How to remove an s1 manifold

[Carld21]

Great news spoke to steve at S&J and he replacing the manifold (top man)

Now my problem is how to remove it any one got any advice for me.

Many thanks

[GOHER007]

Firstly, infused the old and rusty nuts with a good blast of wd 40, or some penetrating oil, for at least two days, and some appropriate tools will be a good start, I do not have the pleasure of enjoying the company of an s1, but i thought id say something.

[Tony K]

Hello Carl,

There's no way around it: You have to work from both above and below the engine. How much space you have to actually get the manifold off varies from car to car.

The nuts on the studs might be 12mm or might be 13mm; whichever they are, gather several wrenches (spanners) in that size of varying lengths and angles. If you have one you are willing to sacrifice to modification, you may find it helpful to grind portions of it away as you go to get a little more rotation or slip it over the nut through a slimmer space.

Removing the downpipe is pretty straightforward. With the manifold, what it comes down to is simply that you will have to patiently turn each nut a little at a time. There is not enough room to get the nuts off the end of some of the studs with the manifold in place; you have to loosen all of them and pull the manifold away from the head little by little.

There is a good chance some of the nuts will take the studs with them. This will try your patience even more, but just keep doing the same, going around to each one.

It really helps to have an assistant, as one person can just stay in the boot to get the top nuts off while the other can do the lower ones, and the manifold is pretty heavy when it finally comes off, and your hands/arms may be quite tired at that point from reaching up from below the car.

The exhaust nuts tend to vibrate and rattle off of S1s; usually there are a few missing on an original car. If they are actually seized on your car and you don't already have a favorite penetrating oil, try "Kroil" (aka "AeroKroil") by Kano Labs. It is absolutely incredible.

All in all, just be patient and careful, and you'll get it off fine.

Hope this helps to give you an idea what it is like.. . .

[Carld21]

Thanks will let know how I get on.

[GavinT]

Tony's instructions are spot on.

The key is use lots of penetrating oil and have lots of patients. You are likely to only get a 1/4 of a turn on each nut at a time due to space being limited. Spray the nut with penetrating oil after each turn. I was able to get all the nuts off with just one 13mm short length spanner, about 3 inches long. As Tony said, some of the studs are likely to unscrew with the nut, some did on mine. At all costs you need to try to avoid breaking a stud. If one breaks it is likely you will have to pull the head to make the repair.

I was able to remove the manifold and reinstall it by myself with no help, so it is possible.

Best of luck.

[ElEsprito]

Same here, did this yesterday evening, although needed a 12mm spanner. The spanner being 5 inch long created some space issues, but I found it useful to utilize the 13mm end in cases I could not get the 12 positioned on the nut.

Good luck

Dennis

[GavinT]

I would be very interested to learn what you think of the SJ manifold once you have installed it. I'm thinking I might get one. Although I'm sure the shipping to the USA will not be cheap.

[Carld21]

Just removed the manifold with a little effort, not a lot of room to work in but got there in the end. used a small 12mm ring spanner with a rachet. The old manifold had been fitted for about 4 years and used for the last 18 months due to the full restoration there was no need for WD40 thankfully. The 2nd pipe had fractured in half and the weld has cracked on the flange. I can only think its because it was fitted to ridged there was no movement, so a flexible piece will be fitted to the middle piece of the exhaust. will post some pics when i refit the manifold.

thanks for all the advise.