????'s about studs in intakes

[1974ChevyC10]

ok on my intake-its an edelbrock performer.when my uncle put the studs in the manifold thermostat housing he cut them from a piece of all thread but he made them way to short to run the proper upper alternator bracket and the bracket he came up with frankly sucks and i want to put everything back the way it should be so my belts will stop squealing from not being tensioned correctly.my uncle when he put them said he epoxied them to the manifold so if i remove them they will break.my friend showed me a trick once that if you tighten two nuts on the stud and then walk the stud out with the lower nut i believe the stud will come out but my concern is that if he did epoxy them in what will happen if i try to take them out and is there a way i can get these studs loose without damaging my manifold-my budget currently wont allow me to buy another one unless i really have to.any tips would be great.thanks in advance guys.

[Paso76GMCstepper]

Well if he did epoxy them in u may have a problem. If it was me and I really wanted to fix it I would try and heating up the manifold a little. Not much is needed really. I would use a propane torch and heat the manifold only not the studs. I would put the double not thing on there first and I would use a 1/2 breaker bar. Heat them up one at a time and try it. It may spin loose.

just a though. I have removed gas turbine bolts that have been epoxied. Worked everytime.

Of course if it doesnt work I think all it would do since its aluminum is round out the holes. I dont know if the whole thing would break. Dont force it and make sure to use constant even pressure

If it does round them out you can retap them with a bottom tap and use bigger bolts.

Tony

[crossy]

Tony, your Unc did the right thing by using studs in the thermo housing as that is a much better way of doing it . If he did that epoxy it may be because he already sawa problem wit the threads there. I buy & refurb a lot of intakes and it is real common to find them stripped out. I would try what paso said but keep in mind that you may have to Helicoil a bad hole. The belt squealing is a pretty common problem with these year trucks and I like to rough up the pulley groove with cours sandpaper and start with a new 'toothed' belt. DAVE

[plumbcut]

I say clamp the holy hell out of some vice grips on that stud and twist away.. the heat might help.. just plan on heli coiling it and it will be better than new when you're done... I dont see the possibility of breaking a big chunk of the manifold, but I guess anything's possible............ good luck and let us know how it turns out

pc

[dark-star]

ditto on the heat, just don't get wild if working with aluminum, if it were a cast mani then i would say bring out the big torch! of course if you screw it all up then why not switch to the tbi motor as long as your having to unbolt all the garbage :p

[1974ChevyC10]

thanks for the tips guys.ill try the heat trick and see what happens.
dark-star-as much as i would like to have fuel injection my pocketbook wont allow it at this time so ill have to stick with the tried and true carb for now.
crossy-i dont have a problem with the fact he put the studs in but the fact remains there too short in height to properly use the brackets and accessories on the front of the motor which needs to change.i dont know why he used epoxy but my uncle is known for sometimes odd things related to cars.i dont think he tried to intentionally make it hard on me in this regard but he also should have asked me first how i wanted it to have it done since its my engine he did this too.

[78chevstepside]

one might consider cutting the stud 3/16 or so above the manifold with a 90 degree peanut grinder and a cut off wheel. Then weld a new stud on top of the old one. Personally I would tig weld the new stud on . most any process would work. You wouldnt hurt the manifold because mild steel wont stick to alunuimn. Carefully grind the excess weld off if needed. Now run run a dye nut or file on the stud to get any dingleberrys off. If one had a stud welder this would also work great. A torch would work great if it wasnt epoyied in. If all fails a heli coil will work great.

[piecesparts]

Ahem''''' Does your manifold have the bolt hole right in front of the T/stat housing? There are actually Two (2) different alternator brackets available. One goes all the way back to the T/stat bolt and the other goes to the bolt hole in front of the housing. I have used the Performer and now running the Preformer RPM and have used the bolt hole in front of the housing all times. This will keep you from dorking up the manifold for something that can be solved by purchasing another simple bracket and BY THE WAY it looks better than the one that extends way back on the manifold, and it works the same.......

[1974ChevyC10]

Originally Posted by piecesparts

Ahem''''' Does your manifold have the bolt hole right in front of the T/stat housing? There are actually Two (2) different alternator brackets available. One goes all the way back to the T/stat bolt and the other goes to the bolt hole in front of the housing. I have used the Performer and now running the Preformer RPM and have used the bolt hole in front of the housing all times. This will keep you from dorking up the manifold for something that can be solved by purchasing another simple bracket and BY THE WAY it looks better than the one that extends way back on the manifold, and it works the same.......

i dont know but i can look on lunch or tomorrow morning to see.if it does where can i get this bracket from and do you have an idea of the cost of one of them

[jimfulco]

GM switched to the shorter bracket sometime in the mid-'70s. Try a wrecking yard or maybe somebody here has an old one laying around.

[1974ChevyC10]

Originally Posted by jimfulco

GM switched to the shorter bracket sometime in the mid-'70s. Try a wrecking yard or maybe somebody here has an old one laying around.

i did check my intake on my break when it was still light out and it does have holes in the intake below the t-stat housing-one directly inline to the hole closest to the pass side of the block and one right directly in the middle of the manifold inline to the center of the t-stat housing.anyone know which hole they used for this purpose and does anyone on here have the shorter bracket they would be willing to part with and does anyone have a pic of what this part looks like and any idea of the vehicles they came on if comes to junkyard hunting to get one.

[piecesparts]

You got the web-- Try looking at Trans-Dapt for the bracket. O'Reilly's, AutoZone, or PEP Boys for chrome brackets. All else fails look at Summit or Jegs. These are relatively cheap brackets and they work. I have had them on my truck for years. I believe you want the hole that is directly below the T/stat. Look at your old bracket and the hole would be just under where the bracket runs to the T/stat housing, it is just shorter.

[jimfulco]

My old '76 van's 350 had one & my '78 Nova's 305 has one. Small-block Chevy V8's used in GM cars & trucks used them through 1986, I believe. The hole you need to use is at the front of the intake, about 1/2" to the right of the centerline of the engine. It's black in this picture (I don't know how to draw an arrow).