius665

Hi Mike, sorry my last email was cut short. Just for clarification, are we talking about the 1-4 header that's cracked? If you can loosen the motor mount bolts to get 1" or so of clearance then it should come out without an issue. As far as removing the studs, I'm a fan of NOT//NOT removing studs from the head while it's in the car and on the engine. If you break a stud then you'll be faced with the requirement to either extract the stud in the car (not much room) or remove the head and do it on the workbench (time consuming). Otherwise, it's pretty straight forward. Make sure you have new gaskets (I'd order all 4 and replace the 2-3 header gaskets at the same time. New nuts for the manifolds are a must. Let me talk to my better half and see if we're going to be free on Sunday. Send me a PM with your phone number and I'll give you a call/text.

rlm328

Patience

jmj951

You will need to remove the studs. Don't even bother trying to do this job without removing the studs. Double-nut the studs, they should back out without too much trouble - though you will face a higher degree of difficulty if the other manifold is not loosened up to give you a little extra movement. I bet it would be nearly impossible to remove/reinstall the 1-4 header, with a new crush ring - without loosening up the 2-3 header, so be prepared (with the manifold to header gaskets and crush ring) for the possible need to loosen up the 2-3 manifold and fit it with new gaskets/crush ring.

One trick to pass along - it is possible to get some mild downward force on the crossover pipe with a jack and a few pieces of wood positioned to operate as a counter-lever, meaning that as you jack up one end of a 2x4, the other end is pushing down on the crossover. You don't want to apply very much pressure here, but using a little bit of force will definitely help with installation. You might need upward force on the crossover, might need downward force - just depends on your car. I personally needed a bit of downward force to pull it away from the headers, especially with the new crush rings since they will add a few millimeters of height until the headers are torqued down to the crossover.

PEvans

The studs can just break in normal service, then you have to take the head off. I would say replace them.

sailinmike

FWIW rlm328 was right, patience was the key!

Loosening the engine mounts and lifting the engine didn't give me enough space to clear the manifold past the heat shield, ended up having to use the double nut method on just about every stud in order to get the manifolds out of there. I was surprised that on some of the studs there's barely enough room between the end of the stud and the exhaust to get the second nut on, especially on #2 and #3 cylinders. Anyway, it worked out and 11 hours later (had a few issues getting one of the new #4 studs in) the new manifolds are installed with no leaking!

For anyone attempting this in the future-
1. There's no getting around pulling the studs with the double nut method. There's simply not enough room to get any kind of stud remover tool on all the studs you need to pull unless you pull the entire head. Thankfully, mine were all in good shape, though I only have 100k miles on the car
2. #2 and #3 manifold will come out first, then you can pull #1 and #4 manifold
3. Useful tools - Ratcheting wrenches, medium and large pry bars, 8mm 1.25 thread tap

Thanks for the tips and hope I never have to do this job with the head installed ever again!

ramius665

Glad to hear it! Lord knows I have a fairly long list of things I never want to do on my car with the [blank] installed on the car again. So you're back up and running now?

sailinmike

Yup - engine is all up to spec now, next on the list is some new suspension!

JohnKoaWood

Good to hear, next time we all meet up at Chamilkas place, we will be replacing his headers, crossover, and a few other bits and pieces while in there... (his #4 runner is almost completely cracked through)...