[suburbanstevie]

Krivasauto and others,

Just wanted to get off a quick post about how the job went, will offer a more detailed post possibly this evening. Big questions, ANY LEAKS?... none. Did I try prying the right manifold (RM) crossover?...yes, but it didn't move enough to be of any benefit, so ended up removing the RM anyway. How many hours?...about 14 hours.

I will explain further why it took so long, but basically I'm a slow mechanic who takes my time to make absolutely sure I don't mess anything up, 'cause I don't want to have to do it again.

Why the prybar trick didn't work? The left manifold (LM) extends up into the RM about an inch. So after I did remove the RM I relized why I could only pry about 1/4inch easily then hit a stop. I was hitting the LM. Was 1/4" enough to get the crossover off? maybe if I had another arm (pulling the prybar at the same time I am pushing on a wrench). On my car there is only 3/16 inch clearance between the top of the problem bolt (center bottom) and the RM crossover. And the bigger issue is the engagement of the bolts into the heads is about 3/4-7/8 inches!!! It would have been impossible for me to make the prybar trick work.

I will write more later, and will offer tips also. Like, when removing the two exhaust nuts (RM to pipe) use a 1/2" (SAE) socket with a 1/2" drive. the 1/2" socket is a little snug on the 13mm nuts but it worked excellent, especially after I split my Craftsman 13mm deep-well 3/8" drive socket. I used a standard height socket from a more robust manufacture than Craftsman.

later, Steve