Manifold to exhaust pipe bolts

[tonyd]

98 ranger 3.0 Just installed engine and need to replace 4 manifold to down pipe bolts. Local dealer only had two so I didn't buy any. He quoted $10 a bolt. Are these some special bolts or will my local True value bolts do the trick. Never replaced them before so Im not sure wether to buy from the true value or find another dealer? Thanks

 

[Andy D]

2 ways to go. Use grade 2 hardware from ACE .It is cheap one time use stuff. It is soft and will shear easily when it is time to replace. Or use grade 8 with brass nuts, also available at Ace. They won't shear and the brass nuts don't rust.

 

[tonyd]

So I don't need $10 bolts to hold these pipes together? Ace is right up the street and Im trying to drive this thing this weekend.

 

[tonyd]

One more question. are these metric or standard bolts?

 

[RonD]

1998 should be metric.

I get exhaust bolts from my local muffler shop, they can look up size and thread and always have them in stock, cheap too, cash sale

 

[Andy D]

The holes were wallowed out and had 3/8 grade 8 hardware on the Rat. Before I put the transmission back in , I wallowed them out more and re-used the grade 8s with long brass nuts from a auto part store. I use Ace gr 2 5/16 stuff on my BMWs instead of the fancy 'spensive 8.8 s.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

The fancy from ford bolts are a specialty design. If you look close they are not round but a triangular shape. Like a lock-nut but a bolt instead. They always break on me so I also go with grade 8 bolt and brass nut. I've also used stainless but have no long term review.

 

[black_demon69]

i just replace with grade 2 with slightly smaller then hole on manifold and a regular nut, so if i have to take them out i will never have to extract from manifold because when broken they will just slide right out....

 

[Andy D]

Heh heh ,when I was re-habbing the Rat , stuff had to be broken to get it apart. I like the PO's patching with a welder and 5X7 pieces of sheet metal and odd bits of flat stock. But he used air tools or pumped iron or something when he replaced the slave cylinder, but left everything else inside. And then ran it on the beach, and sold it it to a kid who used up the clutch. Stuff still comes apart in pieces, I'm used to it now, but there were times after something else crumbled under my tools, when I was getting pretty disgusted. And there were times when the UPS and Fedex trucks stopped for ME instead of her. She wondered why I didn't buy the whole truck at once.

 

[aspevacek]

I recommend copper nuts for all exhaust. European cars have used them for years. Copper is soft and easy to destroy the nut is you need to get it off ( if it is stripped) and reuse the bolts/studs.