exhaust manifold… noob help

[Ecarmich]

i am new to the site and need some help
i have an 89 dodge ram 50, 5 speed 2.6, that was my grandpas who passed away and I'm working on fixing it back up and running efficicently. my question is has anyone ever changed the exhaust manifold gasket. I got the heat shield and all the bolts out but the connecter to the calitic conveyer that has 3 bolts on it i can't get to break loose. i tried PB break and heating and up and still couldn't get them to give. does anyone one have any suggestions on what i can do?

[bitrootvz]

They are just bolts so cut them off. If you don't have a torch you can get a nut breaker at Harbor freight but I'd look closely at it because they may not fit around the bolt and the exhaust pipe. You will need to replace the gasket.

[tortron]

They will be rusted solid, Usually faster to just cut them out. Might get them to snap off if you use a long enough breaker bar

[geezer101]

If you're not bound by EPA regs, get a manifold without the cat or buy some funky headers for it. Do you actually need to remove the cat to get the manifold off? I know it's gonna weigh a ton (IDK how the cat is mounted or if it has a support truss holding it up) but I would've thought you'd only need to drop the collector flange off the exhaust and pulled it off as a single assembly.

[Ecarmich]

Thanks everyone for the help. Well I finally got around to it this past weekend and I couldn’t see the back side of the manifold and effed it up with grinder. So now Idk if I can fix it or be better to try and find another one. Also got 2 block off plates made for the fuel pump and Egr valve. Thinking about starting an a new thread for my Weber installed and get some ideas on what I can remove from the engine bay

[Ecarmich]

2015820159

[Ecarmich]

20160

[Ecarmich]

update so since i couldn't find a replacement from advance or auto zone i finally found one at a pull apart and got a new one. i put it on this past weekend and it smokes right where the 3 bolts connect to the exhaust. also one of the bolt was burred out. so i tried to run a bolt in to reopen the threads but dont think that worked very well. i put red thread locker on it and put it back together. my question is will this have any effect on me driving it, like will there be any back pressure on the system that would cause the truck not to run right?

[jamesw]

update so since i couldn't find a replacement from advance or auto zone i finally found one at a pull apart and got a new one. i put it on this past weekend and it smokes right where the 3 bolts connect to the exhaust. also one of the bolt was burred out. so i tried to run a bolt in to reopen the threads but dont think that worked very well. i put red thread locker on it and put it back together. my question is will this have any effect on me driving it, like will there be any back pressure on the system that would cause the truck not to run right?
don't want to sound like a smart ass but you did put the gasket back when you reinstalled didn't you and if so did you replace with a new one or did you use the old one? that would be the only reason i could see it smoking.

[geezer101]

update so since i couldn't find a replacement from advance or auto zone i finally found one at a pull apart and got a new one. i put it on this past weekend and it smokes right where the 3 bolts connect to the exhaust. also one of the bolt was burred out. so i tried to run a bolt in to reopen the threads but dont think that worked very well. i put red thread locker on it and put it back together. my question is will this have any effect on me driving it, like will there be any back pressure on the system that would cause the truck not to run right?

You exhaust needs to be leak free. Otherwise it will rob your engine of torque and mess with engine tune (it affects gas scavenging). As James has commented, don't re-use the flange gasket (you can use exhaust gasket sealant but it will probably cost the same as a new gasket anyway...)