69 Big block exhaust leak

[RGS0907]

Does anyone know of a technique to get to the exhaust manifolds? I have an exhaust leak & I just can't get to the bolts. Before I do something drastic like jack the motor off of the mounts, I thought that I'd ask everyone here..

Thanks!

Bob

 

[YellowMach69]

Does anyone know of a technique to get to the exhaust manifolds? I have an exhaust leak & I just can't get to the bolts. Before I do something drastic like jack the motor off of the mounts, I thought that I'd ask everyone here..

Thanks!

Bob

Yes start by signing over the car to me!! And problem will be fixed

 

[Max Power]

You will probably have to jack the motor up. You might get better access by going in from underneath the car.

 

[D.Hearne]

Welcome to the wonderful world of FE bigblock Stangs Ought to try one with Hooker headers.

 

[Max Power]

BTW, when you jack the motor up, remember to loosen the tranny mount and fan shroud as well.

 

[390Fe]

Unfortunately...Jacking the engine up isn't a drastic measure... it's the only way to get to all the bolts. DHearn is right... try it with a set of Hooker Super comps using the over under bolt pattern!

 

[Hack]

Do you guys use a certain type of socket with an extension and ujoint to get at the bolts?

What type of bolts do you use for headers? Have you found that any are superior to the others? How about header studs? Are they a good idea?

Also, I've heard of making a slot in the front and rear of the head gaskets, starting the front and back bolts, and then sliding in the gaskets. Do you guys do this?

What is the best header gasket to use? I've also heard they should be re-torqued after the first couple times the engine is run. Sounds like a really bad PITA if you have to lift the engine off its mounts every time!!

 

[chepsk8]

I had the ssame problem on the SCJ. Both sides. Seems there was an imperfection in the factory heads, a common problem as noted above. I had headers, and taking off those 16 bolts was a nightmare. I finally ended up by cutting the exhaust gaskets into four sections, so each cylender had it's own gasket. Since #2 on the driver's side, and #7 on the Pass side always went, I guessed it to be a casting issue, and just got good at replacing that individual piece.

Yup, welcome to FE land!

 

[Sicarius428]

Ya you have to jack up the engine to get them out. I don't suggest getting studs since it is such a pain just to get the manifold off as it is... You might be able to get the nuts off but the header might still be stuck there on the studs... depending on how high you jack the engine up. Might want to try the Stage 8 locking bolts. They work well on my hookers and may work with the stock manifold... Been a while since ive seen them so its hard for me to imagine it right now. On the front two header bolts I had to use regular header bolts instead of the stage 8 because they were interferring with the shock tower reinforcement but other than that I am really pleased with them.
Kevin

 

[Pakrat]

Honestly I find the task dreadful enough with my 302 and long tubes, so I can only imagine what hell it is like with a 428 in the same engine bay. The only suggestion I can give is that you may want to consider making this the last time you change the gasket once you figure the best way around it.

Here's a thread I had from some time ago. The "Seal for Good" gaskets are well worth the extra cash in my book, I lived with my leak for years and warped, badly cast, or not, these puppies will do the job.

EDIT: Of course it always helps when you actually paste the link into the thread.

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=484549&highlight=GASKET

 

[D.Hearne]

Best header bolts I've found are the ones with the 3/8ths heads. As for retorqing the gaskets, that's a given. Ain't seen them yet that you didn't have to. Some are better than others though. On my 331 in the Ranger I'm using some sandwhich style aluminum gaskets and so far I've only had to retorque them once. Wish these had been around 20 years ago when I had my 427 Stang. :damnit:

 

[RGS0907]

Thanks everyone, at least I know I'm not crazy. Cheapie, I thought that these manifolds didn't use gaskets? I had a shop 10 years ago lightly mill the heads and ADD header gaskets onto the stock manifold. It held all this time!

These FE's are great fun, with what other car do you pull valve covers, use flex-head ratchets, 3 extensions and 2 U-joints (and a case of beer) to simply change the plugs!

 

[D.Hearne]

Ford didn't use gaskets on the exhaust manifolds on many V8's. with the freshly milled head and manifold surface, they didn't need to. But some FE's had I guess what you'd call gaskets, but these also had a function of a heat shield too for the plug wires