Ok,, so after 10 1/2 months, Ii'm finally getting everything put back together. Of course **** happens right off the bat. i paid twice the price of the throttle lever in shipping to get it here to assemble, and not only is it not the right thing, it's the opposite side too! Arghhh!!!!!! So, I mount the intake and carb and say screw it, I'll figure out the linkage later. On to the exhaust. Of course the heat shields over the old exhaust are so rusted and seized, I have to break/twist them off to remove the pipes. Then I find out that the PO in thier infinite wisdom has welded all the flanges and pipes! Basically i have I long solid pipe with no way to dismantle. So I break out the sawzall and cut it into 3 peices and pull it out. Now, I slide my Racing Beat dual exhuast into place and find that I have 1 exhaust stud, two wobled out holes and one stud broken off inside the housing. Merry F-ing christmas too me! Now turns out the one that is in the block is there cause it's not the right thread,, apparently someone tried putting in new studs and used the wrong thread size. I used a stud from another housing and a set of dental picks and got the other upper stud in. bought a metric tap set and chased the threads on the front lower. Now I don't have enough room to get my drill in to try to drill out the broken stud on the bottom rear bolt. So, How bad off will I be if I mount my header with three bolts instead of four? Can it cause any damage?

 

it won't seal with out all 4. you will have an exhaust leak.

 

Sounds to me like a tap, dye and helicoil will be your best friend here...napa or any other autoparts store should have what you need. Though helicoil kits are like 50 bucks. I've used my fair shore of them. Just take your time and drill very VERY slowly. lol.

 

a dremmel with the snake attachment thing might work for you. it will take a long time, but i bet it will drill through eventually. i have used it in places drills won't fit.

 

Thanks for the advice guys. In my original post I was apparently too busy bitchin and being pissed to include some relevant info.
1. I have a VERY limited timeline to get this thing on the road. (my truck is going south and was going to cost more to fix than I owed on it, so I opted to use the money for my truck payments to fix my 7) Now they're going to repo my truck.
2. I have another motor I'm planning to put in the car, but have to make arrangements to get it and find a garage etc. to use to swap them.
3. This is the 3rd motor (fourth is the one I'm waiting on) I've had to try to get this thing going since Feb. and I'm out of money and patience. This one turned out to have low compression numbers, but is useable for now.
4. There is a strong chance I'll be having to find a new place in the very near future, so if the car isn't running, I may loose it alltogether.

So, what I'm wanting to know is, given that I don't have thew room for drilling out the stud at the bottom rear, could I go ahead and bolt up my exhaust and drive it a few weeks or so till I can figure a way to pull the motor and swap it? I assume I'm going to have an exhaust leak, but will that hurt the motor? I'd still like to be able to rebuild it when I can later. Just don't have the money or time/place to now. What, if any damage might result from driving it like that? (aside from probably a shitty sounding exhaust leak)

 

An exhaust leak won't really hurt the engine like it can a piston engine, No valves to worry about.

 

Just becareful of exhaust gases in the cab, and heat in the engine bay. if the exhaust leaks too hot you could cause some damage. That's what logic sugegsts at least.

 

if you dont have a drimmel, and you are going to change out the engine anyway, its not going to hurt.

 

Cool, thanks all. I don't alot of options, but was hoping it would be ok for awhile anyway. I appreciate the input.

 

For a few bucks, you can buy a right-angle drive adaptor for your electric drill; might serve to get you the clearance you need.

http://www.amazon.com/Angle-Adapter-.../dp/B0006Q5MGK

That's a cheapy one, wouldn't last long... but if you're only worried about this one job, it may do ya.

 

try a metal concrete anchor in the hole. Don't over tighten or you could crack the housing though.