I bought me a 69 Deville vert a while ago and have had a little exhaust leak I've been looking for. Come to find out I have three broken bolts in the heads I'm going to have to clean up. I guess I'm going to end up pulling the motor either part of the way or all the way out. I could do them in the car with an angle drill but I'm too afraid of drilling in the wrong spot. My question is do I install the manifolds dry? There were no gaskets or anything on the manifolds when i pulled them. Should I use some copper gasket sealant or something?

thanks, dave

From the factory, there were no gaskets. Since the years have probably pitted the metal on both parts, I'd use a gasket now. They're cheap!
Good luck with the manifold bolts! I've been there, done that! It's a pain when they break off!

Check the sealing surfaces with a straight edge, if they're good I'd go gasketless.

Check the sealing surfaces with a straight edge, if they're good I'd go gasketless.

I agree. Also, if the head surface is good but the manifold isn't, you could have the manifolds milled. If you do go the gasket route, go ahead and get some nice copper gaskets because they offer a great seal and are re-usable. I would take the heads off of the engine to take out the broken bolts if you are willing to go that far.

I ended up taking the fender and inner fender off the car, unbolting the motor and jacking it up. This gives me plenty of clearance to work on the motor whole. I was thinking about pulling the heads but if I pull them I would prefer to pull the whole thing and start from scratch and since the motor doesn't need it right now, I figured this is my best bet. To get the bolts out, I am drilling as much material as I can without getting into the threads, then using a torch blowing out whats left in quick bursts so as not to heat the head up too much. It should end up pretty good. So far I have almost all of the old stuff cleaned out with no damage at all to the head. Now I have to go do the other head as well...

dave

I used Rols exhaust manifold gaskets on my 500 powered motorhome with the greatest success. I highly recommend them. I had to buy my last set direct from Rols in Ohio. They come as a set of eight individual gaskets, one for each port. They are a carbon graphite composite and will not burn out.
I would take the heads off and replace the valve springs while you are at it. The originals are very week. It is a very easy job with the heads off. The intake being dry is a snap to remove. The entire job could be done in a day.