Broken exhaust manifold bolt...

[yellomalibu]

I finally got the blue 84 C10 tagged and insured last Friday, and finally got to drive it around quite a bit over the weekend. The engine runs great and smooth (considering the old tires). I like driving the manual transmission, it goes straight and pretty smooth, the brakes work well and don't pull or pulse - very happy with the truck! ... until an exhaust tick started getting louder and louder. Closer inspection showed it was missing the rear exhaust manifold bolt on the passenger side. The one above the starter and next to the A/C box. I bought a set of gaskets for the manifold, but before taking it all apart, I grabbed a bolt to see if just replacing it would stop the exhaust tick... and it doesn't go in. Neither does a smaller diameter allen wrench. I am quite sure the bolt is broken off approximately flush with the head. This 305 motor is still completely stock, complete with AIR tubes and the vacuum line spaghetti factory.

How would you proceed?
A. Get a couple prices from trusted mechanics, then pay one of them to fix it.
B. Pull the manifold off and try to remove the bolt in place.
--- assume option B fails ---
C. Remove the head to make the repair.
D. Pull the motor and make the repair without taking the head off.

I'm afraid any option is going to be either costly or a major pain in the butt... it took the wind out of my sails just when I was really digging my "new" truck.

[SpiderGearsMan]

broken bolt - 8 hours

[Brian Lohnes]

Suck!

Done this twice. Pulled the head both times. It was the only way I knew I was not going to totally eff the job up.

[Scott Liggett]

Pull the manifold off. Maybe there will be enough of it to remove without pulling the head.

[TC]

Pull the manifold off. Maybe there will be enough of it to remove without pulling the head.

X2, a lot of times there will be enough of the bolt sticking out to turn it out.........

If it is broken off in the bolt hole, try using a pick to try to turn it, this takes Patience and a bit of time, but you can get it out!!!

Worse case is you have to Drill a small hole in the middle of the bolt and use an Easy-Out.......

[yellomalibu]

Funny anecdote:
After driving around the clutch pedal all weekend, I hopped in the Blazer Monday morning for work, hooked to the 12' enclosed trailer, and headed out. Half way down the street I went to push the clutch in and coast to the stop sign.... I think I locked up all six tires.

We've probably all done it, but I haven't done it in many years. I was laughing out loud at myself.

[Beagle]

lowers head, raises hand. Guilty. The DD is a standard. I kick the floorboard in the truck all the time. I reach down to release the parking brake in the truck quite frequently. I've almost popped the hood with that one.

I hate to be "that" voice, but I've never had a manifold bolt just come out. Header bolts on my Chevy's would just fall out on their own, but the factory junk welded itself in. Option C would be my plan, but I'd try A and B anyway. Drilling out the busted Easy out's in exhaust bolts really sucks. After the last heads I did, I'm thinking machine shop or a great excuse to buy a MILL. They wouldn't come out with heat applied, welded nut, every trick I could think of. I ended up using a tap to get the remains out.

[Stich496]

1)turn power on
2)tune fav radio station
3)turn up the volume
fixed

[yellomalibu]

I just sprayed some PB Blaster in the hole of the broken bolt and on the other bolt heads, so it can start working before I start wrenching on it.
Can of Blaster is probably over 5 years old... last time I used it, it only sprayed in the direction it was supposed to. Now it still sprays in the right direction, but also in all other directions randomly - including straight into my eyes. F@$%^!ng GRRR!
I didn't even THINK about wearing safety glasses for this...

No working radio in the truck. That'll be one of the things I do "one day". Install new radio, cut holes in the doors for 6.5" speakers.
It also needs a new dash. Someone "fixed" it with bondo and spray paint, and it looks worse than could have possibly looked with just a few cracks. Previous owner actually paid someone to do this "repair". A dash carpet would have been cheaper and looked better.

[A/Fuel]

Ha, the joys of living in the south, a 5 year old can of PB Blaster!
If you could get a drill back there you could try a left handed drill bit first and it might just come out, if not you already have a hole for an easy out. I work at a machine shop and if you brought it in thats what I would try first, granted it would be sitting on a table but thats what I would do.

[yellomalibu]

Now there's an idea.

I could roll up some aluminum and insert it into the manifold hole to center the drill bit and guide it straight...

[Bamfster]

Or just a short piece of 3/8 steel tubing .... it would ensure the straightness of the hole being drilled as well.

[yellomalibu]

even better. This is why I decided to bounce ideas off you guys. Muchos thankos.

[Barry Donovan]

the manifold bolt is a result of egr.

my last v8s were mid 80s.

if nice truck, get any aftermarket cam...look part numbers for healthy version of SBC.
to alleviate the past, spacer the carb (hot is not the word for that carbon). Can even keep same intake and plug off all the craziness.

manifolds can go as far as failing on the bad cam. get to it while its good, runs a very long time.

body still straight? Bending them is the ultimate egr death.

[milner351]

do yourself a favor and start with a new bit - and have a few spares on hand. You probably have more room in that truck than most vehicles - hopefully if you need a 90 degree drill you have one?

I've not had the greatest luck with easy outs. I'm still amazed by the guys that can take an oxy/acet torch to a broken bolt, blow out the busted off end, and leave the threads well enough alone.