To start let me say this will be long but please read it.

Me and my friend are installing longtubes on my formula, we have all the bolts off the driver side and cant get the manifold to drop. we cut off the ypipe and it still wont drop. we unplug water temp sensor and antifreeze goes everywhere. then we try and get the spark plugs off but we cant becuase the manifold is in the way. so we start to bust them off. first 2 go good, last one comes off good, then we try and bust off number 5, and as we hammer on it, the mother****er pulls out sideways, and breaks off with part of it still in the cylinder head. the part that you hook the socket up too busted off but there is still spark plug stuck in the cylinder . I dont know what the hell to do now. i guess the only way to fix it is to pull the head and take it to a machine shop. so then i get the idea, since ill have the intake and 1 head off, ill just buy some new heads. question is what should i buy? cam and bottom end is stock. would ported heads be worth it? or should i buy LT4's? please give me advice/help.

thanks alot

 

Sorry, looks like you caused yourself a lot of trouble by cutting and hammering on stuff. Probably not the best approach.

 

well now that youve pointed out to everyone that im a dumbass (which I am), do you have any suggestions as to what to do? would ported heads be pointless on my motor or worth it? LT4's?

 

IMO, ported heads are not really needed unless you have a cam that will help make use of them.
Guess you could do that, too, while you are in there.

I don't think I really pointed out anything. Your post can let people think what they want. I don't call people names (you supplied that). Just chalk it up as experience. That's all you can do. Most everyone has been there at some point.

 

so if get the heads ported and a valve job, will that hurt anything? i know i wont get the biggest gain becuase of the stock cam, but will it kill my low end or anything?

 

Some of the flow experts can chime in, but I would think it is possible to lose performance if you cannot maintain adequate velocity through the heads. You need a better opinion than mine, since I don't profess to be an expert in this area.

 

Let me get this straight. You try to remove sparkplugs with a hammer, which results in unneccessary damage, and now the heads have to come off. You end up discussing porting and new heads.

My advice is to remove the heads, fix the sparkplug hole, maybe do a nice three-angle job on them (factory seat contact patterns are horrible) and install them so you can get back to the original problem of installing the headers. Why make things complicated?

Learn from the mistakes, and get back on track rather than wandering off on some extra performance tangent. You have more to learn yet, just like all of us. Take it one step at a time.

 

Shoebox is a nice guy and is doing his best to help you out.
I on the other hand am not.
What in THE HELL was going through your head to make you think you could remove spark plugs with a HAMMER!
Now you want to remove the heads, maybe you could stop by the Fire Department and borrow the Jaws of Life to pry the heads off with.
Yeah, I am being a little harsh but maybe you will think next time before doing something that dumb.
Vader has a good idea, remove your heads (using the correct tools this time) and have them cleaned up and a nice three angle valve job done on em and replace (again using the correct tools) and if you run into problems please get on here and ask and I am sure we can help you out.

 

roflmao, revtime.......................that was rude, but extreemly funny, lol. If my humble opinion is worth anything, ive been in the same perdicament where in a project something goes wrong, so you try to kill two birds with one stone. And you end up deeper and deeper in trouble until you end up like me and have a full tube chassis car that you cant afford to finish. I always choose the route your thinking, and like they said, it complicates everything. As much of a waste of time as it may seem, put it back together stock and concentrate on the headers (before your luck gets any worse). Hope this helps, prorac1

 

Good stuff..Damn funny stuff.

"I couldnt get the lugnuts off, So I took a cutting torch to them"

 

First of all, one thing you need to have more important than anything else to work on these cars is infinite patience . By reading your post, I can definitely tell you're lacking it. I can tell you from experience that tinkering with F-bodies can be exasperating; kind of makes you feel like Wile E. Coyote sometimes.
My first installation of headers wasn't very pleasant either; however, taking all the stuff off (manifolds, y-pipe, etc.) was the easy part. I wish I could tell you it gets better, but....
My advice to you is whatever you do end up doing, take it to someone else to do it . I'd hate to see you have to buy a whole new engine just because you wanted to install a set of headers.

 

I agree with most of the above posts. A head change is adding too much additional complication to a already bad situation. I would get a good mechanic to look at what you've got. I would be sure that the damaged plug can not be removed and the plug hole repaired in the car before pulling the head. It may not be possible but sure would save a lot of trouble.

JeffA

 

Did you have a shop manual or something you can reference for info and help when you were removing the manifolds? You did stuff that was unnecessary when you were removing the manifolds and stuff that needed to be done wasn't done. Based on what you posted, certain steps should've been done before others during your manifold removal.

You definitely didn't need to remove the water temp. sending unit to get the manifold out, you actually made more work for yourself doing this. The spark plugs should've been removed first before unbolting the bolts for the manifold, that means using a spark plug socket and not a hammer. It helps to have the proper tools for the job. Yeah a BFH can be useful in certain situations but not in this case. What did the plugs do to you to deserve such a move on your part?

I can tell you from experience that the driver's side manifold will come out the bottom without having to remove the steering shaft or jacking up the motor. You do need to remove the oil filter to get just a little more room for them to slide down and out of the eng. comp. You might need to angle and pivot them a bit from underneath. The pass. side manifold also comes out from the bottom again without having to jack up the engine, you just need to find the right angle to clear the heater box and it will slide out no problem. I don't know what headers you're putting on but my SLP dual cat ones went on again from below without jacking the engine up or removing the steering shaft.

I hope you get this situation sorted out, your approach to getting the manifolds off didn't help your cause and will end up costing you quite a bit in time and money (as you've already found out). Sometimes it helps to take a step back and think about what you're planning to do before actually doing it. Good luck getting this resolved.

 

I would definitly TRY to get the plug out BEFORE removing the head.It should come out.Spray some PB Blaster on it,let it soak.An easy out should remove it. You have learned a lesson,it is easy to screw up.Take your time,short cuts usually lead to more work.BTW,my manifold fell out WITHOUT removing the spark plugs.

 

Sometimes working on these cars you need to take the "not so common" approach, but use some common sense too. What did you think was going to happen if you bang on the spark plug with a hammer? That said, you need patience to work on these things right. Trying to rush it will only have the end result of more trouble. Learn from your mistake, and next time, maybe ask here or somewhere else before using the BFH and an angry mind.