Has anyone ever fixed a broken Header Stud?

ezout

 

Honestly I would have it towed to a professional. EZ out, drilling, welding, etc, they all require a particular touch and skill. If you fail in your attempt it will become much harder for the next person.

 

I agree unless you know how to do it and have done it before call the stud guy who can come to you, they have some good kit including spark erosion.

 

part of doing this job is experience not the method. For example why did the stud break?
do the other studs unscrew easy or hard? If the neighboring studs all unscrew with finger pressure the broken one is more likely to be easy. If they are tough to remove think about adding some heat and penetrating oil cyclically to put the odds in your favor of an easier removal. Sometimes a good rap with a center punch really helps loosen. Sometimes just a cut slot in the stud and a impact driver will do the job. Make sure you got good access. Things like that improve your odds of success.

 

All good advice.
Another good one is MIG welding spot welds to the stud on top of each making a small mountain of welds to get vice grips on. Or tapping anti clockwise with a scriber or small center punch. Also there are some good extractors that when the right size small drill hole is made in the center of the stud a splined rod is hammered in which accepts a nut for extraction.

 

Tap and helicoil. It's done regularly, google it.

 

Huh?

 

For this particular situation, I would use a helicoil.

Use a tap to drill to same size and then place a helicoil insert. Feel free to check it out online, fairly regular routine for these situations.

 

So when a stud breaks off in perfectly good threads the answer is to extract the stud by using a tap? And then replace the good threads with a helicoil insert?

Learn something new every day on the internet...

 

Is this from vibration or is it from just snaping.

Depends because id just drill anhole in that and use an extractor.

 

I don't think there is enough land on the stud to mig anything to it.

 

Never used a tap to drill out a broken stud? No need to helicoil if the stud is removed without damaging the thread in the head.

You would probably need a right angle drill to fit in the engine bay.

I have used left handed drill bits to help remove studs in the past as the rotation is the same as the thread to undue, well worth the investment. You should still get the pro to do it cheaper than removing the head if the drill wanders off you are in a world of pain.

 

A few of the methods above are going to get you in deep trouble. Looking at what is left of the stud you cannot weld bits on top of it , so as to grip it. If you just try to drill it you will go off line and damage the head.
The best method is to drill it using a drill jig to ensure it is straight, then get hold of a SNAP ON parallel stud extractor.
I will have to do you a drawing as it is difficult to explain, bear with me

 

Wrong

 

There has been some ideas to use helicoils but he still has the original threads in good condition, plus you have to drill oversize to install an insert. You would want the head on the bench to do that correctly but it is not needed here.

 

totally agree. Id do my best to save the original threads. A helicoil is last resort in my opinion

 

Eric, just seen this. One of mine snapped this week when my shop was fitting Capristo headers and cats. I've sent you a PM about an idea to ensure your drill goes in central - essentially fabricating a guide from a piece of steel using the old exhaust gasket as a template.

Maybe Mike sent a similar thing or a better approach.

 

That is commonly referred to as a drill jig. The drill bushings are off the shelf items sold by Carr Lane and McMaster Carr has them too. This would be easy to make but to design it would require a cylinder head drawing or a cylinder head to measure.

Sorry Eric - I don't have a 430 so I have nothing to measure.

 

I use the old exhaust gasket as a template. It takes a bit of time to get right but it's easy enough to do at home.