Drilled out exhaust manifold bolts on head..almost shit myself but no leaks.

[06XLDenali]

So I kept pushing this project back as I new it was going to be a PITA. I had 2 bolts with missing heads on the passenger side rear head. The first one closer to the front I started with a small drill bit that was pretty center. Long story short I got that one with an ez out. The one furthest to the rear I wasn't able to drill centered and screwed up right off the bat. Than tried to weld with no luck, couldn't get good ***********..I think the welder was the issue. So anyways I pulled the manifold put a new felpro gasket and new bolts. Other than the one. I ended up drilling into a jacket in the head but thank god there is no fluid pressure! Anyone know what this is? I may try a bolt on clamp device I saw online. As I'm not taking the head off and it fixed the ticking noise. Sorry for rambling

1. What is the cavity I drilled into?
2. Has anyone used this clamp with sucess?

 

[Blackcar]

If I'm looking at this right your way off center of bolt and cavity is screw hole and you're at bottom of bolt

 

[06XLDenali]

If I'm looking at this right your way off center of bolt and cavity is screw hole and you're at bottom of bolt

Ok, so there is some air gap between end of bolt and head. Good to know thanks man. After the day I had I almost lost it thinking I hit a coolant pocket haha. For anyone attempting this job

DONT RUSH IT! Dont be lazy

Pull the manifold, only takes 20min
Get a center punch, right angle drill, left hand drill bits, ez out bits.

$50 At harbor freight

 

[rockola1971]

Ok, so there is some air gap between end of bolt and head. Good to know thanks man. After the day I had I almost lost it thinking I hit a coolant pocket haha. For anyone attempting this job

DONT RUSH IT! Dont be lazy

Pull the manifold, only takes 20min
Get a center punch, right angle drill, left hand drill bits, ez out bits.

$50 At harbor freight

Or just a MIG welder.

 

[06XLDenali]

Or just a MIG welder.

Ya, I was disappointed. My welder was spitting bad and was not penetrating. Bummer.

 

[blueinkd]

This is one of those jobs best left to the professionals that do it daily. I paid my local exhaust shop to do both sides and picked up some new manifolds while I was at it. 3 broken studs between both heads. $350 later and she was good as new.

FYI I also did the Dorman cheater clamps and it was a waste of an afternoon installing it on the rear driver side. Never again and I don't recommend it.

 

[nick0789]

This is one of those jobs best left to the professionals that do it daily. I paid my local exhaust shop to do both sides and picked up some new manifolds while I was at it. 3 broken studs between both heads. $350 later and she was good as new.

FYI I also did the Dorman cheater clamps and it was a waste of an afternoon installing it on the rear driver side. Never again and I don't recommend it.

I agree. I had mine extracted last summer and paid ~ $425-450 for the labor, planing of the manifolds, and new gaskets. I had them install ARP bolts for the manifold and have not had issues since.

After watching a LOT of videos online I decided to say screw it and just took it to the exhaust shop. I had 3 bolts that were snapped off, two of which were the most rearward bolts on either side.

The owner of the shop offered to use the clamps (can't remember which brand); he keeps a stock of them on-hand because of the amount of work he has to do with these, and most people would rather pay for the cheap route.


That said, I'm glad you were able to tackle the job by yourself. I wish I had the patience to go at it, but even with the patience I'm not so sure I would have been able to get the rear bolts extracted without having to fix something else in the process lol.

 

[Mudsport96]

Not so sure why you guys think this is a major undertaking.
Did the 6.0 in my dads sierra in about 2 hours( first one i did)
Buddy 5.3 in his Silverado in about 1.5 hours. And our work truck in about 1.5 hours.
Maybe i was lucky idk

 

[Blackcar]

You need right tools and Technique makes big difference.

 

[nick0789]

Not so sure why you guys think this is a major undertaking.
Did the 6.0 in my dads sierra in about 2 hours( first one i did)
Buddy 5.3 in his Silverado in about 1.5 hours. And our work truck in about 1.5 hours.
Maybe i was lucky idk

For me, it was the following that made me go straight to the shop:
- the lack of a welder
- the location of my three broken bolts
- no air tools
- it was summer in NC and I hate the gnats and humidity
- no tools (to my knowledge at the time) to get me in a spot comfortable enough with the drill bits to be able to drill straight
- no second vehicle to drive around in the event that I messed something up
- the value of my free time
- a fiancée that, quote (in case she ever reads this post) “taught me the value of investing time in our wedding planning instead of working on a vehicle.”

Long story short, it all comes down to my inadequate tool selection to perform the job and my desire to have my free time that didn’t involve working on the tahoe for another weekend in a row (and end up on the couch lol). If I had access to a shop I wouldn’t have had much issue with doing the job but what can you do?