ive got a 68 superbee with a 440 in it. the motor is all in and i just bought a new set of headers. the drivers side went on fine and when i got to the passenger side i had 1 hole that i could thread a bolt in. all of the other holes have twisted off studs . i hate to pull the head off just to drill them out. being that the heads are cast iron, why couldnt a guy blow the studs out with a cuttin torch and re-tap the threads? any suggestions would be much appreciated. thanks

The pass side is the worst side to work on. No room.

Cutting torch ? ... ?? .. you could try it .. but with no room to work afterwards ...how would you get a tap in there ?

In most of these cases I have heard-of and seen .. the head has to come off and the process of EDM has to be used to get the stud out cleanly.

i was figuring on taking the pass side mount loose and jacking up that side of the engine. then for sure i could get a tap in there. im working on a real tight budget so i hate to have to buy head gaskets and all that. you wouldnt think it would hurt the cast by just blowing that crap out of there with a torch but i dunno.

Even with the mount loose ... you can't jack-it-up that high if it is hooked to the trans.

IF you know how to work that torch well ... you can try it.

GOOD luck.

i would think and angle drill and easy out with some heat is the safest.

getting a torch and easy out in there will be no prob but i was just kinda concerned if it would hurt the cast iron.

careful with the easy out routine. You might be better off with some left handed drill bits. Many times the bolts will walk themselves out while drilling them out.

This post scares me

There are a COUPLE of these topics going right now .... anyone know of a vendor that offers a QUALITY stud or bolt that will heat-cycle without falling apart like this ?

how many bolts are we talking???I would say 1 or 2,I would drill and tap.Otherwise pull the head.We centerpunch the bolt.Drilled it small,then stepped up to the inner thead size picked out the threads.Chased it with a tap.worked well.

Fastenall sells a good replacements once you get it out.And i think I paid 30 cents a piece for the studs. There is no easy fix with the engine in the car. Mite have to pull the head or deal with a bad exhaust leak Good luck.

You will be time and money ahead pulling the head. You may wind up having to take it to a machnine shop but even if you can get them out yourself it's a hundred times easier with the head on a work bench. DAMHIK!

Believe it or not try using a electric vibrating pencil holding it against the broken stud while pushing against it ccw

When I took the old studs in to get a match for them.The fella told me they were grade 8 chromemoly and would handle the heat. I guess he would know better than me.Not sure if theyre better or not. But it took a while just to find a match so thats wut i went with.

  There is a reason those are twisted off, They were SIEZED! IMHO a torch will make a big mess out of the whole deal. And if you twisted off grade 8 studs, doubtful an easy-out will work. Next time try some Aero-Kroil penetrant(good stuff). Save the headache and take it off. Drill them out, or have them wire EDMed out.Then put some copper anti-sieze on the new ones. I have been a Millwright for 25 years and believe you me, broken bolts/drills/taps/E-Z outs are some of the most nightmarish repairs.

My Bro who owned his own exhaust shop for 30 yrs and who i consider one of the best exhaust specialist anywhere said if you want to spoil the head...Go Ahead" !!!
he said with the head still on the engine in the car , its almost impossible to get a torch flame perfectly aligned with the bolt. he said if you use a cutting tip chances are you will slice into the threads and maybe even the water jacket. he has removed studs that have been twisted off 1/4 - 1/2 inch in the hole but used a mig welder to keep building up enough metal until it was above the face of the head and then with some heat and with "new" VISE GRIPS" remove the broken piece.
Other then that , you can go with the drill and "easy out"( stud extractor) and hope for the best .