Looking for some direction and advice
Exhaust manifold gasket was leaking (slightly) making the tut tut sound!
Bought replacement quality gaskets and brass nuts to repair.
Followed procedure to remove nuts ie tighten slightly then undo.
Three studs broke !
Two are ok - managed to get then out as they where protruding out of the head and replace with new studs.
One stud (first one from the front of the engine) broke inside the head
Didn't feel confident to drill and remove myself gave to a local mechanic who I thought would be able to do the job...
Visited him a week later, he had drilled/butchered out a hole next to the stud 1 1/2 times the size of the tapped hole and failed to remove the stud - aluminium swarf everywhere.... said that he was going to tap and install a stud away from the original hole and re drill the exhaust manifold to fit.
Week later said he was going to make an aluminium bolt modify the head of it to fit in the hole in the block and have it wielded in the hole - week later said that nobody would wield the stud in....
Car was rescued two days ago to prevent further problems!
Your opinions of issue would be appreicated!
As Im going to repair this my self now - My questions are
Should I just put everything back together without the eighth stud and attempt to seal it with exhaust gum and hope it holds
Is it worth repairing the head ie remove head-wield hole (if possible)-re drill and tap -resurface exhaust manifold I think this will cost $300 plus
Should I buy a used head and fit it - does anyone have used god condition head for sale?
car has 300K miles on it