exhaust manifold nightmare

Chalk up another person with a nightmare removing the exhaust manifolds. I used penetrating fluids on all of the bolts the night before i started, did it again an hour or so before i started to try removing the bolts. Then I heated up the engine and used an impact gun, the drivers side came off no problem, then the pass side, snap, snap and the rest came off fine. Ok no big deal I had seen the threads before and had already purchased extractors, no big deal right? nope ! those darn bolts would not come out with the extractors. This set http://www.ebay.com/itm/350754629843 I tried everything but eventually they would just give and start spinning. I heated up the bolts, no go with that either. Ok go get new extractors, i got the screw in type, on one of the bolts I went to deep and broke the supporting side of the head ... @#$@#% ok on to the next one, after trying at least 5 different extractors finally i got one to hold into the bolt and then snap ! &@#^$@# again have you ever tried to drill out an extractor ? OMG i dont know what this particular one was made of but nothing would drill into it, i tried 5 different types of drill bits including M42 which is supposed to cut through grade 8 bolts like butter and all it did was scratch it ! ok not good so i ordered the stomski jig hoping that would make it easier, nope still could not drill that extractor out. Finally I found the cats *** of tools its called a rescue bit, this thing is nuts, 50 bucks for a tiny little tool but stick that on the dremel and watch it chew it away in no time. It says not to use any type of lube and crank it up to 30,000 rpm which I did and yeah it worked like a charm ok so finally i get the darn bolt out, use the jig again and drill out the head, then a size up and use a helical insert with tons of red lock tite into the head and that thing worked great The other one that I broke the edge of the head off I purchased a threaded rod and put tons of slow setting jbweld onto it and put it into the head and then put the outer part back on with tons of jbweld. Now I have a nut on one of them instead of a bolt but ok whatever. all in all a friggin nighmare ! that extractor i am sure i spent at least 5 hours trying to remove it with vice grips, heat, different type of drill bits, cold chisels etc and the thing didnt budge ! then rescue bit to the rescue ! the stomski jig is also amazing, not cheap though but i wanted to be 100% sure the holes were in the exact spots Of course swapping exhaust manifolds should have been a couple hours max but of course my luck didnt have that happen lol.

been there also , My issue was on the Driver's side. snapped 3 bolts... Those Heilcoil are a Lifesaver

So why were you pulling the exhaust manifold?

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they are, i had never heard of them before but i was very impressed with them, such a simple concept

Thanks for sharing your nightmare. I have heard the real solution is to install SS studs with red locktite and use SS washers and nuts for the manifold. I have not done this...yet.

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ah yeah i forgot that part lol I put in speedtech headers I have the PSE exhaust, catless speedtech x pipe and now these headers, I am not sure which I prefer yet the sound is totally different than the stock headers. Around 5k rpm the speedtech sounds really nice but there are other parts where I prefer the OEM's Maybe its the placiebo effect but I feel like i have gained back some of the low end torque / low rpm power but probably wont know for sure until i get back on the track. The last track day that was really ticking me off as the car was not impressive below 3k rpm coming out of some corners at all. My initial reaction so far is that seems to be improved ... but again maybe its just my head.

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i considered that but I was worried that if i ever go to sell it and someone saw that they would freak out, even what I did I am sure that with that one stud some people will freak out it would be much easier to line up the gasket with the studs for sure lol

I don't think anybody would freak out if they saw this Amazon Amazon

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not so sure, some people will be like holy crap something is modified lol

When this type of thing happens I find the easiest remedy is a small fire and a call to the insurance company.

Hurmm, i've been planning to do this when I buy a new set of headers, I was going to undo them by hand though not with an air gun. Did you go full force on them with it?

No air gun, use the old manual impact wrench, a couple of wacks with the hammer should do the trick.

Had the exact same experience... sucks☠️

Yep I found the same thing. I have a dented runner on one of the header pipes so I bought a set of 997S headers. I chickened out of removing the headers when I got a good look at the corrosion on the bolts and having removed all the other exhaust bolts to get to the headers. They just broke off without fail, even having used tons of Kroil. So I'm waiting till I have the engine out to do this job ... discretion is the better part of valor :-)

PB Blaster the night before and morning of worked for me. No issues removing the header bolts, it was actually kind of easy. I figure the PBB treatment and being a fair weather car were the big factors as there wasn't much corrosion involved. Installing the new headers was a different story, though. 13 hours of both my labor and that of a nearby shop later and I love the sound with SpeedTech headers mated to OEM cats & Fisters.

Tony....How was the fitment using the speedtech headers?

Fitment on my 03 C2 was very good, a perfect match. The problem for me was the install. The OEM bolts are the right length but the ones sent by SpeedTech need the small spacers they include in the package. I loosened the cats & removed the O2 sensors to give some wiggle room, but I don't think that's needed.