Over the weekend 2k2_6spd and I put in a STS (okay, he put it in, I screwed the shift **** on). While we had the cat off, we decided to pound out all of the porcelian inside of it to make an ooglie test pipe. Well, after driving it for a few days, it was too loud for my liking.

So I got my new RT catalytic converter today. I figured I could put it in myself. 4 bolts. No biggie, right?

After 4 hours, (Yes, four FULL hours), I was successful in removing only the two front bolts. I managed to strip the rear bolts to nice, perfectly round stumps, which not even the strongest set of vice grips in the world could latch on to.

So my cat was hanging there and I figured it was time to abort the mission. But I managed to also completely destroy the front bolts as I was taking them off. Well lucky me! I had the 4 new bolts that came with the new cat. No problem, right? I'll just use those!

Well, after stripping the hell out of those because the thread size was different, here is how my cat is currently attached in the front. One side has a bolt that is apparently too large wedged in about 9/10's the way there. The other has 3 plastic zip ties attaching it.

My car sounds like a friggin semi-truk right now. Also, I whacked my forehead on the heatshield while I was down there and I subsequently have a modest sized gash that stopped bleeding about 10 minutes ago. Also, part of the skin from my kneecap melted off on my 7000 degree Y-Pipe. Oh, and I pinched the skin between my thumb and index finger in the base of my needlenose pliers, so it appears as though I have popped a blood vessel underneath the skin.

BONUS!: Wait, folks, there's more! Somehow, while I was under there, I must have hit the shifter the wrong way because now, when the car is in neutral and I move it to the right (below 5th, above R- but still in neutral), IT STICKS THERE! I looked at the spring and everything seems to be in order down there.

What makes the shifter reset from the right? The spring on the STS resets it from the left. But I can't seem to find what goes from the right back to the middle. Anyone, anyone?

After calling 2K2_6spd and telling him about my super-duper day, the quote that stands out in my mind from him was, "Dude, I've seen a lot of uses for zip-ties and that's not one of them".

I just noticed another cut on my hand. I'm taking 2 Benadryl and going to bed.

 

Sounds like me dude...

Shadetree mechanics...

Injuries heal though, but it is so damn satisfying..

ED

 

damn i thought i had a bad day

 

Sorry bro......but STOP WORKING ON YOUR CAR.

At least you didn't use the "factory jack stands" to hold up the car while you crawled under it and then they crumble and you get REALLY hurt.

Some people SHOULD pay people to do their mods. I'm one of them!

BTW, nice work with the zip ties. Sure you don't need some duct tape up in there?

 

Sorry bout the bad experience man but your post almost killed me with laughter.

Hope it all works out man

woosh

 

snicker snicker snort snort....want me to send you some velcro and heavy duty double sided tape???

oh and a band aid!! hehehehehehehe

 

I just don't get it. I am fairly handy around the house. But when it comes to my car, I am a complete moron. Add today's mishap to my top ten favorite screwups.

10. Today's cat converter mishap.
9. UDP missing timing ring (not entirely my fault). Starter fails repeatedly for a month. Dealer charges $300 to put belt back on and reset the check engine light.
8. While cleaning engine bay, engine degreaser spills all over front grill, causing paint to rip off. Forced to repaint it.
7. Gouged front bumper attempting to install ooglie Home Depot grill on the FRONT of the valence.
6. While changing tranny fluid, I somehow strip the hell out of the drain plug. My neighbor had to come over to bail me out.
5. While installing red engine loom, red dye magically bleeds off of the plastic pieces onto everything it touches including my hood, front fenders, bumper, and all over the engine.
4. While waxing 1 week old Maxxim wheels, I put them face down on the concrete, inadvertently stripping the clearcoat off the face of the wheel. Wheels ruined.
3. While dynamatting trunk with spray stuff, I was covering everything with tin foil. Somehow the tin foil grounded the Bose subwoofer amp causing the speaker to spontaneously ignite into flames.
2. While cleaning brake calipers, brake cleaner drips off brakes, onto painted garage floor. Paint eats through garage floor, forcing me to rent a pressure washer, strip and repaint the entire thing.
1. While painting brake calipers, red paint eats through plastic cup. Red paint ends up all over garage floor, on wheels, rotors, and leather seats (when I leaned in to put the e-brake on).

