Birdguy
Junior Member
Hello.
I recently picked up a 1986 1 ton Ram with 360 motor and a little dump bed. Last dodge I owned was a 1979 Power wagon way back in highschool.
This 86 arrived with leaking exhaust manifolds. The fore and aft most bolts were broken from the get go on both sides. All 4 are flush or sub flush with the head exhaust surface. Additionally I broke 2 more on the left side while taking it apart (these 2 are not flush broken).
I'm thinking about trying to drill them out. Typically I've tried screw extractors with mixed results. But this time I'm thinking about drilling them out to put in the next bigger bolt size in. The stock current bolts are 5/16-18tpi. I'm thinking about moving to a 3/8-16 tpi, so the drill size would be a 5/16 drill to get 75% thread or the better option a size Q (.3320) for a 50% thread. I'll also use some studs instead of bolts I think.
So the question...is there enough "meat" in the casting to accommodate this change? Are there any cooling passages at risk by moving up one size? I realize that I'll have to resize the holes in the manifolds but I'm thinking about moving to a shorty header so this should be straight forward I think.
Thanks
I recently picked up a 1986 1 ton Ram with 360 motor and a little dump bed. Last dodge I owned was a 1979 Power wagon way back in highschool.
This 86 arrived with leaking exhaust manifolds. The fore and aft most bolts were broken from the get go on both sides. All 4 are flush or sub flush with the head exhaust surface. Additionally I broke 2 more on the left side while taking it apart (these 2 are not flush broken).
I'm thinking about trying to drill them out. Typically I've tried screw extractors with mixed results. But this time I'm thinking about drilling them out to put in the next bigger bolt size in. The stock current bolts are 5/16-18tpi. I'm thinking about moving to a 3/8-16 tpi, so the drill size would be a 5/16 drill to get 75% thread or the better option a size Q (.3320) for a 50% thread. I'll also use some studs instead of bolts I think.
So the question...is there enough "meat" in the casting to accommodate this change? Are there any cooling passages at risk by moving up one size? I realize that I'll have to resize the holes in the manifolds but I'm thinking about moving to a shorty header so this should be straight forward I think.
Thanks
