I pulled my header cap off today because the rear bolt (nearest the firewall) was missing and fluids were leaking. Seems like it is broken off below the hole (too bad). How should I handle this? How should I clean the cover and everything below? I am new at working on cars...especially 88 year old ones. FYI, I have already purchased new header bolts, copper gasket (with copper sealant), etc.

John,
The head bolt can be drilled out but not while the engine is in the car, you will have to pull the engine out or at very least slide the engine forward enough to clear the firewall. Not a difficult job. Many of the better vendors sell a reproduction Stevens T-200 tool which is a special drill bushing and drill bit to drill out a broken head bolt using the engine head as a guide, they work like a charm.

Thanks! What is the best way to remove the manifold? I want to clean and paint. Also, how careful do I need to be of getting carbon in the holes while cleaning the top? I plan on painting the head cover (I suspect you just paint the outside, right?). Sorry for the basic questions, I am learning.

John..pull the engine a little bit forward of the firewall much like Jeff said. Scrape all of the carbon off the valves and the pistons. First begin with a scraper but do not gouge. Then use a coarse steel wool to clean the top of the engine block. Blow all of the rust and carbon out of the water jacket holes with an air compressor. Be sure to wear eye protection. I always wipe the top of the block and the head with laquer thinner before replacing the gasket. Be sure you study the copper head gasket so you know which side sits on the top of the block because once you spray it you don't want it to move when you put the head on. The head bolts go on in a certain order and are torqued at 50 lbs. Do you have a Model T repair manual or a local club member who can help? Where are you located?

Why do you want to remove the manifolds? Are they leaking? If not I would leave them alone. You can mask off and spray around them...

Here is the cover after power-wash and paint.

After you get the head back on, remove the water pump and run clear water down the water inlet and let it run out the water outlet. Do this until all rust and carbon particles are washed out before connecting to the radiator. If it will run at normal temperature without the water pump, put a fitting on and run it without the pump.
Norm

Man...actually you ought to run some prestone radiator flush through it...it looks YUCK in there!
Always use a 50/50 mix of antifreeze. You need those rust inhibiting chemicals in the antifreeze, otherwise your radiator will go to pot..

I was thinking the same thing that Patric was, there's a lot of crud in those water jackets. That's probably why it has a water pump in the first place. I'd take a long, thin screw driver and go down those water jackets and see just how much of that you can break free. I'd also take the water inlet off the side of the block and clean through there as well. That's the lowest point in the cooling system and for all you know at this point, that could be almost completely plugged. You have the cyl. head off to fix a bolt, this is the best time to clean out that cooling system as best you can.

It is a lot easier to remove the firewall than to remove the engine. If you remove the steering column and firewall (about 45 minutes work) you can drill out the head bolt and Heli - Coil the hole with the engine in the car easily.

Yes'sir. After flushing the block as best as possible, he could also remove the side outlet, flip it upside down and reinstall it then refill with muratic acid. Now I'll tell you what....THAT my friend will clean it out spic and span lol!

I did that to mine to clean out the water jacket. I scraped as much of that crap out, drained it, then blew it out with compressed air. Reinstalled the head with the old gasket and plugged off the side inlet then filled the whole jacket with muratic acid.

Maaaaan you wanna talk about a stink...phewww! But afterwards the inside of the jacket looked chrome plated it was so clean HAHAHA!

I dunno how it would work in a radiator. It only seems to attack rust but maybe it would clean one out if the mix were dilluted?????

Man, someone attempted to drill out the bolt without removing the engine or firewall. When doing so, they chewed into the block. I suspect the Steven's T-200 is my only option. Will this be a problem? Any other suggestions???

Royce, where can I find directions on how to remove the steering firewall? That sounds better than removing the engine...

Can't you just weld a nut on it and try to back it out???

John,

Before you put the head back on, I would recommend running a bottom tap into each bolt hole and clean them out real good. The threads in the picture on the manifold side look really bad.

Jim

Patrick, if the bolt was sticking UP put of the block, yes, in this case, no.
However John, you could very carefully center punch that bolt and drill it out starting with a very small bit. Before starting, stick the drill bit in one of the empty head bolt holes and wrap tape around it to mark it, as so not to drill into the block. It would also be smart to have the head milled. It's probably warped.

Like Dennis is suggesting, just grind the bolt flat and then center punch it. Cover the rest of the engine with duct tape first.

The firewall and the steering column are held in place by bolts and nuts. You have to remove those bolts and nuts, then the parts come right off. There's also a rivet on the spark lever that has to be drilled out, unless I worked on the car last time. If it was me last time there's a 4-40 screw and a nut holding the spark lever on the end of the spark rod.

Reproduction Stevens T-200 tools are available at only the best vendors: Snyders, Langs, Macs, Bobs, and Performance T Parts.

Does any vendor sell the reproduction drill and tap set? I can only find the drill.

The reproduction T-200 tool consists of the drill bushing and drill bit only, you will need to supply your own 7/16-14 standard tap to chase the threads. The original tool was to chase the threads with the head on but it is better to chase the threads with the head off so you can watch it's progress. You will want to chase all your head bolt threads to clean out decades of rust and junk while you are at it, first with a standard tap then with a bottoming tap. Blow out the crud with compressed air when you are done.