inustudio

First time posting on the forum but wanted to see if I can get some help. The threads on my front manifold where the a/f sensor goes into are all stripped out. Was wondering, if it can't be re-tapped what would be my best course of action. I was thinking of getting a new bung welded on or just purchasing a new/used manifold online. Does anyone know of a good online sellers that have these in stock at a decent price? I check all the local auto yards with no luck. Thanks for any help.

salimshah

Welcome to CL.

Similar post with the same problem was posted a while back.

Replacing the manifold would be the best option maybe pricy and removing the old nuts/bolts may be a pain. [The heat cycle kind of welds them]

Thread repair (helisprigs) may be the easiest, followed by a collor adapter ; you cut new threads 3+ sizes over and then have a machine shop build you the collor.

Try the search and read the old thread.

One of my pet peeves is when people ask a question but never come back and post what produced an acceptable result or even tell us what does not work.

Good luck.

Salim

TunedRX300

Did you try ebay, something is selling an used exhaust manifold for $30 shipped

inustudio

Thanks for the info. TunedRX300, I see the manifold that you mentioned on ebay. He says its the right side. I'm trying to figure out which is the right side mani. Yes I know newbie. Anyways, is the right side manifold the one closest to the radiator sitting at the front of the engine compartment? If so I checked mine and it looks diff from the one pictured on ebay. I'm speaking of the downpipe portion. Just looks to long on the one for sale compared to mine. Could be that everything is unbolted from it so it looks longer but not sure. Any opinions? Also the bung for the a/f sensor seems to be on the wrong side of the manifold in the picture. Shows on the left side. Mine is on the right side. Could this be the one that sits under the car? The one I need is at the front of the engine closest to the front of the car. Should have mentioned this before. I'll keep searching around. Right now I have an old a/f sensor wedged in the bung to keep it shut. Thanks again.

PS: I'll definately post what I end up doing. With everyone helping thats the least I can do. Plus it may help another with the same prob.

Lexmex

Here is my exhaust manifold behind the engine block.

Lexmex

Another shot of the rear.

inustudio

Thanks Lexmex for posting the pics. I figured it was the manifold that ran under the car. I've replaced the a/f sensor on that one before. I took pics of the front manifold and new it didn't look the same. Good thing I didn't place a bid on ebay for the one I posted a pic of. I am thinking of just buying a nut from Home Depot that will screw onto the a/f sensor, having the old bung drilled/ground out and then welding the purchased nut in place to create the new bung. Does anyone know of a good welder in San Diego?

salimshah

Sure you want to skip helicoil?

Salim

inustudio

I'll need to see if there is enough thread left to do that. If there is it would be the easiest route. We'll see. If there isn't, I'll do the new bung route.

salimshah

I have never used helicoil, but I thought you had to tap one or two size over. Any one who has actually used helicoil, please add. Also shed some light on high temp use. Common use of helicoil is spark plugs and head. The exhaust gets hotter.

inustudio, can you share with us how the threads got stripped. While opening or just did not get the threads right while installing.


Salim

inustudio

Late but just to let everyone know that I had the manifold re-tapped. Worked perfect but was not there to see how it was done. Thanks for all the advice.

Lil4X

Cool! Glad to see you found a solution. Just noticed this thread and was about to recommend helicoil. Had the heads on a big outboard motor drilled and tapped for helicoil installation for three of four spark plugs. With the aluminum head so soft, I went ahead and had the shop tap #4 as well. Gave great service for several years afterward.