I'm gussing this shouldn't be that hard! I have all the nuts off, and the stud in the 1st spot (closet to radiator). But I can't remove the manifold, it hits the fenderwell by the #2 stud.

What's the trick?

Thx

Pull the other studs......

loosen the motor mounts (& whatever else needs to be loosened) & jack the front of the eng up just far enough to slide it out.

Pull that stud out, the rest might clear with little bit of angle.

It's a Challenger. It would be very difficult to remove that stud. It doesn't stick out.

It seems like the motor should go down. I would have to raise the motor pretty high to get past the interference.

Where could I safely put a jack to raise the motor if that is the only solution?

Watch your clearance between the top of the bell housing and the firewall, that will probably be your limiting factor if you've dropped the head pipes off.

maybe try jacking up just that side ???

i thought studs are only on the outsides of the mani....

long sleeve nut, and if the nut is seized to the stud, the stud comes out also, extending the problem by another 1/2" (pardon the pun) .

Go easy, I ended up snapping 2 and ended up pulling my heads to drill and tap. Take your time, you'll get it, I would suggest lots of penetrating fluid (heat it up first, then spraying it will also help to suck in the WD-40 if needed).

I unbolt a 1/2 turn then go back the other way a skosh then unbolt another 1/2 turn like when you are cuttng threads with a tap. this has kept me from snapping many bolts/studs

I just did this on my 70 Dart Swinger to replace a blown head gasket. Here is what I did to get the exhaust manifold off.

1. Unbolt the head pipe from the manifold.
2. Loosen the head pipe from the manifold on the drivers side but leave the bolt and nut connected.
3. Loosen both motor mounts but leave the nut on the bolt.
4. Remove the transmission cross-member and put a bottle jack under the transmission to support.(727 Transmission on my car)
5.Remove distributor, carb, linkage, upper and lower radiator hoses, alternator, radiator/shroud and intake manifold heater and waterpump hose.
6. Remove hood of car.
7. With a cherry picker or other lifting method, raise engine so that the passenger side lifts at more of an angle than the drivers side.
8. Once you have clearance, remove the bolt and drop the manifold down to clear the head.
9. Remove intake manifold and head.
10. Lift exhaust manifold out of the engine compartment.

I like the idea above about jacking on one of the pan bolts with a wood block spacer, however I am not sure if I could get the exhaust manifold out of the Darts engine compartment without also having the head off the engine.

Thx for the replies. I was able to wiggle it off without moving the motor. I had to remove the rear studs. With these off, I was able to rotate the exhaust up toward the front of the car, and then wiggle the exhaust off that #2 stud.

It really doesn't need to be this hard. Seems like the studs are longer than necessary.

What I do on my car is remove passenger's side motor mount bolt, loosen driver's side motor mount bolt (don't remove bolt), then jack the motor up with a floor jack and wood under the oil pan. The passenger's side will rise allowing the manifold to come off.