My a$$ is still sore, and I wanted to share. I went to 5 shops. 58.50 was the best price.

Two bolts!! It took the guy 25 minutes because he was ****ing around. it's a 15 minute job.

I don't see how everyone is convinced it's 20 bucks to get that done...

 

That's because the rest of us arent dumb enough to pay that much.

 

they seen you coming

 

All you southern and mid western boys have it good..., or maybe I just look like a mark.

Either way, it pisses me off. Imagine if I was not doing the y-pipe seals myslef....

 

Thats why its always a good investment to buy your own tools. In the town I live in all of the shops minimum rate it $100hr one hour minimun no matter what the job is (except oil changes).

 

Lowes and Home Depot both have the 4.5 inch Dewalt angle grinder for about $60. That would have been money better spent.

 

Bring it on. I want people to learn from this. I feel like total douche.

Lesson learned.

 

Just pick up a tool kit; I used to get swindled on simple labor but now I am getting a kit.

 

I did my first VI swap with a 48 Piece simple tool set i found in my garage. Improvise .

 

Thats just bolts lol. And a few wires...

Y pipe was hard for me too dude. I had to drill the Cat studs.... It was very....FUN!!!

 

Yeah, that's what I am talking about. The studs looked welded, but I should have just put a handheld torch to them, and some vise grips. I pussed out. Lesson learned.

The funny part is I had just done the studs for the y, all six of them....They weren't siezed like the ones on the cat but you'd think it would have been a confidence builder. Next time...

 

As long as you've learned something....

I traded the local guys at Midas some air soft guns for similar exhaust jobs when I had no money at all. You'd be surprised at what the barter system can get you!

 

I went to a midas or whatever and the techs were cool like " yeah will take car of you" then out of nowhere the shop manager pulls up like " hey buddy whatcha need" I tell him and he like that gonna be $100 because we gotta torch em. He was like do you need nuts and bolts too. WTF! $100 and bolts are important. I asked him to put my car on the ground.

 

lol 60 bucks? Thats why I never go to the mechanic.

 

wow and ur in ny, could of done that for you for $20 or less.

 

what part of new york you from k-ryder

 

Brooklyn

 

oh nice.. long island

 

dang 60 bucks? I just had a hole drilled and a bung welded in for my rear o2 sensor in the test pipe and was charged 15 bucks. invest in a $20 propane torch, nice drill bits / drill or maybe a dremel and you'll be doing bs jobs like that on your car in no time. Exhaust and alignments are actually the only things I dont do on my car unless its bolt up exhaust components but pretty much my entire exhaust after the ws ypipe is welded from going to mom and pop shops otherwise I'd do exhaust as well.

 

$30 a bolt?? Ouch, I wonder what he would charge put your exaust together? $1000? lol. I thought I got screwed when I paid $280 for a muffler, cat, and 21/4" pipe. I also got my car inspected at the same place, the guy threw that in for free. Now that I think about it i got a resonator too.

 

 

Just started on those bolts and man they suck. I tried cutting them with a nut splitter, a hacksaw, and vice grips, but its not going well. The heads on the nuts rusted off on their own, the whole thing is like a big rusty stud. It may as well be welded!

I'm a bit intimidated by using an angle grinder since I don't want the dang thing to bounce back into my face. If I drill them out, what do i need to do?

Start with a small bit and move bigger until I can hammer them free? I can get access to most any tools, its more a matter of what I am comfortable doing. I have a propane torch as well.

 

What I would do is heat it up with a hand torch, keep the flame only on the nut, not the flange, as much as possible; when the bolt is heated it will break the rust bond with the thread; you should hear a pop when the flame busts thru the other side of the flange.

Then you can take vice grips and turn the screw out while it's still hot. That's what the guy did at the shop.

But an angle grinder should do it too, just be careful. wear eye protection.... you can cut one end off, but leave yourself something to hold on to to remove the screw.

 

Yeah I am scared as hell of using power tools on the bottom of my car given how they bounce back at ya, I google image'd angle grinder... and that was discouraging enough! I have access to a full sized shop, lifts and power/air tools at the military base, but even so.

I might just propane torch the sucker and vice grip it.

Anything potentially flammable down there that I should watch for?

 

Propane torch??

I would just use a grinder to knock off the head of the bolt. Then beat the bolt through with a punch or drift. Its easy.

 

Will the threads survive that?

At a shop they use an oxy acetelene torch. It's got more juice. But you should be fine with a handheld; use the peak of the flame as much as possible. Don't burn everything in sight just keep it on the bolt . I am sure you'll be fine.

 

I hit it with a grinder, and it sucked. Cut the bolt up real nasty. Then I tried a propane torch, and it was not much better. Bear in mind my bolts were so rusted they didn't resemble bolts so much as studs, no heads or anything, completely unrecognizable.

Then I used an oxy-acetylene torch and burned the bastards through, using a punch as well. Now my cat's flange ain't so pretty and Im driving around with an open Y pipe. I need to have a new flange welded on my cat this monday when I get an alignment. What a PITA. Amazingly I have NO CODES!!!!

The car pulls serious now, but its so loud I need ear plugs.

 

LOL, why didn't you go with the oxy from the beginning if you had one? I feel bad for encouraging you.

 

I rent the lifts and tools at $8 an hour, I started on the stuff in my house's garage first because its free, gave up and used the shop's grinder and oxy.

 

dam i was thinking about nut splitter. that didn't work? it didn't crack the nut?

 

how you gonna be too ***** to use air tools?

 

Dremel tool works like a charm to cut the nuts off. If you do any car repairs that tool is a great time and money saver.