Dirttracker18

AKA Hell on earth.

Well it was not that bad but it was a crappy job to do. As others before I thought I would share my experience and research to help out others. This is an 04 that has lived its life in a heavy salt use area.

I searched far and wide prior to starting to get as much info as possible and I then checked out all the options before starting. After much research, thought and procrastinating I jumped in head first.

The best advice I can give is to unbolt the passenger side engine mount and lift jack the engine. I makes a huge difference. It does not simplify the process but does give the room you need to work.

Second, I am not sure how you guys do this job without oxy/acetylene on hand. I am lucky enough to have this in my shop but I would hate to have to attempt this without it.

Patience, patience and more patience. I am off work over the Christmas break so I have the time to spare. I decided to make this a multi day job ahead of time and thus work a little and take a break before my frustration gets the best of me.

So here is how things have gone so far. Night one was all about prep. I got the tools together and removed the fender flare and then the inner fender liner. I followed that up with unbolting of the motor mount, which required the torch to get enough heat to remove the nuts. I then moved on to the flange nuts. I took a shoot at the tough one, top, fist and it came right off. The bottom one ended my night. It immediately striped the hex off. I attempted a smaller socket, hammered on, which again spun on the nut. I could not seem to get the torch in place to add heat so I called the night.

Night two, back at the rounded nut. I worked carefully and found a way to get the torch in place but even with heat I could not get the nut to turn. I finally turned to burning the nut off. With some patience I was able to burn it all off the stud and tap the flange down with a small hammer. I moved on to the manifold after that. With jacking the engine up, the back two nuts came right off. The next tow ports saw the studs back right out. The front port ended might night again. As soon as I got the socket on the nut it was apparent that the stud was already broke

Examine the problem after removal of the manifold revealed not only broken studs but broke below the head. I came up with a plan and started looking for parts the next day.










Day three saw me in the city buying the best quality extractor kit I could find (I have several extractors and kits but did not want to take any chances with a broken extractor). I also borrowed a cordless right angle drill as I do not own one. That evening I dove right in and tried to stay positive. While not simple, both studs came out with minor resistance. I did break one of my new extractors when I tried to remove it from the stud, it just would not come back out. This forced me to one of the extractors I had in my toolbox. Luckily the stud loosened up with the left handed drill bits that came with the kit. I also had to cut down my new left handed bits to fit in the tight space. This was a small price to pay to have the studs out.

I then cleaned up the mating surface and installed the new studs that I purchased ahead of time.

This is where I ended my evening tonight. Tomorrow is reassembly. While there could still be issues, I believe the worst is over.

The job was not the hell on earth I was worried it could be but it was a big job to say the least. That being said, the best quote I got to do the job was north of $1000 plus any broken studs.

Wish me luck that it goes together well. I am very much looking forward to starting it up and NOT hearing the damn tick. I am really looking forward to hauling the TT in the spring and not hearing the tick almost the entire time!

grss429

Nice! I need to attempt mine :/ I want to do long tubes tho

Dirttracker18

In case someone searches and finds this thread I thought it needed an update.

The Doorman manifold I put on only lasted 8 months and started to leak. It was replaced under warranty but that one only lasted 2 months and it started to leak.

So I have done this job twice now and am no further ahead

I am now looking for a good used OEM manifold. So long as it is not cracked it will be heading to the machine shop to be checked for flatness and milled if necessary.

This will hopefully be the third and final time for this job.

On the plus side I am getting pretty good at doing passenger side manifolds. The last time took me about a third the amount of time as the first time I did it. I anticipate cutting that down a little further this time.

sako42

Hey Dirttracker 18 when you jacked up the engine how exactly did you accomplish this? I am going to be doing this job soon and that's the only thing I'm not sure of. I attempted the job 2 years ago and failed. I got the old manifold off but could not get the front 2 bottom bolts even started for the new one. This is without jacking the engine up at all.