It was a beautiful day, so I thought I'd finally be proactive and change out that cracked EGR-LIM tube before it became a major problem.

About four minutes in, I snapped the head off of one of the crossover bolts. I ran the engine and there doesn't seem to be any exhaust leak, so everything'* still in place. You'd think after being removed six months ago, it would come out without much of a fight.

So, now what do I do?

It will vibrate loose and you will have a exhaust leak. The other one is likely to snap as well. As will the back two. Bite the bullet and snap them off. Then spray some penetrating oil on the studs holding the manifold on the head. Then take the whole manifold off and drill out the broken stud and re tap it. The head studs rarely snap off.

I doubt we took those off when you motor was out. Because ...if you don't need to take it off, you don't take it off.

Follow what Dan says. Hopefully you'll be lucky Personally..I'd start praying. FWIW call me after 3pm and ask me to look at the manifold at my place to see if there'* bolts broken in it. If not.. you can replace just the front rather easy w/o dealing with the back bolts.

Justin and I popped off the crossover to replace the end cap gasket on Sunday. You were either asleep or out at the time.

I'll give you a call later. Hopefully it'* good, as I'm not even sure if my drill has a working battery anymore.

Other thing you can do is to pull the front manifold off, then get the bolt out and put it back on with a new bolt.

If worst comes to worst, just drill it out and put a bolt threw it, no need for a stud.

Thanks Dan, but I took the other way out. One of Bill'* W-body friends left behind a front manifold, so we swapped it. It bolted up nicely, and that blasted EGR tube got changed too.

I also saw what happens when your metal ratchet brushes against both starter posts. I'm just glad I went to the bathroom before I showed up.

As for the old manifold, maybe I'll clean it up, add a couple coats of high-heat paint, and make the engine bay look a little nicer. We'll see.

That was pretty funny. I heard a little sound and Colin tried to get up with a car above him. I looked down as he was abandoning his location and said "it only tingles for a moment".

Now that'* funny. When I was in auto school one of the guys laid a wrench down. He put in on the battery, a top post battery. Put it down right on top of both posts. Talk about a fireworks show.

Did that before and my ratchet still has the scar. I was disconnecting the starter to change my battery cables. Thinking to myself, "I think I'm missing a step." Then BANG. rrriiiigghhhttt disconnect the battery.