NastyNissan

I'm in the process of swapping out the stock y-pipe for my new budget. After loosening all of the manifold stud nuts I came to the cat. All 4 heat shield bolts sheared off (no biggie), but now the nuts seem to be done as well. Have you guys had to cut the nuts/studs off and just run bolts through, or is this just a problem I face because living in the salt belt? Please let me know ASAP. Midas wants $60 to put the car up on the lift and just make the nuts loose for me to remove at home...ripoff!

Spence

n2oMike

If they break, they break. Crank on them hard with a good 6-point socket or wrench. I had to twist incredibly hard, but they came off. You may need additional leverage. Keep in mind, these are studs that are threaded into the converter flange. If they do indeed break, you'll need a way to get the broken piece out of the flange. A cutting torch or drill (with good bits) may be needed.

The fasteners on the rear of my converter (B-Pipe install) did indeed break. I burned the remnants out with a torch and stuck a bolt through the hole. Worked fine.

Good Luck!

NastyNissan

I've already totally rounded over one nut, and the other one I can't even get the 12mm wrench over...

JMAXIMA

i had the same problem when i did my ypipe. what i had to do was grind/cut the bolts... then i cut slits into the bolts with air cutting tool (kinda like a flat head screwdriver)... then i used some flat edged vise grips to twist out the bolts... it was such a pain. all i could suggest to you since most people dont have access to air tools is to use a dremmel and cut away at the bolts. it might get messy, but it should work. if that doesn't work, try drilling out the bolts. then go to Lowes and get some high grade steel bolts/washers/nuts to replace them. hope this helps, but plan to spend a little time on this.

tomj

This is what I had to do, total PITA. Dremeled the nuts off on both sides of the flanges then drilled out a new hole for a bolt to connect the y to the cat. Took hours.

NastyNissan

Thanks for the input guys. I started whackin' the damn nuts with a cold chisel and made more of a mess. I have a bunch of air tools and a big compressor, but no die grinder. I guess I'll have to go out this afternoon (already reassembled the car in disgust) and buy a 90 Deg and 180 deg die grinder as well as some cut-off wheels and grinder bits. Why does everything have to be such a pain in the ***??? Thanks.

Spence

joaquink

You don't have to do that. Just go get some PB Blaster from Auto Zone or some equivalent store. PB Blaster Super Penetrating Lubricant will loosen them and let you get them off. You'll just need to drench the bolts in PB, let it sit for about 10 minutes, hit it again with a bunch of PB and let it sit for maybe 1/2 an hour to an hour and then come back to it. I highly doubt you won't be able to get them off at this point. If they're super rusty, I suggest a coat of Naval Jelly with a brush first, clean it, PB it and voila - off they come.

n2oMike

He said the nut is already rounded off really bad. It takes some serious torque to remove those rusted converter bolts. It MAY have come off if he drenched it ahead of time and used a good 6-point wrench or socket held on STRAIGHT the first time around. But with the bolt all rounded off, it's an uphill battle.

Good Luck!

NastyNissan

I just bought a new air powered die grinder, and hopefully will get a chance to whack the entire stud assemblies off tomorrow. Then it is off to drilling out the remaining stud material and either running a bolt/nut through each side, or tapping it for 3/8" G8 bolts. I dunno yet.

Spence

Nazgul350r

HEAT!! Heat the bolts up then crank away. I did that when I put an exhuast on my Probe. They came right off, just like warm apple pie.

Dstyle

I tried to do the same thing to install my y and b pipes. finally today i went to a muffler shop and had them install the b pipe and loosen the bolts on the y pipe side of the cat so that i can install the y pipe on my own. (they wouldnt install the y pipe because of the pre cats)
It took them a LONG time to get the bolts off using a blow torch and air tools etc. there is no way i could have done it with my PBP and socket wrench, not to mention they had it on a lift which helps too. this all cost me 50 dollars and the guy spend about 1.75 hours on it.

sleeper

i had to use a air chissel to get the bolts off.

kash2776

I just had the same problem with my cat studs. I had to cut one off with a combo of dremel and sawzall. I got smart on the second one and just heated the sucker up with a propane torch for a while and it came off with no problem! Highly recommend the heat...