So I picked up a Fel Pro exhaust manifold gasket set from Auto Zone again going for the cheap stuff. I used a razor type tool to scrape the old gasket off (man so much easier to work on with the engine out of the car, LOL), and a metal ruler to check my heads and see if my exhaust manifolds were worped, and they look good. Then I spent some time cleaning the old bolts with a wire prush and WD-40. And I chased the threads in the heads, [hey that rhymes] and cleaned them out really good, yes should have done it when the heads were off, but oh well. I also took the wire brush to the exhaust manifold and got some of the rust off of it. So before I put them on I have a few questions.

QUSTIONS:

The gaskets have a shiny metalic side and a dull side, which side goes towards the engine, which side towards the exhaust manifold or header? Two AutoZone "experts" had two different opinions!

Do I put any type of goop on the gaskets or do they go on dry? My guess would be dry.

What goop if anything do I put on the exhaust manifold bolts before screwing them in. I know I can rule out LockTight, jk.

As I can no longer buy replacement bolts, can I replace a broken exhaust manifold bolt with a grade 5 (3 notches on the head) bolt, or should I use grade 8 (6 notches on the head). Please see picture below of the old bolts and a new grade 5 bolt..

I wonder if the rust will come back on the manifolds unless I coat them with something?

thank you and you can see more of the project here:

Small Block Ford 302 V8

 

dead soft alum gaskets/ or copper>all

id buy some

 

That's a lot of questions. Lets see if I can get them all.

"I used a razor type tool to scrape the old gasket off " That's good, Run the tip of your finger along where the gasket will sit. You won't believe how sensitive your finger tip are to the smallest pieces that may get missed.

"The gaskets have a shiny metalic side and a dull side, which side goes towards the engine, which side towards the exhaust manifold or header? Two AutoZone "experts" had two different opinions!" I don't think it matters but, I put the shiny side to the manifold.

"Do I put any type of goop on the gaskets or do they go on dry? My guess would be dry."

No goop. Dry!

As I can no longer buy replacement bolts, can I replace a broken exhaust manifold bolt with a grade 5 (3 notches on the head) bolt, or should I use grade 8 (6 notches on the head). Please see picture below of the old bolts and a new grade 5 bolt.

Any bolt, grade 5 is fine. Put a little "never sieze" on them.

I wonder if the rust will come back on the manifolds unless I coat them with something?

Yes, the rust will come back to bare iron. Just something you have to live with.

 

when metallic part of the gasket bends into the hole, then my guess is that should go with the exhaust flow. so my vote is metallic side towards head

 

1. I just replaced the drivers side header gasket in ours the other day using these same Fel-Pro gaskets. I had 2 sets here kicking around for some reason. Dull side goes against head; shiny side to header. If you look closely you'll notice its actually 2 sections as the shiny side is a very thin but ridged metal.

2. I've seen people use all kinds of stuff here. Don't! No need. Simply use them dry.

3. Never seize. The medium strength lock-tite can be used but not the permanent stuff and not with Never seize.. 1 or the other. Never seize will do just fine.

4. Any bolt here will do as there really isn't any stress put on them other then tightening.

5. Yes it will and surprisingly quick. Give a few powder coating companies a call in your area and ask if they do ceramic coating as well.


Remember to go over the header bolts again every few days after the replacement gaskets are installed. With the heat/cool cycles they will compress and shrink a bit so the bolts will appear to have loosened off a bit. Just crank em down again after every few rides until they stay tight.

I made the mistake of not tightening them enough which resulted in blown header gaskets. Not a but deal but that damn tick tick tick drove me crazy!

 

Not saying your wrong but I put the dull side to head; metallic to header. I asked and had 2 machine shops give me different answers.

I figured the aluminum heads wouldn't want the metallic crushed up against them and that the fiber/dull side would compress tightly against them. The 1/4" flange on my headers would compress into the metallic side. Shrug.. who knows :-)

 

With cast iron heads and cast iron exhaust manifolds, it's not going to matter much which way the gaskets go.

Loc-tite wouldn't even work on exhaust bolts. Loc-tite (or thread-locker) turns back into a liquid at high temperatures. Antiseize is a good start, but even that will run out at high temps.

 

thank you for your reply, but I don't follow, could you explain it for me please?

 

someone on another forum recommends



"ARP stainless steel exhaust bolts never seize or rust !!! coat the threads with 30w motor oil and torque to 35 ft.lbs."



Oil on the bolt threads, seriously ?

 

I call bs, stainless is over rated, imo the threads pull (gaul) too easy for my taste, especially for threading into an expensive casting like a head.

Use clean "regular" bolts of the proper size with a coating of anti seize, this will be more than ok.

I bought a stainless ARP kit for my last 351, I ended up NOT using the stainless header bolts or the motor mount bolts because of this issue, I did use the rest of the bolts though.