Im a little stumped on my exhaust. Most of the exhaust has no BAD rust..... except where each piece is attached. the bolts r rusted so bad its hard to tell the nut from the bolt. its like this into and out of the cat and also on each end of the Y pipe. i tried heating with a torch and torquing them but i got scared of just snapping them off. i also thought maybe i could just take the manifold off (not rusted) then just break/drill/tap the cat to put it back on... i dunno, help me out!

ill see if i can get some pics up tonite or tomorrow. im hoping to try to get it done tommorrow. i need to get the pass side axle out to replace it and weld the ypipe cuz its leakin...

**EDIT**
PICS UP

 

Pics? Seems forum cannot wait...

Grind/drill out, buy better.

 

ok heres some pics. the y pipe isnt too bad in the front and the back is where i tried heating etc. and the cat i didnt even touch yet.


Y-pipe connected to Cat



Rear of Y-pipe



Tight spot Rear Y-pipe



Front of Y-pipe

 

I had the issue i not worse. I managed to get the pipe off the manifolds with alot of Pb and vise grips. The rest of the exhaust I threw away. lol

 

wow man, that's pretty rusted. You have access to impact tools? you can use them to sort of 'shock' rusted fasteners loose. If you can't/aren't willing to get them off, maybe find a shop that might be willing to at least loosen them for you for a few bux. Also PB blaster/WD40, and some heat (torch) is your friend. Also using good quality 6 point sockets is a wise thing to do, cheapo and/or 12 point sockets have a tendency to round off bolts in cases like this.

 

demolish all the studs/nuts then replace the cat (44$ from the zone but have to weld on flanges) or get a straight test pipe

then replace all ypipe studs and nuts and get new bolts and nuts for the new cat

 

sounds a bit drastic...

 

Have you worked on the exaust? It does suck. Im in the same position right now too. Not fun

~Alex

 

I ended up using a Sawzall reciprocating saw to just cut the pipes. I couldn't get my bolts apart either. I was replacing the entire exhaust system though so it didn't matter that I was cutting pipe. Reinstalling complete new exhaust (Ypipe to muffler) was suprisingly simple. I went with Warpspeed Y & cat and Greddy catback. Sweet system!

 

in my experience its the only way those nuts are so rusted theres literally no way to salvage any of it and dont even bother trying to drill the studs out of the cat it would be much much more cost effective and less time consuming to replace it since its orriginal

you can remove the pass axle without removing the ypipe

 

i know i CAN remove it without takin off the y-pipe, but its alot easier with it out. ive taken it out before without takin the y-pipe off. besides, i have to weld the y-pipe anyways cuz its leakin.

 

this relates to the topic sorta, i dont have 10 posts yet cant submit my own... my friend is putting a cold air intake into my nissan maxima 1990 from his honda, he says he can get it to fit hes been working on cars since he was 8 and ive seen what hes done, is that even possible? same with putting the exhaust from his to mine? thanks for the help

 

sawzall inbetween the flanges and cut the bolts...buy new gaskets and bolts....sounds easier than said but ive done it a few times. if all else fails you better be good at tig welding....mig would work too but personally i like to tig my exhausts off the car it looks much better.....

 

yeah, i suppose that's all you can do if you don't want a (muffler) shop to have a go at it. I really hate it for you guys up north working on your cars, rust sucks fat donkey butt.

 

Exactly why mine is going to be covered and put away in about 2 weeks.

 

your car has sat for a while somewhere over a year or two, and got rused up good.
thats my assumption for that bad rust
most cars that sit
in grass, or in rainy places where it accumulates, the moisture will deteriorate and rust that kind of stuff quick

 

Well i got the exhaust off and heres what i saw. the studs were horrible out past the nuts, but under the nuts, wasnt bad at all. i dont plan on replacinf all the studs, just the 4 on the cat. heres some pics.

Front Manifold to Y


Rear Manifold to Y


Cat to Rest of Exhaust


Cat
oops, didnt crab a pic of the cat O.O

 

your lucky your rear manifold still has its studs. 2 of mine snapped, that sucked.

Does the cat still work? or is it clogged? BC if it still has the flanges and works (it doesnt even have to work) would you send it my way insted of throwing it out?

~Alex

 

oh, im not throwin it out. and as far as i know, its not clogged! i just drilled the studs out of it cuz i just ground them off to get it all appart. im just gonna put some stainless bolts through it tac weld em at the heads then just use those as studs

 

make sure you put new studs on there, so they do not break later down the road....trust me, its not fun

 

well i have no money right now... lol sooo when i get some im getting a WSP Y, a new cat, and all new studs

 

I'm going to find a shop that will break the connections on the studs. Replace them if needed. Sounds like it will be well worth a few bucks.

 

Oxyacetaline torch you will melt the bolts down and the unit will come apart as if it were butter don't grind and drill you'll mess up the fit.