On the head where the exhaust manifold studs go 4 of the threads are stripped and I cannot tighten the exhaust manifold down all the way. Any suggestions on how to fix this?

 

You're gonnga have to take the stripped studs out and replace them.

 

It's not the actual studs that are stripped, it's the bolt holes in the head itself

 

That's not very good, you'll have to re-thread them using a tap bit. First you'll need to drill it out with a regular drill bit though.

Using a tap like this you'll need to get a slightly bigger stud,



Either you can do that or use "Helicoils" - i've never used them though. The benefit of a helicoil is that you can use the same size bolt (or stud) as you did before.

 

I don't know how they'd work for this but I used a helicoil for the spark plug in cylinder one. It's held up so I don't see why you couldn't used them.

 

yes, Helicoil or some other threaded insert system is the best way for you to fix this. do a google search until you find a metric set that works with your budget. the manufatures do well to give detailed instructions on installing these.

 

I had this happen to one of my cars. It sucks bro. I would do a heli coil too, because enlarging the header bolt hole MIGHT mess up the integrity although I doubt it.

Mine occurred from having an very erratic idle and it loosened the alternator bracket and pulled the header stud right out of the head! The solid urethane rear mount may have helped from the engine rocking back and forth but it did transfer the energy to weaker parts of the car.

 

Got it fixed yesterday, Advance had something that was the exact same as the helicoil so I got those. I had a bunch of running around to do so I didnt get to update this. Thanks to everyone that took the time to help.


Brian