if it ain't one thing... I have a exhaust leak on my 68 country squire. It's the 390 stock manifolds and leaks for the pass. side front. All the searches pretty much say the same about breaking a bolt or two. That will put me down for who knows how long(long hours at work). Don't really have the time or money right now, so what are my options? It's not real loud, but you can hear it. Will I hurt it driving it like that? Thanks for any help.
Did a donut blow out or is it the pipe itself? If you are worried about broken studs on the manifold you could probably get a spare set of manifolds ready to go before you start taking things apart. Of course that doesn't help with manifold to head bolts.
Soak the bolts down good with Blaster every day for about a week. Then get the engine good and hot and then try to break them loose. When you replace them, make sure to use anti-sieze.
yeah it's at the manifold to the head. That's why I'm worried about getting it done. I'm gonna start soaking them tomorrow and hope for the best. Thanks guys
Ugh. Reminds me of an exhaust manifold gasket job I did for a friends' old Skylark 350 a few years ago. Wound up snapping 4 or 5 of the manifold to head bolts since they had been on there since Christ was a Yiddish priest. There just wasn't anything you could do. Ended up having to pull the heads and drilling and retapping the threads. Good luck and be patient.
I don't remember what years they were but certain year Fords were prone to exhaust manifolds cracking. Hopefully, someone here will recall the particulars on this problem. If and when you get it off check it for cracks. EDIT: And if you mix up some ATF and acetone to soak the bolts it will be better than the blaster. Don't believe me? Soak one in blaster and one with the mix and see which one comes out the easiest.
Thanks for the tip silverfox, I'm all over it. If I leave it till the end of summer, will it damage anything?
Good question and I don't know the answer to that. I would wait until you are a day or three from removing it. The stuff works fast. Ordinarily the acetone would evaporate quickly but probably not so quickly mixed in with the ATF. I doubt that it would hurt anything but, since it works quickly and works well, I would wait until you are ready to do the work.
okay dumb question here... where do i get the acetone? And what about having the engine hot with that stuff on it? I planned on warming up the engine to help with removal, is that okay? Thanks for all the help!
You can probably get some acetone at a hardware store. I've also had good luck with Kroil, but it is a little harder to come by at the store.
Any hardware or paint store. Walmart has it. Acetone is flammable IIRC. Don't over think it. Just put it on a few times as it's soaking and it will loosen things up. No need to get engine hot. I would let it soak on there for 48 hours or so.
