I have an exhaust leak on my driver side. Midas says it's the exhaust manifold, they refuse to change it because they say it's so rusted and the bolts might strip the head. Took it to the dealer, they say if the threads in the head get stripped they will charge me $2000 to pull the heads and stuff, I said i'll call and let them know, haha, yeah.


So, here is my question. The manifold costs $200 from ford, my friend and I can take off the manifold and I'm sure if the studs break i can EZ out those suckers, i can get them out without stripping the head I'm pretty sure. I put a full exhaust on on my camaro it has like 400% smaller work area in the maro engine bay, it's open country in the Ford engine bay I can sleep in there. ANy of you guys have experience with this, is my assumption right, or are the Ford heads really strip easily??

Also, if headers aren't to much more, i might spring for those. WHat are some good headers and how much are they going to run me, and do I need to change anything in my exhaust to fit them on, or are they bolt on(I'm lookng at shorties)

I wanted to keep my truck stock, but hey if soemthing breaks and I can upgrade for not to much more, why not

Thanks,
Brian

 

You may very well be able to get the studs out your self, but you got to remember that your heads are aluminum so they will strip very easily! Unless you are able to drill and tap out your heads for heli-coils its gonna turn into a big job.

 

well, i'm going to wait first to see if i can isolate the crack in the manifold, and clean up that area. Maybe I can weld it back together to.......

No matter what happens, I'm not paying 2g's,

 

Yeah, I hear ya !!

 

Shorty headers exchange perfectly. If you go this route, buy good gaskets and locking bolts. Another alternative would be to buy a used OEM manifold from someone who has installed headers or from a junkyard? There's no unique rusting or stripping "problem". Proper soaking of penetrant and extraction techniques apply, as in any typical exhaust manifold removal.

 

sounds good, I just never seen this much rust on a "newer" truck, mines a 98 looks like the manifolds is off a 75!
I'll definately look into the shorties.

Brian