Exhaust Manifold replacing question

[ctjeepman]

I'm going to be needing to replace my exhaust manifold gasket and was wondering the best way to get at it. One suggestion that I have heard is to take off all of the brake stuff to get at thelast bolt near the firewall and the other suggestion is to take offf the whole head. Any suggestions and can anyone talk me through it? :confused: :D

[HeavyMetal]

Changed both of mine a few months ago, the best way to get to the rear bolts is from underneath the truck. A little tight but not to bad. Get a good penetrating oil like PB Blaster. Goodluck

[bvibert]

I assume you are talking about a V8. You should be able to get at the drivers side manifold without taking any brake stuff, the back bolts are hard to get to, but its possible. Its easier if you have some extensions and a flex joint. I ussually take off the hood to give myself easier access. To get at the passenger side you will have to take off the heater box. Its not hard, just two nuts in the engine bay and two under the dash. Good luck, its not really too bad though...

[talntar]

hey brian, all this talk about hard, i took the air rails and then manifolds on that 79 without taking anything else off.did i get lucky?then again it did only have 40 thousand on it to

[bvibert]

The bolts on the passenger side are difficult to get to without removing the heater box. It can be done without removing it, but you risk damaging it. Also if the bolts are rusted tight you'll have a hard time getting them loose...

I didn't mean to imply that it is hard in anyway, just takes some patience. A lot of people seem to make this job seem harder than it really is though...

[talntar]

think thats tight try a 350 with hedders in a 80 monte. now that was tight.had to take the motor out to get hedders in.and plugs were an afternoon afair

[bvibert]

LOL, yeah these Jeeps have plenty of room compared to alot of other vehicles out there. I just like to have plenty of room to get my big paws in there. If it means spending an extra 5-10 minutes to take something out then its worth it too me :D

[Ralph]

If you're just replacing the gaskets, I would highly recommend that you buy a pair of CopperSEAL or similar gaskets. For one thing, they seal much better than asbestos gaskets.

But more importantly for your sake, they're much easier to install. For the front-most and rear-most manifold bolts, they have hooks or "doglegs" rather than bolt holes. So you just have to get the first and last bolts started with the manifold in place, then hang the gasket in there and then finish the bolting process.

It's much less hassle than trying to get a pair of asbestos gaskets in place. And depending on the state of your mating surfaces, you may not have to remove the manifolds completely.

[ctjeepman]

Thanks guys, as soon as I can clear out one side of the garage I can move the beast inside to work on her. i was gonna this weekend but when I went to move the previa out of the garage the e-brake snapped...ggrrrr. Now I gottta figure that one out 1st...gggrrr. :mad:

[Ralph]

Here's an example of what I mean:

eBay Motors # 1874309580 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1874309580)