Got a call yesterday from a buddy who said his mechanic was in a mess and very discouraged. The mechanic had taken in an '87 Ford pickup with the 460 V8 engine. The pickup needed exhaust gaskets and a new water pump. it had been sitting around a lot and had only 43,000 miles on it. Of the sixteen exhaust manifold bolts, FOUR were already broken off below the surface; SEVEN MORE twisted off when they put a wrench on them; four of THEM below the surface of the head and three with shank still showing. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img] What a mess! They pulled the engine and today I welded nuts on every one of those little #//@*!! and we finally got them out. I had to use a stick welder because their wire machine was too teeny, and it made it tougher. We averaged five nut twist-offs per stud removed, BUT WE GOT THEM ALL OUT! With my bigger wire machine it would have been a lot easier. The bolts were so far below the surface that it took a lot of welding to build on out to engage the nut and hold on; and then the bolts seemed to gald real bad on removal. They had been hot....real hot....those 460's must have a high exhaust gas temp. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] I encouraged them to go back with STUDS, but I think the shop consensus was toward stainless stl bolts. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]