Manifolds & Risers....What am I getting into?

[gwp]

My 1989 5.7 Mercruiser needs manifolds and risers....and exhaust flappers. Having never done this before, I'm wondering if anyone could give me a few tips. I have a cutting torch to apply some heat for stubborn bolts. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[12Footer]

Re: Manifolds & Risers....What am I getting into?

Heat works great on stuburn bolts,but be carefull of open flames under a motor hatch. This is why they install blowers on those inboards and I/Os.<br />Just a caution in case you didn't allready know about it.<br />Lots of WD40 werks well on the white corossion you will encounter. It desolvves it.Spray everything with it,and let the puppy sit overnight.Then spray it again before twisting ("twist n Shout" is what my wife calls it).<br />It is not an easy task, about as hard as replacing a head gasket on a car.<br />But if you can do that, you should have no real problems you cannot surmount.<br />A large rubber mallet is one tool I know you will need,along with a breaker bar, torque wrench, and gasket scraper (razor blade).<br />It would be a good time to replace all the freeze plugs you can reach too.

 

[hondon]

Re: Manifolds & Risers....What am I getting into?

This is usually a pretty simple procedure unless salt has come into play. Look at the back bolt heads on each mani and if they are rusted to roundness,then expect some trouble.Use only six point sockets on all the bolts,and you will only heat the mani if heat is needed.Good luck not so tough as you think.

 

[gwp]

Re: Manifolds & Risers....What am I getting into?

for benefit of readers....This job was a walk in the park. I lucked out, in that, all but one bolt looked as if they could have been for sale in the bolt bin at the hardware store. Heat did the trick on the one stubborn bolt. FYI...a 13mm socket can be tapped onto the rusted 9/16" bolt if it rounds the hex head off. With heat, it came right off. Thanks for the replies...Gary