Maybe I'm not the worst mechanic in the world afterall.....
 

This thread is a follow-up to the one I made on Thursday.
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....=stripped+bolt

Taking no one's advice to leave my car alone, I decided to venture back out there to give it one final attempt to regain some dignity. All I had to do was get those two stripped bolts off and I was home free.

I went out there armed with the following:
Liquid Wrench
Dremmel
5 circular cutting heads for dremmel
1 dremmel rasp
3 sets of vice grips
New bolts with appropriate washers and wrenches.
CD player playing Phil Collins "Against All Odds" on repeat.

I thought that with the dremmel, it was going to be a piece of cake. It took 3 circular heads to break off the first bolt. On the second bolt, I blazed through the remaining two fairly quickly. All I had left was the rasp head. It was a pain in the a$$, but it eventually got the job done.

It took about two hours to break them off and install the new cat. Also, while I was down there, I secured my Y-Pipe with a bigger bolt and bigger washer.

I started the car up and to my shock, there were absolutely no leaks! Usually, I screw up at least one thing, but following Tim's advice of having patience, I got it done right the first time.

I'm extremely proud of myself, considering all of the setbacks I faced on Thursday and my overall lack of experience.

On a side note, I must say that th .org has really taught me a lot. Although, I have some vague stereo installation experience, I couldn't even change my own oil before joining this forum.

Now I can say that I have done the following all by myself:
Changed oil
Changed tranny fluid
Painted calipers
Rotated tires
Swapped out catalyic converter
Installed subwoofer and amp
Installed intake and midpipe
Installed ooglie CAI (before real intake)
Created Home Depot mesh grill
Painted all the plastic components under the hood
Installed FSTB (to correct torque spec and everything)
Touched up paint using proper 2 part paint (base white and pearl coat)

While most of these items seem remedial to you guys, I am pretty proud of the fact that I can do all of this stuff now considering I was brought up in a home with a tool set consisting of 2 vice grips, a multi headed screwdriver, and a hammer (seriously).

I just wanted to that all of you for your hard work and contributions to this forum. I would not have the interest or knowledge about my car if it wasn't for you guys.

Since I was able to accomplish my cat swap today, I feel as though I am ready for the next level. On Monday morning, I am going to order the 350Z manifold and do a swap just like Emax is doing*. To quote Anthony Hopkins' character in "The Edge"......."If one has done it, then another man can do it.".......(or something like that).















*There is no way in hell that I would actually do this. Especially since I have a 2K and I wouldn't be caught dead with a hood scoop.

Congrats! glad to see you saw it through. You sound like you feel good and you should. And no injuries today even better:D
Just remember to let the car sit for a while before you mess with the exhaust next time. Not only will the bolts come off easier but you won't have any blisters either.

Good job.

Now come in here http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....hreadid=153101 and lets have some more fun!

congrats.. i'm glad that you got it in.

Re: Maybe I'm not the worst mechanic in the world afterall.....
 

Nice! Time to add air induction to the list <wink>