The joys of removing exhaust manifold

[martinjs]

What a PITA this has turned out to be, the thing i was dreading happening has happened :mad:
2 studs sheared off in the head, took me about 12 hours to remove the thing, the last bolt (the one in the middle of bottom row, hardest to get at) was so rusty it was completely round, had to gring it away with B&Q's answer to a dremmel and a mirror coz you cant even see it, eventually with the help of a crowbar it came off,
Dont know how im going to remove the broken studs, they're arrowed in the pic, i'll need the worlds smallest drill to get to them
have about 8 inches of room
any ideas? dont fancy removing the head again:mad:

[Fat Audi 80]

Right angled "windy" drill?

Good luck, its looks like a bitch.

[Stick Insect]

Hi Martin, sorry to hear about your troubles.

Have a look at this attachment: It is available from Frost www.frost.co.uk
go to search and key in drill.

You will also get some very sexy stud removers there as well.

D.

[porkkis]

Can't say other than been there, done that, got the t-shirt. The head was off, tho. New studs, copper or A2/A4 nuts and loads of copper paste when installing. This way should be easier the next time.

What are those ignition leads? Make? Price? Where to get?

[martinjs]

thanks david, thats just the thing i need, just did a search on ebay, found a similar thing for 12 quid

porkkis, the leads came on another car i bought, dont know the make, asked the guy who bought them, he said he got them from an advert in the back of audi driver magazine, and didnt have any details about them anymore, i need to find out myself as one is damaged and could be the cause of my running problem:wacked:

[Greg_S]

Id be very careful about drilling the head with it in situ since it is an ally head and steel studs the drill will be skating all over the place into the softer ally head.

If i were you id take the head off and have it done properly.

Greg

[Stick Insect]

I can't help but agree.

D.

[AndyP]

I had a similar problem with a BMW 325i that I used to own, it can be done but it's very tricky, heres how I did it:-
1. Start by using a very sharp centre punch to spot the centre of the broken stud, this is assuming the stud has sheared leaving a nice flat face. If not you may have to get busy with the dremmel again.
2. I used on of those flexi-drill attachments and started with an engineering centre drill, I only had it running very slowly so I could keep it under control.
3. I then started with a 3mm drill and drilled it as deep as I could, again doing it slowly so I kept it square. I think I used a 4mm and finally a 5mm drill so the hole was bit enough for the stud extractor ( easy-out ) to go in.
4. I then used a blow torch to get it as hot as I could before gently removing the stud with the extractor.

I had three broken studs and this method worked on 2 off them, the third I just put some exhaust sealent round and it never leaked again.
Be prepared to be patient it took me all day to get the 3 studs out!!

Good luck

Andy

[Doug_RS2]

If you undo the downpipe connections to the cats you can drop the downpipe out of the way - that might give you more room to get a big drill in.

Could also remove the engine mount nuts on either side, and the snub mount bracket and jack the engine up - if the room is still tight - it might just be enough room to get in easier

That is realy **** - at least mine broke with enough out of the head to weld on a nut - after I welded that on - it came out without much force - it must be really marginal on breaking them all.

Note there are 2 smaller holes in the EM - make sure those studs aren't too far in your head so that the wider unthreaded part doesn't mate with those smaller holes - otherwise the manifold can move around on the studs.

[martinjs]

cheers for the tips.
@andy, they have broken about 2-3mm below the face of the head, so im going to turn a piece of bar to 6.5mm dia (something quite tough, tool steel etc) then drill a 3mm hole through the centre, then make another one but with a 5mm hole, then i can place this on top of the stud and hold it whilst drilling through the middle, that way it will be dead in the centre of the stud, then use the 5mm one, then use an easy out type tool.

@doug, noticed my downpipe isnt even attatched to the body, remeniscent of you at GTi last year , there is a bit more room but not enough to get a standard sized drill in, thought about undoing engine/snub mount, worth a try.

martin

[newsh]

Oh joy, I've got all this to come...

[martinjs]

Ive been thinking about how to go about this, and think im gonna have to take the head off, if one of those 'easy out' things snaps then im well and truly scuppered, can get them drilled out at work, helicoiled if need be.
my record is 45mins to remove, now turbo is already off, reckon on 25mins

so i need to know what to order tomorrow:-
thermostat, waterpump, cambelt etc was done 6 months ago

head bolts.... doug/mark have you bought these apr bolt things? how much are they and where from? dont want to do this again but you never know (said this last time:wacked: )
head gasket...is the metal one re-usable???

if all goes to plan, should be back together friday morning

[Doug_RS2]

I got the ARP head studs from SteveH - I actually have Marks - sitting on my desk - At one point I was aiming to get the car back on the road for this weekend If you are desperate and want these asap PM me and we'll see if Steve can gt another set for me.

Studs or bolts, headgasket, and inlet manifold gasket are required - maybe coolant manifold seals as well - might get awy without changing those. ECP has genuine headgasket and inlet/exhaust gaskets.

Don't re-use the headgasket - for £25 it isn't worth the trauma if you have a prob. And make sure there is no oil around the headgasket, head mating face, or bolt threads.

Are you getting the head skimmed again? I was told to make sure you tell the machine shop it is a metal head gasket - as these require a smoother finish, than if you were using a paper gasket.

HTH

[martinjs]

Doug, ok i'll order gaskets, wasnt going to skim the head,
didnt skim it last time either,
ive always been under the impression to only skim the head if head gasket goes or if surface is pitted.

i'll pm you doug.

[Beetie]

You never know if the surface is slightly warped... As you well know you wouldnt want to take it off again