uzikaduzi

so the upper stud closest to the front came off in my hand while i was trying to put a socket on it, the one under it felt like it was coming out smoothly then a squeak and snap. they were both broke inside the head.

drilling out an extracting the top one went well... maybe 30 minutes. the bottom one not so much.I was using my right angled air drill and the paddle is on the back of the handle... I'm drilling slowly and i slip a little and try ti line it back up and i notice i can't move the drill easily and the strut tower is holding the paddle keeping the drill on. I chewed up the lower portion of the thread pretty good.

the other studs came out easy, but i have no idea what to do with the one that i chewed the threads up... I think the only options are helicoil or drill and tap 1 size bigger and find a bolt or stud to fit and I'm gonna find some one who will take my money to do that.

I did strongly consider long tubes (after I realized short tubes won't do much if anything) and I thought I'd just wait it out till had had the money for some... but it's not a slight leak that goes away after the truck is warm. I use that truck primary for towing and there is a conciderable amount of power loss since the leak started. I don't know to what extent this is true but I've also heard that the exhaust gases can eat the head so I tackled it now.

i put the new manifold on obviously without that one stud that's broken off to drive it to a shop and it doesn't leak... but i know that will be short lived without that stud there.

x40oz

So how did it sound after you cranked it that first time? The anoying tick of exhaust leak gone? was it great not to hear?

uzikaduzi

it was great to not hear that leak but i think i wasn't as excited as i would have been if i had gotten that last stud out... now i just keep thinking "how much is this gonna cost me?"

on a side note, I'm surprised at how difficult the starter is to remove. that top bolt was ridiculous. I had to use almost all my extensions and a wobble between the frame and the exhaust manifold (which was the exact distance I needed to clear the female side of my extensions) and had to do the whole thing by feel because there was no way I could see in there

uzikaduzi

ok... got a quote from ford... 4-6 hours labor, which works out to 5-800ish. I don't think that's too bad considering they are basically doing all the work it would take to replace the manifold.

x40oz

WOW...so in retrospect would you have paid someone to do this job?

uzikaduzi

I'm not sure honestly... it took me all day Saturday and a few hours Sunday but i bet I could do it in 5 hours now that I've done it. with the one that snapped I think it had more to do with the wobble i was using and it likely pulling to one side more than just turning. the other thing is this was the absolute worst one to access if it was to break. all the other studs came out easy with a stud puller... I tried it without one but it's just too much work for me with vice grips.

some other people said they didn't pull the motor mount but i have no idea how you'd get it out without pulling it

x40oz

So the Dorman manifolds come with everything needed, but my question is should I order the better gaskets and hardware from Rockauto or will the ones that come with the kit hold up?

uzikaduzi

the dorman kit does not include studs (just the 2 studs for the collector)... the gasket included is quite a bit different from factory; however, I don't have a leak while missing one of the studs so I don't know that going for a better one is necessary

x40oz

So should I order the hardware kit and gaskets?

uzikaduzi

i don't know enough about the differences in the gaskets to advise but definitely get the studs. I would assume the gasket with the dorman manifold is the cheapest option that will work since that's kind of their thing so it might not be a bad idea.