1969 Chevy C-10 - exhaust bolts

[shinrich]

I have a 69 Chevy pick-up, 350 V8 that I am slowly restoring. All, and I do mean all, exhuast bolts are broken off right at the manifold. I don't want to even attempt taking off the manfolds to try to drill out the exhaust bolts. Are there any other options for trying to attach the exhuast pipe to the manifold? (note - on the drivers side there is a little valve device between the manifold and exhaust). Is there anything I can do without drilling out the manifold/exhaust bolts?

[dhamblet]

I presume you are talking about the bolts which hold the bottom of the manifold to the exhaust pipe, not the bolts which go into the heads. If you are actually fixing the truck up you might consider investing in a set of headers to replace the stock Chevy exhaust manifolds - or just bite the bullet and pull the manifolds and fix them right -- its not all that big a deal..

[mbct451]

You could weld the exhaust to the manifold, but its tight in there without pulling the motor. And then you'd have to cut it all apart anytime you had to replace the headpipe or do any maintenance.

[mikeTN]

If you are going to restore the truck, then why would you hesitate to remove the exhaust manifolds? Taking them off is the easy part. Drilling out the bolts is the hard part.

Take them off, center punch the bolts(three on each side), drill out with a small bit(maybe 1/8), then repeat with a bit slightly smaller than the bolt(the bolt is about 3/8 to 7/16. Use an easy-out to remove the rest of the bolt and threads(after applying some PB Blaster rust remover.

The mechanism on the pass. side is a heat riser. It can be left in(if it works-usually not) or removed. If removed, a spacer man need to be inserted to take up the space.

Not a big deal, just a lot of elbow grease. Be sure to replace the exhaust gaskets and "O" rings. (And paint the exhaust headers with heat paint before installing to give a finished look)

[retired wrench]

If you remove the heat riser and you get it running and the engine acts like it is still cold after driving it a hundred miles you will know you made a mistake. RW

[Street_rod]

The best thing you can do, is remove the manifold from the truck and fix the bolts. Trying to fix them in the truck is not going to be easy at all!! Do not try to weld them. It will break off, and leak.
Or you could get another set of manifolds. They are not too hard to find.
Unless you are trying to keep the original look. I would use a set of headers.