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Getting a rusted exhaust flange bolt out..

S

Sprebound

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
May 2, 2005
Messages
806
Location
Lakeville, MN
Ok...so I am trying to get my old exhaust off and my new one on. I haven't gotten past the first two bolts yet...so this sucks. I tried using bolt extractors and all they did was round the heads, got one nut off on one side and the other side twisted off leaving the bolt. My question is this: On the exhaust flange right after the cat (after the y-pipe,) are those two bolts threaded or are they just through bolts? I have tried punching the one that twisted off out and it is not budging at all. I've blasted both with pb blaster numerous times and heated em them up with a propane torch but still no dice. Anyone have any pointers?
 
Well on mine there the bolts are on the End of the cat where it meets the Cat-back and then just the bolts hold it on.Help ya any?
 
K...but are those bolts welded to the flange or are the bolts supposed to come out of the flange? That is my main problem...I can't tell if the bolts and the flange are all one piece and the nuts hold it all together, or if the bolts are supposed to come out. My car is a piece of :censored::censored::censored::censored:. Some help from other people would be great btw...I wanted to get this done today but I don't know if this :censored::censored::censored::censored: is ever going to come off.
 
Take the pipe to an exhaust shop. Have them blow out the exhaust bolts with a blow torch. Thats what i had to do. Those things were rusted solid. Then just replace them with new SS bolts.

If you can get a torch and heat up the ends, then they can be banged out.
 
Alright...I guess that is what it is going to take to be honest. Yeah, I think that they have been left alone for so long that they have become a part of the flange itself. A real bummer because I didn't really want to have to pay someone to work on this project... I know it varies from shop to shop but what did you pay for them to do that for you?
 
Don't go in the front door of any shop. Carry the pipe to the rear doors and knock on one. Ask one of the guys to talk to a welder. Tell the welder you'll give him 10 dollars if he can blow out those 2 bolts. He'll do it.

If you go to the front door your asking the company for a price. This way your doing it without the company. Most people will help you, there might be someone who says ask the front and tell him SO and SO said i'm doing a job for $10..

That way you will save money and time.
 
Those bolts are pressed into the flange; they are essentially studs. Not welded, but with all the rust, they may as well be.
 
Yeah...but you see my only car is the contour...and I can't get the pipe off until these bolts come out unless I take it off right after the y-pipe. I am not going to drive with it like that...it'd be loud as crap. Then on top of that...I would have to bring in my whole entire cat-back to get that done, because it only unbolts after the cat...

Last blow to me - tomorrow is Sunday and NO one is open.

I am gonna see who is working at Sears tomorrow morning and see if I can get one of my buddies to get it on the lift and MAPP the :censored::censored::censored::censored: out of it and try and get it off.

Thanks for the help Harry.
 
Do ya'll think I would be able to PB/heat (propane unfortunately) and then knock them out with a punch? That would pretty much be the only way I could do it myself...if you think it'd work.
 
Sprebound said:
Do ya'll think I would be able to PB/heat (propane unfortunately) and then knock them out with a punch? That would pretty much be the only way I could do it myself...if you think it'd work.
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give it a try:shrug: I don't know how rusted they really are. So i can't say if it will work.

See but if the bolts don't come out, you are just gonna waste more money at a shop getting them blown out.

Place pipe in vise..heat bolts, use a heavy hammer and hammer away. They will eventually come out.
 
You might also be able to cut both sides of each bolt flush with the flange, then drill thru the remaning bit (the part left inside the flange). Then use a couple of new bolts run through the flange when you reassemble. A set of lock washers will help them from being vibrated loose over time. just an option if you get pressed for time.
 
Yeah...I was thinking about that, but there doesn't really seem to be enough room to get up there with a drill and drill them out IMO. I did all that I could to get that son of a :censored::censored::censored::censored::censored: apart and nothing worked. I apparently bought MAPP gas on accident (thought I had propane...) and used it all night heating it up, smacking the flange with a hammer and repeating for about an hour... It still hasn't budged. It is really crappy how two stupid ass bolts are stopping me from putting a :censored::censored::censored::censored:ing exhaust on. The situation is just pure straight up dumb.
 
What about if you remove the rear sections of the exhaust from the hangers, and let it droop down a bit, that may give you enough clearance. :shrug:

I feel your pain, man. Wish I had something to suggest that would help. Can you get a hacksaw/sawzall blade between the 2 halves of the flange to cut the bolts? Probably not, I know, but may be worth a try.
 
Eh, I broke 2 of the 3 bolts on my 3-bolt y-pipe removing it...

First one came right off, second one broke the stud and the third one the nut stripped and was way beyond coming off... So, we cut through it with a sawzall. After this, everything was loose.

But, I still had to get the studs out. So, BFH and a few whacks and they come right out. A little pb blaster never hurt either...
 
getsum111 said:
What about if you remove the rear sections of the exhaust from the hangers, and let it droop down a bit, that may give you enough clearance. :shrug:

I feel your pain, man. Wish I had something to suggest that would help. Can you get a hacksaw/sawzall blade between the 2 halves of the flange to cut the bolts? Probably not, I know, but may be worth a try.
Click to expand...

Eh...that might work but since I don't have a flex pipe, I would be worried that dropping the rear might put a bit much stress on the cat and the y-pipe. I am going to run it up to Sears tomorrow (where I work...) and see if he can do anything with it. If not...well I guess I am going to come home and try to drill them out. I guess I could try cutting into the cat-back side of the flange to make a little gap to pry against or something...not a bad idea. I just don't wanna mess it up for the mexican because he is getting my old cat back come SZ. Thanks for all of the helpful suggestions guys, rust just sucks...haha. When I get out of college I am going to buy a nice rust free one...
 
Alright...well I ended up giving up on myself and took it to Sears and it took my guy less than 2 minutes to get the bolts out. Air Hammers for the frickin win to say the least. Plus, it cost me nothing...thank god. The car sounded pretty weird with the exhaust coming out right after the cat, and it definitely made me appreciate mufflers. Now all I have to do is let the exhaust cool and the catback is going on. Woohoo! Pics and vids will be posted and I will try and add an exhaust clip to the sticky on top since there isn't really a bosal clip on there.
 
Damn, this sent shivvers down my spine because I have been there. It sucks laying on your back trying to work on something like this. Air hammers, sallzalls, torches, can be your best friends or at least make you back not hurt so much....
 
Yeah, I was pretty pissed that my project that was supposed to take a couple of hours tops turned out to be a two day event. Mostly because of two mother:censored::censored::censored::censored:ing rusted bolts. After I got those bolts out, I ended up having to cut the muffler hangers to get those out since they weren't the OEM design... They went through the rubber grommet and then 90'd back down so it formed a U around the grommet. This and the fact that the mufflers on there were too big to allow me to access the bumper bolts so I could take the bumper off allowing more room to work... Got the left side off and proceeded to try and remove the bumper so I wouldn't have to cut the other hanger but the first bolt I tried removing twisted off because it too was overly rusted. Moral of the story...get a car inspected thoroughly before you pay for it. I was dumb about it because it was my first car and I really wanted a CSVT...well, now I have car that is rusting out from under me with a crappy tranny and 140k stock struts on H&R lowering springs. Anyways...I am digressing. Rust=bad times.
 
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