C4 Exhaust Manifold Stud Removal and 3 Stud Bracket Fix

My 1985 Z-51 probably hadn’t had the exhaust system out in
10 years. Needless to say, the exhaust header studs were rusted a bit and
weakened by the years of heat. All the nuts came off except for one which
snapped. The studs that were still there were bent – they seemed to be
made of a material similar to what coat hangers are made out of.
I
took the exhaust manifolds off and brought them to work. I welded a
M10x1.5mm nut on each of the 5 studs. I then welded a little tower of
metal on the stud that was flush with the exhaust manifold and welded a
nut to that.
Then I used a carburizing oxy-acetylene flame and
heated the exhaust manifolds right at the stud until is started to glow
red, then quickly unscrewed the stud. It’s amazing, but a stuck studs
comes out and easily as a hot knife goes through butter, when heated
up.
I bought new studs from the dealer. They weren’t cheap, but
since they are special metric studs that are galvanized, I figured it was
probably worth the money. The nuts are a special crimped type, galvanized
ones so I again bought those. I’m going to install the nuts with nickel
antisieze with is supposed to be good for up to 2000�F.
I know the
studs were put in correctly into the exhaust manifold. One of the header
brackets had holes that were off. I figured out where the bracket was bent
(all around), so I systematically used two large crescent wrenches, using
a hand on each, leaned the bracket against my floor jack and bent it back
into place. It’s all good to go.