nearside v8 wedge manifold needed...

[tweety]

Anyone got a spare thats not cracked, stainless or mild don't mind, even a pair...mine has been repaired previously and cracked again and I really can't afford new ones at the mo, having just spoken to RT Racing and Tim at ACT.. To compound things I have one bolt seized which is the most awkward to get at and I can only get an open-ended spanner on it, nothing else will fit..any ideas??....PLEASE....it's doing my head in...

Cheers, Al.

[Jack Valiant]

Is it the bolt nearest to the front of the car? Couple of things I did : apply a bit of heat to the bolt or / and support the engine on a jack slacken off the engine and gear box mounts and lift the engine up a bit to give you more room, its a bugger but take you time tighten and loosen, you do not want to shear it fella!

[tweety]

thanks for the info, running the engine was my next option, it's not the front bolt, it's the third pair back and the lower of the two that is under the bend in the manifold.. all the others came out really easily..

Cheers, Al.

[adam quantrill]

Put the others surrounding it back in and tighten or else it'll never come out!

[tweety]

yeah I have put the others back in, had the manifold disconnected from the system aswell so I could wiggle it but to no avail..will try running the engine so it's hot when I next get a chance and try removing the stuck bolt first...

Cheers, Al.

[simonwedge]

I've got a spare but it's rusted so that the metal is quite thin at the very rear (where it joins into a single pipe and exits underneath the car). So thin in fact that it's got some pinholes in it. Could be sleeved though?

[Number 7]

They shouldn't be done up so tight that they seize in the first place, as they're into aluminium. Try some plus gas first. Assumimg you do get it out, you can buy the same size threaded bolts with a smaller hex (ARP do them I think)which give a bit more clearance for spanners.

[Danny Hoffman]

I think I could get a ring spanner round all of my bolts, might be worth trying to find a slimmer spanner or attacking one with an angle grinder so it will fit.

[tweety]

simonwedge said:

I've got a spare but it's rusted so that the metal is quite thin at the very rear (where it joins into a single pipe and exits underneath the car). So thin in fact that it's got some pinholes in it. Could be sleeved though?

Simon yhm...

Cheers, Al.

[tweety]

Number 7 said:

They shouldn't be done up so tight that they seize in the first place, as they're into aluminium. Try some plus gas first. Assumimg you do get it out, you can buy the same size threaded bolts with a smaller hex (ARP do them I think)which give a bit more clearance for spanners.

I've bought some replacement bolts already, thanks for the info tho....

I'm an aircraft engineer so have quite a selection of tools, but i suppose grinding a ring spanner to fit may work...thanks, I'll try it once I've got the engine hot and have some freezer spray ready for the bolt too...

Cheers, Al.

[Solitude]

tweety said:

Anyone got a spare thats not cracked, stainless or mild don't mind, even a pair...mine has been repaired previously and cracked again and I really can't afford new ones at the mo, having just spoken to RT Racing and Tim at ACT.. To compound things I have one bolt seized which is the most awkward to get at and I can only get an open-ended spanner on it, nothing else will fit..any ideas??....PLEASE....it's doing my head in...

Cheers, Al.

Al, what kind of money were you quoted by RT and ACT ?

If you don't mind me asking

Gavin (solitude)

[The Hatter]

I had the same problem; I bought a good quality (tight fitting) ring spanner and ground it down until I could get it over the bolt head. It was easy enough to undo (from under the car) once I'd got a decent spanner on it.

[tweety]

Solitude said:

Al, what kind of money were you quoted by RT and ACT ?

If you don't mind me asking

Gavin (solitude)

Hi Gavin, RT quoted £700 and Tim(ACT) £575(delivered), both plus VAT...

Have to say Tim was very helpful and having dealt with him several times over the years, together with the price difference, manifolds from him would be my choice, if I had the funds in the first place...

Cheers, Al.

[tweety]

The Hatter said:

I had the same problem; I bought a good quality (tight fitting) ring spanner and ground it down until I could get it over the bolt head. It was easy enough to undo (from under the car) once I'd got a decent spanner on it.

Thanks for the info, good to hear I'm not the only one that's had this problem, this will be my next plan of action...hopefully it won't rain over the weekend... It's annoying because apart from this the wedge is MOT'd and ready to use, so I want to get this sorted and get to a Sausage Meet and maybe BBWF to meet everyone...

Cheers, Al.

[Solitude]

tweety said:

Solitude said:

Al, what kind of money were you quoted by RT and ACT ?

If you don't mind me asking

Gavin (solitude)

Hi Gavin, RT quoted £700 and Tim(ACT) £575(delivered), both plus VAT...

Have to say Tim was very helpful and having dealt with him several times over the years, together with the price difference, manifolds from him would be my choice, if I had the funds in the first place...

Cheers, Al.

Dare i ask if that was for a pair !!

[utternutter]

ive had the same problem with my nearside manifold where its been welded and and more holes have appeared, i've had both manifolds off while changing the gearbox and instead of replacing i have ringed it with 2mm plate and welded to good metal, also i have now just covered them in heat wrap which hides the repair and re-installed them yesterday but using stainless steel bolts instead of the original ones and bolts tightened to specified torque with torque wrench to be on the safe side.got the bolts off Ebay :-)

[simonwedge]

Tweety, YHM.

[tweety]

simonwedge said:

Tweety, YHM.

Simon, YHM....

[tweety]

Hooray...finally got the pesky bolt out using a combination of the suggestions above, thanks everyone...
Unfortunately the manifold has cracked again where its previously been repaired, and elsewhere aswell as at least one pinhole much further down so I'm not sure its salvageable, I'm going to get a welder mate to have a look later in the week.. oh also the mating face doesn't look great but maybe a skim will cure this...
I think a replacement is the way to go really...Simon are you there???

Cheers, Al.

[al 350i]

you could give this guy a shout, he was selling a 350i engine and had both manifolds, engine is sold now but you never know who ever bought it might not need them! don't know if the 390 are same as 350?? it's a long shot but you maybe lucky

Tiger Tyres 01797 344552