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One of the nastiest, hardest and potentially pain-inflicting systems on these old trucks to disassemble is the exhaust manifold. Getting those 60-year old rusty studs out of the manifold can be a frustrating chore. But Roy has a fairly simple (you can drill holes, can't ya??) way to accomplish...
| Manifold Bolt Replacement | ||
| By Roy "RoyV" Vaillancourt 1951 Chevy 1/2-Ton |
January 2009 | |
It's not fast, but it is easy and straightforward
This is the painless, no knuckle skinning method of replacing a rusty stud on the exhaust manifold.
Step 1 -- To make life easy, I removed the manifold and held it in a vise. This photo shows the rusty crusty stuck stud.
Step 2 -- Cut off the offending culprit flush to the flange. Grind this flat and smooth if needed. This makes drilling easier.
Step 3 -- Center punch stud and drill a small pilot hole. Use some light machine oil when drilling to help the drill cut. Clear the chips regularly and reapply oil. Run the drill at a medium speed and apply moderate pressure. Make sure the drill is perpendicular to the flange surface. Patience is the best virtue here. Do not over-speed the drill as all this will do is dull the drill faster and harden the material, thus making drilling harder and the frustration factor higher. Last thing you want to do now is break the drill in the hole.
Step 4 -- Drill larger hole to tap drill size. Use some light machine oil when drilling to help the drill cut. Clear the chips regularly and reapply oil. Run the drill at a medium speed. Hold the drill firmly as it will try to torque out of your hand as the drill bites. Once again, make sure the drill is perpendicular to the flange surface.
Step 5 -- Tap thread all the way thru. Apply oil to the tap periodically and clear the chips frequently. Slow and easy is the key to preventing broken taps. If you meet some resistance, then back the tap out and clean the tap and the hole. Reapply oil and have another go.
Step 6 -- Shows new threaded hole. All nice and clean. Clean with Acetone to get all the oil out.
Step 7 -- Install new studs with anti-galling compound. Be sure to use brass nuts when installing the exhaust system.
Happy motoring,
Roy Vaillancourt
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