94 1500 5.0 liter heater line busted

[Archive Dragon]

So I'm on my way home from a funeral in the city this afternoon, and the truck starts overheating. Turns out my heater core line from the rear of the intake manifold corroded right through. I spotted the high pressure leak and when I wiggled the line it sheared right off. Needless to say it involved a 30 mile tow into the nearest town, luckily my hometown . Even sweeter is the fact that it cost me nothing because I drive them for a living and my boss refused to accept my even paying the fuel for the tow truck .
The bad part is now the threads of that @#@#$%#$@ aluminum piece are still in the intake maniflod. I've tried an easy out and it won't budge, and it's so crumbly I'm afraid that it will disintergrate and drop into the intake itself. I've talked to one of the local mechanics that we give a lot of business too and he says there are 2 options, oxy/acet torch and heat the mofu or remove the intake and chip it out. I really hate the first option and the second option would really suck. Any other suggestions?
Anyone else hate those bloody Chevy aluminum #@%$#$#%$# connectors or is it just me? I remember fighting with those same #@$%#$#%^$'s this summer on one of the company truck's oil cooler lines. Needless to say once I have that PoS removed I'll use an old style fitting and just replace that heater line with an all rubber line.
I'm going to price out an Edelbrock intake, although I just know my lovely wife won't allow it this month, but a guy can dream...

[4onFloor]

ya might be able to stuff part of a rag in that hole to keep debris out and then try to chip away at the fitting. otherwise you'll probly end up pulling the intake

[Mikado14]

This is what we do at the shop. I know all too well what you are talking about. As 4onFloor has said, we push a rag in the hole, sometimes, and run a pipe tap of the appropriate size and clean the threads, if that is all that it is, and pull the rag out. It will bring most of the chips out with it. The few remaing chips will stay and should not affect the cooling.

Now, if there is too much metal for the tap. You might be looking at running a drill, never done that. That coupling is pot metal and should break out quite easily with a punch and a hammer to the point that the tap could be used.

[cdoogles]

I just had the same thing happen on my 1993 5.7L. I'm doing an engine swap and I hadn't even got a wrench on the thing when it broke right off. Let me know how you end up getting yours fixed. Any tips would be greatly appreciated..

[Fireplug]

Stick a paper towl into it and then pick it apart.
The 3.1 does this all the time also.
We used a pipe tap with the correct thread to cut it right out. Had to go to a machine shop to get the tap. Try it it works good. Just TAKE your time and pick out a little bit at a time.

[Archive Dragon]

Well, it's done, and has been done for a couple of days now. Rag in the hole did the trick. Hammer and a small chisel cleaned out the bulk and I ended up tapping the hole to remove the remaining crap. Shop vac pulled out the remaining bits and pieces. Just as well I had all the supplies to flush the system and replace the antifreeze. Changed the thermostat and rad cap while I was at it. I might just replace all the coolant hoses as a precaution, plus I get a decent discount on all my parts through work .
Thanks for the help guys. Now it's just a matter of getting it up on the hoist tonight to replace the rear universal joints, inspect the steady bearing, and do the final setup of the new braking brake cables. Don't you just love old trucks? I figured out my mileage on the last road trip. 22 imperial mpg, hehehehe for a truck that's 11 years old and abused as it has been that's pretty good I think.