Taking Manifold off = Taking engine apart.....

[GaGti]

I cant believe it...what seemed to me as a "couple of hour job" has turned into a "couple of days and still off the road job"..

My Exhaust Gasket where the manifold meets the downpipe was leaking...and a stud had sheered off, so i decided i would replace the gasket. Unfortunately while taking the seemingly impossible studs off, The bolts had annealed with heat and time and thus causing each and every one to snap...

So...I decided to remove the manifold completely from the engine..and while taking the bolts off i was finding the heads were rounding theirselves which then left me scratching my head..

I am now left with no option than to strip my engine down to give me enough access to get a small grinder on the bottom bolts of the manifold, and i still have to drill the studs out of the downpipe/manifold flange..

*rant over*

[richard s]

try a small pair of good quality mole grips . i had same on some of my lower manifold nuts tried air saw didnt fit belt file didnt fit then one of the lads came up with small mole grips and removed three knackered nuts in about ten mins

[turbodub]

Are you sure you were using the correctly sized socket on the manifold nuts? They are 12mm which is a slightly bizarre size on a VW. Just thought I would suggest it as I feel your pain having had problems with manifolds/downpipes myself. You may find it will work out quicker to remove the head and do the repairs on a bench, it will be a lot more pleasant than bending over the engine bay for hours on end fiddling around with rusted nuts and bolts.

[GaGti]

Yeah ive decided to take the head out and do it on a bench...much much easier..I did realise that they were 12mm nuts, the problem i had though is they were rounded, but now everythings out ive decided to give everything a good proper clean...may even get the manifold and that chromed ill price up the chroming next week, at the mo tho im enjoying giving everything some tlc

[turbodub]

Yeah give it a good clean up while it's out of the car. Good op. to change all the gaskets as well.
Don't make it look too fresh  though or it will look out of place in your bay and you will want to dismantle and clean everything else!

[xxdansigxx]

ga got mine off easy peasy lol

[GaGti]

ga got mine off easy peasy lol

I dont have to drop my subframe  Pwned

[xxdansigxx]

neither do i now lol :D:D