I have been trying to extract a broken exhaust stud from the head on my 3400. Of coarse the extract snapped off in the stud. Should I just get a new hear all together or take it to a machine shop? What am I going to pay to have a shop fix it? Your thoughts?

Around here, I've paid a machine shop about $20 to remove a broken stud. It might cost a bit more now that you've broken a hardened steel tool in there but it should be in the same ball park.

If the extractor isn't to far into the stud, and if you have a drill press and dp vise to secure the head at the correct angle...sometimes you can bore around the broken bit and eventually remove it.

Call the ms and ask them what they will charge to remove it.

What is the head's condition? Is it to be rebuilt anyway. If so ask the ms what the price would be if they were to rebuild the head (s) and remove the broken extractor/stud vs what stud removal alone would cost. Sometimes repairing the stud will become less if done with other work.

What will a reman head cost from your supplier vs mc shop rebuild head cost?

Are you willing to crap shoot on a wrecking yard head and what does it cost?

What are you willing to pay for a new GM head?

I can't answer any of these questions as I am not in your area. Prices vary everywhere.

I personally learned a long time ago that there is no substitute for a new part. Unfortunately, when money comes into play, compromises do too. I could elaborate but it's your thread and slightly off topic.

As always, good luck on your project!

Just broke an extractor in my 2.8 head a few days ago. Since the extractor is hardened steel it is brittle. On the advice of a friend of mine I took a good punch and mini sledge and shattered it, some pieces I got out but some of it got smashed into the bottom of the stud hole, luckily the new studs didnt go all the way in so it worked out for me.

to be quite honest with you ive had bad luck with broken exhaust bolts that it makes me kinda pissed off what happened but when i broke the manifold bolts in my 2.8 with 83k miles i pulled the heads shopped around here (NY) most shops wanted about $75 to 150 to drill out all holes and retap them seeing out of 6 on one side 4 were broken. than shortly later the otherside was just as bad so i figured new heads were $250 each from advanceauto. com with a 15% off online order so i bought new heads instead. lets just say i put it all together and it ran like a brand new engine it ran so good... for a day. on my way home from work cyl 3 connecting rod bearing at the crank let go and well... you can imagine clak clak clak... $550 went out the door and i blew the engine in a day. so to answer your question its a stab either way you wanna look at it meaning it could be a good thing to replace your cyl head or a bad choice in which mine ended up bad but not to say yours wont. from what i can figure what happened to my engine is that putting new heads on and fixing the exhaust leak put too much pressure on the worn in bearing that had become custom to the leak ect couldnt handle it so machining the bolt out could mean that much more of a difference for you and saving money in the long run. best of luck for you hopefully you dont have a problem like i had.