My life is pathetic. Benadryl kicking in. Must......sleeeeeppppp.

 

LOL! Well I give "A" for effort and creativity!

Dude, just drive it to the nearest muffler or repair shop and they can fix it in about 5 minutes.

 

To add insult to injury, I just noticed that my dog took a big, wet dump on the carpet. She is supposedly fully housebroken too.

I'm sure everyone on here thinks that I am lying because there is no way one person's life could be this miserable. I only wish I were lying.

What a day. This sucks. I need to stick to selling advertising and leave the modding to you guys.

 

dont let it get to u we all have bad days on time or another.

 

DUDE, I think you have the WORST LUCK I HAVE EVER HEARD OF ANYONE WORKING ON CARS, OMFG. u know, when I was reading the beginning of the post I was just going to flame you, but now I feel so bad to a point where I want to take that poor car away from you. I thought, how can you be bad w/ fixing cars, aparently you can be, you should just never ever ever touch your car, you should sell all your car tools immedietly and if anything happens to the car you should just pay AAA to tow it where it can be fixed... haha, that sucks that you had to do all that for your car though man, it's new, stop touching it

allright, I'll stop

 

lmao. i was just thinking of what a thought out fake pargraph on ****ing up your car was, then i read about the dog, and i knew it wasnt bs (no pun intended). this is y i never touch my car or car audio. get it done right.

 

Being that my Ex girlfreind is from AZ.. I know that some of you people are very HEAT infested ! ..Take a trip here to San Diego... we can help your mechanically challenged *** !

 

You're missing 2 things, patience and the right tools. When I've got the time and feel like buying what I need to do it *right*, I'll do it myself.

Often I head to Harbor Freight (local, but also at http://www.harborfreight.com/) and load up on cheap, disposable tools. I have no expectations for a $9 tool to last, but I use this stuff like twice a year tops.

Bad thing about car mx, when you make a mistake and dont step back and 'reset' yourself, youre going to compound the problem.

Youre right, most people work on there car because its therapeudic (even when its a total b!tch). Its not doing that for you and you can afford to have it done, dont punish yourself. No shame in that.

 

Heres a little bit of advice on how to get these bolts loose. The best tool in the world is a breaker bar IMO. It makes even the worst exhaust bolts either snap in half or come off(usualy come off). In the event you have a stripped bolt you should alweays have a cutting wheel handy or a dremel. If you strip a bolt you simply chop it off. With out proper tools even the best mechanic may not be able to complete the easiest project.


Anyhow, sorry to hear what happened to you today, I have had some really crapy things happen to me while working on my car too. 70 cuts on my hands doing the header install was the worst though..

 

I am sure everyone has had one of those days. I am sorry but I couldn't help but to laugh when I read yor post. Ahem...it sounds like you were missing the right tools. Tim is right don't beat yourself over this. At least you tried. Just take your car to a muffler shop like someone suggested and hopefully everything will work out. No shame in trying, good luck.

 

sorry to hear all your trouble...one advice...look for a reliable shop

 

that's simultaneously the funniest and the saddest thing i've heard all week. props to you for giving it a go.

i tried sumtin similar by taking on a 'simple' project last month and tried to change my own spark plugs. i ended up loosing a socket down the spark plug tube and had to drive to a shop on 5 cylinders. pretty embarassing but certainly educational..

keep on pluggin man..

 

man...all you need is a magnet with a steel braided extension line to pick up that socket!!

 

nope.

i wanted to make sure i got the right tools so i specifically asked the dude at pep boys for a spark plug socket. what he sold me was an impact wrench socket. that being my first time, i didn't know the difference. well, the impact socket is about two millimeters wider than a spark plug socket and the tube is tapered. so of course, when i inserted the socket it got jammed in there, a good 4 inches in. not just dropped in, jammed in. metal to metal. believe me... i was lucky to get my magnet out of there.

 

yikes!!!!

