haha! just givin you a hard time!

 

Carbide burr then, -easy out. Works for me. Dremel has the perfect size for that (Think it's 1/8"). The burr rips right into the stud while heating it up, then you easy out quickly while she's hot. Oh yea, -you'll want to center punch that well and as accurately as possible. If that's impossible, you'll have to center the burr as best you can. You can start with the burr without center punching. -IF your good lol.

You could also try a left handed drill bit. IMO, that's a PITA and CAN BE time consuming. But! Ya that can work as well.

If you ever have to weld on those studs, make sure to Mig for a two full seconds. -For a tack that will hold.

BTW- Those broke off nicely. - Nice and flat.

 

awesome thanx jbrew! gonna try that today!

 

Well once I had the 5/16 and 5/32 drill bits, #3 easy out and my drill the first stud came out in 5 min very easily!! now to track down a right angle drill.....

 

Cool man.

Milwaukee makes a right angle drill attachment that's pretty stout. I haven't broke it yet lol. It's about 20 bucks @ the Depot. BUT, it uses hex shanked drill bits. The bits are for sale right next to it.

I use a die grinder myself.

 

Haha that's exactly what I used!!! Worked good!!! I have a die grinder too but didn't have any attachments for it!

 

Good thinkin lol!

Hey , make sure you check trans mount. A new mount is cheap. That's why the rear manifold studs break off. Once the trans mount wears out, all drive train vibration and added stress on the Y snap those back two. The passenger side takes the brunt of it, until the studs finally fatigue or the manifold itself breaks. Oh, the damper plate above the trans mount can break as well. Mine did, had to weld her up. Also, when that mount wears out, the trans can shift from side to side. That will bend and break the studs usually,- or rip them right out of the head.

This pic shows a bad trans mount, broken/cracked damper plate and where it all ties to the mid pipe,-



Might wanna check all that, your gonna want to pull the cross-over off anyway, -doing LT's. Dead center of the cross-over are two nuts, those would be trans mount nuts. You'll see eventually lol.

Yours may be a little different, - take a look, see if the Y tie's to the bottom of the trans.

 

Thanx jbrew! It is the same under there but as far as I could tell it all looked ok... I will look closer in the am! Didn't get anything done to it today..

 

I found, on some vehicles, that sometimes one cannot tell the mount rubber is actually broken unless removed (or darn near it)

 

Exactly right Red. Notice that rubber flap I have clamped back in the pick ? It was covering a big damn rusty 'hole" where the mount should be. That's all that remained, just that good for nothin flapper lol.

Had to fold back to see all that was missing. Here's a better pick -



What the mount should look like, -



Without, it, its metal to metal and pushes the Y down directing pressure to the manifold studs at and angle. Any little bump or vibration, the studs take a hit. Probably one of the most overlooked cheap replacement parts on the truck. One that can cause a lot of grief if let go to long. First #4 snaps, then #3. I've heard of the drivers side studs breaking as well. Just not near as much as the passenger side.

Before removing the transmission crossmember, support the engine/trans directly below the oil pan. Block up to the pan. The pan will support it all, -no problem.

 

I took a closer look at my tranny mount and it looks fine. I also got these damn headers in finally today! I will be sure to get some more picts and a sound clip up soon, I just have to get the rest of the exhaust made up this week! Thanx everyone who chimed in! I couldnt have done it without you guys!!!

 

Just an update, I finally have the cats and x-pipe in! No mufflers yet so she's a lil loud! But can definately feel the difference in power in the higher rpm! All in all it wasn't too bad to do on the driveway!