Experience With Changing A Exhaust Mani 205 Gti?

[MrMemzi 12]

Hi all. Been a while, my exhaust manifold seems to have been played with before i got it. It now has a bolt stuck in the head and is blowing better the tulisa. Is anyone in the essex region that has changed the mani on the 1.6 gti that is willing to do mine. Ill pay ive got the mani but not the no how or patience

[kyepan 291]

It's only 8-9 bolts.. it really isn't that hard, you will need a new set of manifold nuts and probably some studs in case any are knackered, and then need to soak everything in wd 40, and get a small wire brush to break down any deposits of corrosion.

 

It's also worth tightening each bolt slightly before you undo it, as that just breaks any further corrosion on the opposite flats that you're going to use to unwind it.

 

Some long hexagonal (six sided not bi-hexagonal 12 sided) sockets, will help minimise any risk of rounding, that or a very long 13mm ring spanner (a mate had one of these and it made the whole job a breeze). Also some exhaust paste, and a new exhaust manifold gasket will minimise any sealing issues.

 

It might well cost you 20 quid in extra parts and tools, but it will make the difference between rounding-everything-swearing-skinning-knuckles, and knocking the job out without an issue. You want to do it once, and not have to do it again.

 

the only tricky bit is doing the spring loaded manifold to down pipe bolts, just remembre which way they go together.

[welshpug 1,661]

I have never used paste, wouldnt reccomend it either as there's no need if youy fit a new gaskets.

 

 

I would reccomend getting hold of a new manifold to downpipe fire ring and bolt kit from a pug dealer.

[MrMemzi 12]

Would it be easier to lift the engine out? It really looks like a pig to me. Im not confident in doing it! Ive got a 4-1 mani for it. But as u say it dont come with any bolts etc etc. would a pug dealership keep these? What do i do about the broken bolt in the head?

[Anthony 1,003]

The job itself is in theory not that hard and perfectly doable with the engine in the car.

 

The job in reality however, is often a complete pig, particularly if the manifold has never been off and has the original 10mm nuts that are seized on good and proper, or worse, someone has ham-fistedly had a go before you and rounded everything off and/or snapped some of the studs in the head.

 

The problem is getting the old manifold off and not breaking the studs. If you can get that far, it's a doddle - although as said, new nuts and gaskets are highly advised!

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

It sounds to me like you are not confident about doing it, so regardless of how do able everyone on here might say it is, you are probably better off finding someone to do it for you.

 

I have changed a few with the engine in the car, I have also drilled out broken bolts and helicoiled them to repair, also in the car, so it is possible for someone with the experience skill and tools to do it for you.

[welshpug 1,661]

Dont even need to jack it up to swap the original manifold, but if you arent confident and rely on it for day to day transport get someone to give a hand or sort it for you, if its not your day to day transport, just have a crack!

[MrMemzi 12]

Wow. Thank you all. Proper helpful! My dad has years of experiance but dont like asking him! But i think ill get his experiance on hand over the next few weekends. So the worst that could happen is bolts snap into the head and need to be heli drilled. Ill gather some bolts. A gasket. Check ive got sufficient WD40 is this all i need other then tools obv?

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

It is studs and nuts you need, not bolts. Be warned that if you do break one you'll need an angle drill to get in there to drill and helicoil, so try your best NOT to break any.

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

I'd look at facing the manifold off too, Quite often the edges rust away, Not cheap thou

[Rob Thomson 6]

I think changing the exhaust manifold was more-or-less the first job I ever attempted on one of these, and it was pretty straightforward. Didn't take any more than a couple of hours, but that was ~10 years ago with everything much less corroded than it would be now.

 

Definitely worth replacing the studs and using new nuts.

[scottbarton 34 1 Cars]

I need to do exactly this as well. I have a couple of decent, non cracked, manifolds so will hopefully get round to replacing my cracked one this weekend. Pretty sure i have a bag of new studs as well.