Help removing the manifolds?

[Postmandougie]

Well, progress has been made. Today the old engine/tranny came out. I have run into a snag with the new engine. The previous owner, when removing it, broke off the exhaust bolts at the manifold, leaving the old flange in place.

I'm in the process of removing the manifold to deal with this. It looks like there are two studs in the center that slide into place. I got the manifold back around 3/4 inch, and it has frozen solid. No amount of levering/smacking with a hammer/rocking will get it loose; the entire manifold seems to be pivoting on this one stud. It won't slide back in either, and I'm worried that pounding it with a hammer with simply break it. After two hours at it I've come here for advice.

Is simply sawing the damn thing off the best way to go? I can get a hacksaw into the opening. Or is there some trick that I don't know because I'm so new to these engines?

Below is a photo of me smiling at the old engine coming out. Proof positive that I managed to accomplish something today besides acquiring sore muscles and an irrational (and hopefully transitory) hatred of my new engine...

[greg g]

There are thirteen fasteners not including the 4 that hold the manifolds together. Make sure you have them all loose. Some times corrosion on those studs will bind the manifold instead of allowing them to slip off.

[Postmandougie]

Yup, just went out and double checked. All thirteen successfully removed. I think I may just cut that stud off and figure out what to do afterwards...

[greg g]

You might want to spray some rustbuster stuff let it sit Overnight then maybe use a slide hammer and chain, befor you start cutting stuff.

[austinsailor]

It sounds like the stud won't pass through the hole in the manifold, if I understand correctly. It also sounds like it moved out 3/4 inch and is stuck.

If it'll pivot you can work it loose. Push it back in. pull it out and spin on that stud, use some pb blaster or similar and continue till it comes off. If it moves, it'll come loose eventually.

[bamfordsgarage]

Good morning Doug — yours is a problem I struggled with a few months ago, but perseverance won the day. Have a look at the second photograph in Post 42 here: http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?t=30158&highlight=engine+rebuild+thread

I'm sure I have a better photo at home but I'm away for another week, so here goes... Now that you have the manifold away 3/4", find something long and hard just slightly less than the distance you are away from the bloct. For arguments sake, say you have a piece of 5/8" steel rod 24" long. Put that down the crack, up against the manifold. Now tap a wedge down the remaining crack between your steel rod and the block (photo shows it between the rod and manifold but I ended up doing it the other way around).

The wedge can be a cold chisel, old flat screwdriver, etc. Work one end out a wee bit then the other. Once you have advanced one side slightly, fill that gap with, say, a combination wrench on edge to keep the manifold from see-sawing back and forth. It will eventually come. Took me three hours on my engine but now that I now the process it would be much quicker the next time around.

Hope this helps.

[ptwothree]

Removing the 4 caps screws that hold the 2 manifolds together worked for me.

Try not to break the thermostatic spring attached to the heat riser.......

[Tom Skinner]

ptwothree has it right, separate the 2 manifolds and remove the intake first.

Then if your lucky like me rock that baby bake and forth for three hours with a four foot wrecking bar and wood shims, or until you just about have a heart attack, and it will come off. Use lots of long Wood Shims to coax it out with a wood mallet so as not to crack anything:D

Tom