Y Pipe not for sale anywhere - headers instead?

[Shran]

I'd pay $50 for a usable Y pipe if I needed one, the one you got looks good but I'm confused - it says '05 Ranger on it? Is that a mistake or does a SOHC Y pipe fit OHV engines?

 

[kjmclark]

A followup. Here's my old flange:

I'm really kind of shocked it stayed connected so long. So I'm under the truck working on the radius arm bushings anyway, and get this and the cat apart. I'm looking up at the bolts that connect the Y pipe to the manifold. Waiting for the radius arm nut to cool, I try one of the manifold-to-pipe bolts (they've been soaking in liquid wrench for two days, so I'm thinking it's worth a quick test). I'll be dinged, it's loosening and retightening like I'd expect. And then it just snaps off. Can't say I'm surprised. It's original thickness was supposed to be 10mm (I think - head is 14mm). The piece in my socket is only 5mm thick.

Any recommendations for how to proceed? I can think of three options:
1. Give up and take it to a shop. Really, all of those Y-pipe to manifold bolts are going to die. Then I'm going to have pull the wheels and fender skirts, get in there with a grinder and drill, drill them out, and then put it back together. I can probably get it to the point I can get it to a shop again. If those manifolds didn't end in such a mess of a location up there...
2. Assume the bolts are going to croak, take off the fender skirts first, and blast the manifolds/bolts/etc with heat, and hope it doesn't turn into #1 in the end anyway.
3. I think I could just cut those notches deeper in the existing flange, cut deeper holes into the cat flange to match, and bolt them back together. With that one Y-to-manifold bolt gone, that'll eventually separate too, but I might get a year out of it that way. Not what I'd usually call "fixed" though. Just setting myself up for more work later, and maybe worse if I break the manifold that way.

Votes?

 

[kjmclark]

Shran - it's got to be a mistake. The tag says a 1995 Ranger, and it really looks like it'll fit up just fine. And that flange is perfect. I put the gasket on it and it's a perfect fit.

 

[Shran]

You will more than likely break off manifold bolts in the heads... the last couple I've done has resulted in at least a couple broken ones, and I'm pretty careful... it just happens. Engines were out of the trucks so it wasn't a big deal.

What I would do is do your best to remove the existing y-pipe to manifold bolts, whether that means breaking them off or getting them out... if they break off, cut them flush with a grinder and drill through and either re-tap the threads or just punch a 3/8" hole through and use a bolt and a nut on the top. That's probably your easiest option. You can do the same thing with the studs on the lower y-pipe to cat flange too... remove them and use bolts instead.

I've removed Y pipes from many, many Ranger engines and can think of only a handful where I actually got the four upper bolts out without breaking them.