Ive got a del sol with the B16A3. I'm putting a whole new exhaust on, so I thought I'd get some new exhaust studs to go with the shiny new pipes. I thought the one on the far left was missing, but I couldn't get a new stud to screw in. I had to use my phone to see there's still half a stud stuck in the block. It's maybe 1/4" before the surface so I can't get anything onto it. I managed to get all the other studs off without issues. The block isn't warped or damaged, I have no idea what happened to half the stud.

Can I get it out?

 

With the correct tools it can be removed without damaging the head.

Might want to seek professional help on this one. The tools for a successful extraction can get expensive.

 

Your best bet is to pull the head and take it to a shop that can get it out.

If you're lucky, you may be able to find a shop that can do it with the engine in the car, but I bet they will want to see it before agreeing to the work.

If you are not well versed in extracting steel hardware from aluminum castings, I would not try to tackle this yourself, or you are likely to just make it worse.

 

Well crap. I guess it's staying in there for now. I'm not going to try anything risky here. Seems like any mistakes can be catastrophic and I'm really good at making mistakes. Thanks for the help yall

 

Exhaust manifold stud? just drill it out. Worst case you screw up the threads a little and you re-tap them.

 

I'm sure I can figure out a way to botch it worse, and Id rather just live with 8.5/9 studs

 

Yep, I totally understand that. I would say that particular area is a pretty safe space to try and drill out a stud. You can't really mess anything up other than damaging the threads, but even that would be kind of easy to avoid if you use the right size drill bit and extractor and take your time. But you are right, you are probably fine with 8/9 studs.

 

Remove the exhaust manifold. Notch the stud with a cutoff wheel using a dremel, or air cutoff wheel. Heat the stud up with propane torch. Smack the notched stud with an impact screwdriver. Not a flathead bit in an impact. Not the same tools. Impact screwdriver will shock it loose and spin it at the same time. Make sure its notched deep enough for the impact screwdrivers bit to go fully in the stud and not twist the tip off.

 

Still not ideal, over time exhaust would likely start leaking a bit through that one part of the gasket that isn't fully seated down.

From what OP is describing it sounds like the bolt is completely underneath the surface of the head and I don't know how he'd even get a dremel or blade onto the bolt.

If OP posts a pic that may help. From what it sounds like, I'd probably just try to YOLO it with a drill bit and extractor:

 

Quarter inch before surface

 

Those easy out things rarely/never work in situations like this, the best bet is to pull the head and take it to a machine shop. Yeah it sucks, but its better than breaking off one of those shitty extractors in there and then paying the "***** fcked m8" price to solve that. An extractor is half the size and twice as hard as the stud you're trying to remove, if the stud is stuck the extractor is just going to snap. Once it snaps, you have a piece of very hard steel stuck in the center of the broken stud so now you can't even drill and tap the next size up since it will just rip up your drill bits and push them into the surrounding aluminum. Then your only option is EDM which is quite expensive and will require the head be stripped down to a bare casting.

 

Precisely this.

 

Time to break out the welder. Weld the stud until it’s passed the surface of the head.

take a nut that is bigger than the stud, and now weld it to the welded material you put on the stud. Fill the nut up with weld.

Let the nut cool a bit, then remove the stud.

 

 

Welders definitely do not turn down ********.