RE: stronger exhaust manifold studs?

[quk@isham-research.demon.co.uk (Phil Payne)]

In message <01BF0171.21AD4900.dmr@kwic.com> Don Muirhead writes:

> I found a couple studs broken on my coupe last weekend and picked-up a
> handful from the Dealer today.  The ones I grabbed today are the same as
> the ones that were replaced under warranty 13 years ago and at only a $0.75
> ea. (CDN).  So I'm not going to worry about the studs breaking for at least
> 10 years.  But that's only my opinion and my $0.75

Broken studs are a real problem on the turbo cars, perhaps because the
weight of the damn thing is entirely carried by the exhaust manifold.

I've made two major advances in the last year.  One was acquiring a
FACOM 287B.8 stud remover.  This device slides down over the stud and
grips it using three internal rollers - the force applied to the stud
during removal is coaxial with the stud and thus old studs are less
tempted to snap off.  It also helps if you apply lubrication as soon as
you have movement and screw the stud back in and out to spread the oil
down the threads.  Note my criticism of the Dialynx manifold in this
regard - in contrast with the Audi original, it's impossible to get a
socket onto four of the nuts from above with the Dialynx beast.  You're
left with a 12mm or 13mm 6-point box (ring) wrench (spanner) from the
side, with an awful lot of shear component.

The second major advance was a FACOM 885 stud remover kit.  It's a
25-part kit comprising drills, locating sleeves, removing splines and
driving nuts for the splines.  It really is _magic_ in operation.

So far, on 100,000+ mile ur-quattros, I've taken off about ten manifolds.
In every instance, at least one stud broke - but I've got it down from
an average of four to only one on each of the last two.  Both #5 upper,
as it happens.

But as before - I'd rather have a stud snap than drag out the threads
from the head.

--
 Phil Payne
 UK Audi quattro Owners Club
 Phone: 0385 302803   Fax: 0870 0883933