Hi all,
I recently got around to repairing my leaking exhaust manifold on my 1990 22re pickup. After doing a head gasket job, when re-installing the manifold, I stripped a couple of the stud holes out. The resulting exhaust leak drove me nuts, but would silence once it was warm.

After much research, I decided that time-serts were the solution. I definitely recommend them for anyone facing a stripped aluminum bolt/stud hole. They install easily, (i didn't even have to fully remove the manifold..) and they held factory torque.
Its been a month now, and no more leak!

Hope this helps. I'm happy to answer any questions if someone is thinking of doing this project.

 

It also helps to use high temp copper rtv on the gasket if it doesn't want to seal. My brand new doug thorley header would not seal unless I used it for some reason.