 

yup
luckily i was reasonably close to my mechanic (TOTALLY cool guy) and he came in to the shop just to help me out.
i swear, a good trustworthy mechanic can bail you out and is worth his weight in gold.

in any case.. asu174, you're in good company

 

 

Things go along bad for a while then they take a turn for the worse. 4 weeks from now you'll be looking back at these as the good old days! hehehehe

 

The worst part about it is that 2k2_6spd had no trouble removing the cat 5 days ago with the EXACT same tools at his disposal. I have a killer torque wrench, a decent socket set, and a very nice set of metric and standard wrenches. None of those could get the job done for me. This just came down to lack of knowledge and experience.

Fortunately, I am basically out of the bolt on mods to do. 2k2_6spd is going to put on the UDP for me this weekend and the exhaust shop is going to have their work cut out for them today.

I don't mind failing when I attempt these things. But the worst part about it is having to explain to the muffler shop why there are 3 zip ties holding on my catalytic converter. There's nothing worse than being ridiculed by a mechanic. After a period of time, though, I have started to learn which shops will laugh WITH you, and which ones will laugh AT you. Needless to say, the ones who laugh WITH you are who gets my business these days.

Live and learn......

 

Man.......

 

I feel your pain, man. We have a saying at my house: "Yeah, it's just a five minutes job." Anytime the ladies hear that they know they're in for at least 5 hours without the guys. And we will have cuts/scraps/bruises from the simplest jobs. Always. Guaranteed.

 

You're taking it all in good humor.

Man, I just replaced my first kitchen sink faucet and I thought I was ****ed when I cut my hand!!! Little did I know...

ARFF

 

That sucks dude... Those exhaust screws can seriously suck. I soak all of them in liquid wrench for at least 10 minutes before I try any to undo any of them. Sorry to hear about your day though. Still cant believe I've never seen your car...

 

Could you please tell me where you able to find a STS for a 2002. I have searched for it with no success.

Thanks,

Cabowabo

 

I just did the same thing, only I was replacing the entire sink! It took me 2 full days to complete! While I was under there, the garbage disposal slipped out of the rubber clamp and landed on my face. My gums were gashed up and bloody for a full week.



They don't exist. I have a 2K.

 

ouch.. I had the *same* problem when installing my testpipe. I stripped one nut beyond recognition, and almost 2 others, but with some wd-40. and a trip to the office in my wife's Mirage POS, I got my pliers and got the other nuts off, which overall turned into a 4 hour testpipe install, 2 hours being spent on one nut. I feel your pain.

 

SHHHooooo Weeee............

Put in some ear plugs, and drive it to Midas and let them fix it.

 

Ok I'm done laughing, the way you word it though...

TimW is right patience slow down a little dude. When you get frustrated just get up and walk away for a while. I have a good mx friend he won't do the job for me, unless I get in over my head, but shows my how to do it. Sounds let you need the same help.

Don't give up just yet your having to much fun.

You said and you also saidThe exhaust was way to hot when you tried to remove the cat. The bolts had expanded with the heat making them well you know the rest... It's probily loud *** hell because once the exhaust got to "7000 degrees" the zip ties melted. Get the right bolts from Nissan or a parts store and finish the job you'll feel better.
And remember there are no stupid questions just stupid answers if you don't know ask.

Good luck.

 

Man I hope things get better. Just remember, before most successes there are failures. Thanks for the laugh .

 

I take back what I said about not giving up. If you didn't have bad luck you wouldn't have any. Your lucky you didn't lose any teeth.

 

To the guy that started this thread: I think you have a future as a Certified Nissan mechanic. You should interview at your local Nissan dealership. You would be garanteed a job.

There should be Shadetree Mechanic Police. They look for these guys that have no business on the end of a wrench. They approach your garage, whip out the bullhorn and say "Drop your tools and step back from the car!"

 

I just called the muffler shop and they said that they can't fix it until Monday. So, that means that 2k2_6spd will have to bail me out on Sunday.

Well, I've got plenty of free time this afternoon. I am going to give those rear bolts another go. I'm also going to buy some better vice grips and some liquid wrench. I am not giving up on this. I'll be damned if I'm going to let 2 bolts get in my way of a fairly simple project.

While I'm down there, I am going to douse the STS with grease.

Worst case scenario, I am going to go buy a smaller bolt and nut and just tighten up that one with the zip ties until Sunday.

 

I hope you're using the grease Pacesetter provides... or something similar to it.

 

I have it written down somewhere on what I am supposed to buy.......