Hello all I have a 81 Dodge truck. It has the original 1bbl aluminum intake which I am going to replace with a 2bbl intake.
My question is this, the 2bbl exhaust manifold is very corroded and pitted on the mating surface and Im thinking I will have a hard time getting a seal to the engine. Would I be better off trying to grind the surface smooth or just swap out exhaust manifold (I have another exhaust manifold in decent shape)?? Not sure how much of a pain it is to split manifolds and get everything lined up again.

I would take the intake/exhaust assembly to a machine shop, and have them true up the manifolds while bolted together.

Not too bad to split the manifolds if everything is in good shape, but if its old/rusty you might start breaking bolts. As long as your manifolds aren't warped, they should go back together just fine.

Jared

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Looking for a 70 Dart Custom 4 Door.

Bolts would DEFINITELY break if I spit the manifold. They are a ball of rust. Anyone know the size of the 2 long bolts?
Then it looks like a stud with a nut on top...is that all I need to remove to split manifolds?

I don't know the size but yes, there's the 2 outer bolts and either a stud/nut combo or on much earlier ones a third long bolt. I bet you find when you take the 1bbl aluminum manifold off that there are plenty of cracks around the EGR valve. If the aluminum manifold isn't cracked - keep it. Eventually somebody will want to buy it for a restoration - heck - maybe it's worth something on ebay now.

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Tom
'86 Alfa Romeo Spider, red "Dinsdale"
'10 Corvette, red "" (no name yet)
'95 Ferrari 348, red "Zoom"
'04 Maserati, black "Evil"
'05 Aston Martin DB9, green "Bond, Treasury bond."
'82 Dodge W150 Power Ram, yellow "E. Valdez"

So I started to split manifolds and of course the nuts on the long bolts snapped right off. Is that bolt also threaded into the exh manifold?

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1981 1/2 Ton Dodge Step Side, 225 Slant Six

yes

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2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

So I got the manifolds split. Had to use the red wrench to get the long bolts out.
I have 2 more questions...

The stud that the exhaust pipe connects to is boogered up. Is that a 7/16 stud?

I have been reading back through some old posts and I see a lot about using remflex gaskets for manifold to engine seal. I already have a gasket (victor heinz) Would I be better off getting the remflex or is the VH good enough?

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1981 1/2 Ton Dodge Step Side, 225 Slant Six

if the manifold(s) and head faces are clean and square and you properly install the manifolds, stock style gaskets are fine

Remflex will add a lot of robustness to seal: pitted, rough, warped surfaces.

run a die across the mounting stud threads and wire brush the heck out of all mounting surfaces, check the flatness of the manifold face with a straight edge..