Hi all, just bought my 1st Blazer; a 1988 S10 4x4 with a 2.8l v6. Paid $800, and it really seems to be in good shape other than it has some exhaust leaks. I get to have fun removing a couple ofbroken bolts!I'm having a hard time finding the exhaust manifold bolt sets for this motor. Auto Zone - No, Oreillys - No. These guys all have the same sets - 3/8" bolts; I need the 5/16" ones, which theyre telling me were discontinued. The packages at both stores had previously been opened and restapled, so I'm getting the feeling that I'm not the only one to run into this issue. Kind ofblows my mind really;these motors are still everywhere right?I'd like to know if anyone can point me in the direction of these bolts. Thanks for reading.

[IMG]local://upfiles/13185/C3E413E315614D54BCA3D6ED6F31BAD8.jpg[/IMG]

 

I would try a muffler repair shop for the studs, and to save yourself some aggravation have them take out studs!

Try the local chevy dealer...

Good luck and congrats.

 

I would just get a set of grade 8 bolts of the appropriate size and length. You are talking about the manifold to head retaining bolts correct?

 

yes, manifold to head bolts. they are varied lengths, a few are made to accomodate a bracket (power steering, alt) instead of just having a plain bolt head on them. maybe i'm being to picky... i'm having a hard timewith the fact that these important bolt sets are simply not to be found. Ihave yet to findthe 5/16 on header websites like edelbrock - everything they offer seems to be 3/8. I picked up a few from ace hardware just to get by,but they just don't seem right threadwise so I havent taken a wrench to those yet. She's up and running,it's just that I can hear some leakage and it aint cool! Lol,Other than that a total of 4 were broken off(2 per head - in the back), the ones that are still "good" are beginning to rust down to about 1/4 or less in spots. I'll figure something out yet. I was looking for a pickup and wound up with this; I think I'm going to enjoy it though. I still have one more local parts place I can check with and they are not a national chain; who knows, maybe they'll have or can get. Thanks so much for the replies!

 

try napa they always have all the oddball stuff im lookin for

 

that was good advice blazerguy - thank you. forgot about napa. just looked at their wesite; they do have a set of 5/16x18x3/4; great for headers which I'm now seriously considering as these manifolds and their bolts are pretty rusty. Since tomorrow is Saturday, I'll figure out exactly which lengths I need and get 'em at a hardware store; make do til after the holiday hustle and bustle is over, then should probably put headers on it...glad I found this forum. Thanks again.

 

If you have a John Deere dealer (or other suitable tractor manufacturer), they typically will have a better assortment of the high strength bolts available.

As suggested earlier as well, the GM dealer should have these available.

 

you seem real knowledgeable, so i got a question for you.got the p0300. rplaced cap,rotor,plugs and wires still running like crap. have also seen alot of suggestions about checking fo compression, manifold gasket leaks,o2 sensors etc. my question is, my mpg dropped from 15 to 10, do think that points towards the mfi spider being the culprit?

This post has no bearing on this existing thread. I see that you already have mentioned your problem in another thread. Please keep threads on topic.
Thanks

 

I also suggest studs, esp if your going with headers. I'm running studs on mine with heddmans. I got them at a local nut and bolt shop here in town. I measured what I needed then ordered them. I used pipe cut to length as spacers for my brackets.