Just so you are aware do not use an impact gun with them, only hand ratchets. I'll typically put the correct size on the end of a 6" extension and give it a few hammer taps to get the flutes to bite into the corroded fastener, then just push in towards the fastener and turn at the same time. Little bit of heat from a torch doesn't hurt either.

Sometimes the nuts will get lodged into the tool after removing. simply thread the nut back onto a compatible bolt(8x1.25mm in this case) and twist/pull off. May require the use of a vise or good set of vise grip pliers.

And yes the Irwin brand is good. I have both them and the Snapon versions and like the lower profile Irwin better and easier to extract the removed nuts from the Irwin flutes. Cheaper too

 

My manifold to head bolts were rusty too, but were good enough to get using a six sided socket, I only just got them out, they were seriously tight, they must have been very close to snapping. I'm glad I didn't leave them any longer

The good news was that once I'd got them to move half a turn or so I could unscrew them by hand which means they had not corroded into the head, so I think if yours snap there is a very good chance you could remove the remainder of the bolt with a stud extractor.

Tackling these bolts is still risky because if they do snap and they are corroded into the head then you could be in a world of pain. Trying to drill hardened steel bolts in an aluminium head is never easy.Snapping a stud extractor off doesn't bear thinking about.

By the way I've got a set of those sockets but could only get access to one of the turbo to manifold nuts, the manifolds were in the way of the others.You will be able to get access to all the head bolts though except maybe the one near the oil tank as the tank is very close.

Good luck

PS are you sure you can't use my chisel method on some of the turbo to manifold nuts, surely there must be some nut left or wouldn't your turbos have fallen off long ago

And

 

No, there are no nuts left on the manifold-to-turbine housing studs

It actually looks like they've been removed - but they've just corroded into nonexistance

All I really need to do is clean the threads and fit new nuts, but I'm thinking in order to clean the studs I need to run a die over them, and in order to do that I need to remove the manifolds

 

Just picked up my Irwin Nut and Bolt removers

(for anyone in the UK, I got them from Homebase for £21.99)

Now then, once I get the headers off, do I need any 'special' nuts and bolts to refit them?

ie, are there special items which withstand high heat, or that are made of a certain material - Or will normal items from a hardware store do the job?

 

UPDATE:

I am F*CKED OFF beyond belief!!

The first manifold bolt I tried to remove has just sheared off in the head - brilliant

At least I've still got 17 more to go!!

 

2 hours in....

I've removed 17 out of 18 header bolts so far

2 of the bolts have sheared off into the head, and it's looking like the last one might actually have to be ground off!

What a PITA!!

 

A couple of tips if you don't mind from over 45 years working on vehicles and 40 in the trade. WD 40 is not a penetrating oil it is a water dispersent. CRC Freeze-off http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0BaowQvL6c , the very best I've found, will work where others have not. It's unbelievable.

I've had many British cars in the past and used them as DDs in the '60s thru '80s, MGs, Alpines, Minis, and Jags. My '64 E-Type had brass exhaust manifold nuts that were easy to remove after several years. I used brass nuts on several other cars since and never had a problem. I'd maybe try this when you get thing going back together.

 

Agony. Best wishes for getting this project sorted out.

Will those sheared bolts have to be drilled out and removed with an extractor?

 

Hey is that a 1989/90 ZX7 in the background in one of those pics?

 

Thank you for the advice Nick, very much appreciated

The WD40 did absolutely nothing to help
The threads of the bolts holding the header to the cylinder head are bone-dry

I'm therefore guessing the other products (albeit better at penetrating rust) won't have a path towards the bolts threads either? - It appears that the header and gaskets are blocking the path

I'm almost 3.5 hours into this job and I still haven't removed the final bolt
The Irwin Nut and Bolt removers are completely useless - They grip nothing

Once/If I do manage to remove the last bolt I'll have to drill the sheared threads and remove them with an extractor, I'll make sure I use something other than WD40 before I try to extract them, but I can't see that happening for quite some time yet

 

Yep, I'm there!

I'll let you know once this final bolt is out


That's next on my to do list

 

Bad luck, so do you think you can get the remainder out with a stud extractor? How easily did the ones you got out unscrew once they were clear of the manifold, this should give you a good idea of how tight the snapped ones will be in the head.

Here is some info I posted elsewhere about the manifold bolts if you want it to look genuine. If your not bothered about that the bolts are just M8 x 28mm high tensile bolts with a strength grade of 10.9. These are widely available and very cheap

I put dry moly paste on the new bolts which i've found, over many years,is very good at stopping bolts seizing/corroding. I recently took a bolt out from the suspension of my other car that I fitted 10 years ago, and the paste was still there.

Heres a tip to save some money if your a tight **** like me

I ordered the 18 bolts from my local OPC, the parts guy said they were £1.16 each, which I was OK with, still a rip off as they are just M8*28mm 10.9 grade bolts which are about 6p else where. I just wanted them so they looked original.

When I went to pick them up he had ordered the wrong ones ( I've ordered five things so far and they've only got one right!). He looked up the correct bolts and said they were £3.79 each which made the total £82. Ok call me A m***e but I'm not paying £82 for £1 worth of bolts.

Then I looked at the bolts he had ordered and they were exactly the same but 50mm long not 28mm so I decided to take them and just hacksawed 22mm of each one when I got home, so I've got the original look I was after for £20

The parts guy couldn't explain why the longer bolts were so much cheaper than the otherwise identical but shorter ones.

The part no for the longer but cheaper bolts are 900 378 224 09
(M8* 50mm 10.9 strength grade)

The correct but stupid priced ones are 900 378 227 09 (M8*28mm 10.9)

As I said in one of the previous post I got the turbo to manifold and turbo to cat nuts nuts from Audi there part number is 900 850 01

Genuine Porsche nuts were £4 each, the Audi ones are £0.35 each

Hope this helps

And

 

Oh you posted while I was writing the post above !

I'm feeling for ya, keep your spirits up

 

Thanks And

Are the nuts and bolts just galvanized 10.9 steel?

I'm thinking I might look at some stainless A4 nuts and bolts
They're not quite as strong as 10.9 mild steel, but how strong does a manifold bolt really need to be?? What d'ya think?

Oh, my brother always used to use copper paste when putting parts back together
How does that compare to the moly-paste?

 

Ant, have a read of the posts I started about my same corrosion problems. I was mm away form the same bolts sheering. The 13mm bolts( 10mm shank) was corroded away to les than 6mm. I could feel them twisting as I attempted to turn the bolts. the Bolt heads ( 13mm) were 10.5 mm due to corrosion so I found an imperial socket that could be driven on to turn the bolt.
Have you managed to remove those sheered bolts yet.....good look mate I was Pi$$ing my self doing mine.

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