Did you research the torque angle gage? Don't forget new head bolts the old ones should not be reused. They are torque to yield.

 

The guy at advanced reminded me of that, too- they were out of stock, but will have them (and the gasket kit) tomorrow morning. I've got a click torque wrench I had planned on using to torque them to spec. Is it to hard/crucial to get EXACTLY 90° that I can't just eyeball it?

I made a run to Harbor Freight this morning. (Actually, 2 runs), and bought my new favorite tool: 18" ratcheting breaker bar with 1/2" drive. That and an excessive amount of PB blast made short work of the driver's side exhaust manifold! Unfortunately, one of the bolts sheared. Might have to live with a small exhaust leak if the other bolts aren't enough to seal it completely.

Still have one stubborn bolt on the EGR I'm fighting with before I can get to the passenger side; just can't get a tool in there AND put enough torque on it to break it loose. I'll just keep PB Blasting it until it gives, I guess.

 

Do you have a way to check the heads for warpage? If not you might want to have a machine shop check them. They should also be able to give you a quote to remove the borken bolt(s). With the right tool even the worst bolt does not take long to remove. Might be worth another $40-50 to do the job right.

I am new to the torque angle gage myself but one thing I notice is that it is amazing how much force differents there can be in just 5 deg. Maybe after you do a few hundreds bolts you could get good enough but I would not try to hit an angle without a gage right now. Any other opinions from guys that used the torque angle gages?

 

Given how easily the bolt came off, I just took a closer look and it's obvious I didn't break it; someone else broke it long ago and must have got it about a thread in; just enough to keep it from falling out. I must've been driving like that for years, so I'm not going to worry about it.

 

I could not get the bolt out of the EGR valve on the manifold, so I took it off the UIM and left the EGR valve on the exhaust manifold. I was doing a 3.8 and I think it is different than the 3.4. The angle torque guage is only about $10 at Advanced Auto. It was somewhat difficult to use under the cowl but I figured it was as easy as marking the bolt so I would know when I had turned it another 90 degrees.

 

There's no way I'm going to be able to remove the exhaust manifold bolts without removing it... it's got to go

 

Got the stuck bolt out using a spanner and crowbar and a LOT of PB blast. Turns out the EGR valve has yet another bolt on it, this one UNDER the exhaust manifold heat shield, which can't be removed until I remove the exhaust manifold bolts, which I can't get to because the EGR valve is in the way. WHY, GM, WHY? I am making very good progress, though.

Edit: got the A/C compressor off now; didn't see the bracket in the back.

#5 plug came out dripping, and sure enough, cylinder is bright green behind it.


The plugs still look good, so I'm going to put them back in.

 

just buy new plugs once they get wet there not the same

 

So long as the engine runs at all, I'll be happy. I think I may put the wet plug into the most accessible cylinder, though, as opposed to putting it back into #5. If I have issues, I'll swap it out. They're 100k mile plat plugs and only have 50k miles; it's $30 I don't need to spend.

ARGGHHH!! The last exhaust manifold bolt on the bottom in the back on the passenger side is IMPOSSIBLE! Do I need to drop the entire exhaust to get enough space to put a ratchet on it? I can't get any leverage from top, and just spent 30 minutes under the car and wasn't even able to get the wrench ON the bolt, letalone leverage to break it loose.

 

Any tips on that last @#^$^&#@$%@# bolt in the back/bottom behind the transmission dipstick? I am completely out of ideas. Besides those involving a grinder and the exhaust pipe.

Edit: I think I may have found a solution. Here's hoping...