Turbo manifold replacement

Hi all, With the virus situation forcing the closure of the trusted local Indy and me having time on my side and a blowing manifold I'm looking to have a go at removing them myself. Looking at the heads of some of the bolts I'm sure I will have fun (take that as issues) getting all 18 bolts removed, I have been soaking (as best as you can upside down) the bolts with plus gas for a week now but I am expecting some snapped bolts. As a precautionary measure does anyone know of an alternative supplier for the stomski type jig or as has anyone got one they want top sell for a 996 turbo? Thanks in advance Cheers Ian

Good luck with this, you're going to need it I'm afraid. Make sure you heat each bolt up and cool at least a couple of times first with maybe a few whacks as well. You want to give yourself the best chance. I've done mine before and I got an engineering firm to drill out/remove the remaining ones (cost less than a jig). I've been think about these jigs as I now need to do my Boxster. I'm thinking of buying a cheap used manifold and cutting the pipes off to give me essentially the main part of the jig. The only thing I need to figure out are the drill guides. I guess these can be machined, but I don't have a lathe. Whilst looking for a manifold for the Boxster, I think I've found a Turbo (listed incorrectly) one on ebay for £30. I'll send you the link if you're interested.

Hi rgracin, Thanks for the words of wisdom, ill get the blow lamp out to try and heat / cool them a few times. Yes please send the link its worth a look. cheers

Ive literally just done this, well one side. My thoughts : Set aside PLENTY of time. Get a few sets of bolt extractors, i found that if the bolt extractor gets a good grip then it usually gets it out, i dont think the bolts on mine were the original ones, so it wasnt 15 years of crust that needed removed. For the ones the bolt extractor couldnt remove i used a finger sander to sand the heads off the bolt. That allowed me to get the manifold off. I had 4 studs left at that point, used a stud extractor and it whipped 3 out, only 1 remained and that was because it was right at the back of the engine and the extractor couldnt fit in. I got it out by setting the welder to max amps and welding a nut on the end. I guess be inventive, at the very least the stromski jig seems to be a great piece of kit. Good luck!

Thanks Ross, some good tips there looking at this on the bright side its a good excuse to but a new welder...... cheers Ian

Always a positive!

I thought I would give an update to the thread. I decided to see how seized the bolts were on the blowing manifold tonight, and all I can say is either I am a lucky ba**ards or they have been replaced at some point in the life of the car. although two of the heads are now 11mm rather than the original 13 due to corrosion I have managed to crack all 9 bolts loose . i haven't taken them fully out yet as I only have the car up on small ramps so cant get underneath properly but will hopefully have the manifold off at the weekend. For info mine is a 2003 and the manifolds had been felt wrapped which may have caused premature corrosion of the bolt heads. What's the consensus on the replacement bolts, is the best bet stainless with a healthy dose of aluminium grease? Cheers Ian

When I replaced my manifolds (On my Carrera so not a Turbo) I went with studs and nuts rather than bolts, the logic being that even if the studs seize in the heads it's a lot easier to get head and penetrating fluid into the (External) nut. I went with the TdF titanium studs but I don't know if they still make and sell sell them but you could also try inconel ones like these. These aren't specifically for a Porsche but you get the idea. http://www.blackcatmotorsport.co.uk/shop/inconel-stud-for-turbo-manifold-m8-x-1-25mm/ Or frankly just stainless studs with nuts as my logic above still holds. I would imagine stainless nuts on stainless studs with a bit of aluminium grease would be fine.

I replaced these bolts on mine quite a few years ago now, I went for original bolts see thread below http://911uk.com/viewtopic.php?p=642370&highlight=#642370 Also it's been mentioned about using an old manifold to make a jig but on my car the bolt holes in the manifold did not line up accurately with the holes in the head Mac

If the engine is the metzger that's fitted to the 997.1 Turbo then they are bolts as opposed to studs and nuts, which are an absolute PITA as they seize and shear. When I did mine, I fretted for ages after reading all the stories of studs shearing but in the end when I got round to doing them they all came out very easily. My advice, for what it's worth, is try getting S/S bolts but if you can't just get std bolts and when fitting them coat then in high temp copper grease. Then torque them up to the rec setting, check them again after a few 1000 miles running just to make sure they're still firmly in place. The biggest issue is the manifold to turbo studs and nuts, mine didn't even resemble nuts, they just crumbled away and I had to split them before they'd budge.