So to make things even worse I drilled it then promptly broke the extractor off in the bolt tonight.........
So I guess at this point the manifold is coming off or I push it to the curb and hope someone steals it. What a PITA a simple thermostat replacement has turned into.

 

Oh man. I'm sorry to hear that. Hopefully the truck redeems itself once your finished. Believe me I know the feeling. Simple tasks turn into nightmares.

 

Did the easy out snap flush or is there anything left to put a needle nose vise grip on? If there's something left try to back it out. You can use a punch to loosen it with a few well placed taps or by driving it in further if there's nothing proud of the busted bolt. Sometimes you can get them to shatter while driving em in further, then dental pick em out.

For future reference it's much easier to use a reversing drill bit or just pick a drill under the thread size and use a tap to clean out the remaining threads. The bolt width is too small in this instance to use an extractor on......in my experience. I'm not a fan of easy outs because they're not easy.

If you remove the manifold it would be easier to get to the easy out/undo the suck. Get a new manifold gasket.

 

Thanks for the tips! I will revisit it in the morning and see if I can break the extractor and pick it out. I'd prefer to not have to remove the manifold.

 

the manifold job isn't too bad. did mine in a weekend taking my time.