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Hey guys, well I got my exhaust!! YAY!!

Now for the downer,

I backed the car up on ramps and started to remove the bolts.... I sprayed free-all on all of the bolts and let them sit for a bit.

Well, I removed the muffler bolts and 1 of the 2 broke. That was ok, because I didnt need them anyways, the magnaflow comes supplied with clamps.

I started to remove the cat->downpipe bolts. The first one broke off, which sucked, but I still had 1 good one from the exhaust that I could put on it. I went to remove the 2nd one and that one snapped too. That pretty much sealed the deal. Now I have a problem because I cant get the broken ends out of the cat. I have the LX model so the cat is in the header and I cant fit a wrench up there to get the bolts out.

I figure I'm going to have to get the car towed to the garage 2 miles away, and have them get the bolts out and install the exhaust. I'm really disgusted right now.


Any Suggestions?

Thanks,
Brandon

 
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OK, what kind of tools do you have access to?

First thing to do is to pull the header assembly off the car after you either remove or snap the third (there are three right?) bolt off. Once the entire exhaust system is off the car (from head to tail), then drill out the studs on the cat side and replace them with standard nuts and bolts. No need to tow the car anywhere.

If you don't have a decent drill and metal bit, then still pull the manifold off the car, and then take it somewhere and have them drill the studs out, so that you have holes instead and can use bolts. I had to do the same thing on my studs when two out of three (right after the cat on my EX) snapped.

 
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Thanks for the reply speed, one thing im worried about though:

If these bolts snapped, what are the chances that I'll end up snapping the bolts off the header as well? :-x Is there anyway I can do this while the cat is on the car?

 
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sorry to laugh, but your luck is worse than mine... everytime i soak stuff in pb blaster and stuff, they just dont budge... your break... geeze..

 
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I know Lt, I could of had this done in an hour or 2 if the bolts didnt snap. Now im ****ed because I have work at 6, and No way of getting there, I'm gonna have to call off.

 
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Just run with no exhaust to work. Won't hurt anything, it'll just be noisy.

Like LT said, soak the bolts in PB Blaster (or WD40 if that's all you have) for an hour or so. If the still won't budge (constant, even pressure is key here, no jerking), then you may have heat them up with a propane torch. If you don't have torch, just run the car for about 20 mins. It'll be loud, but it will heat the bolts up to make them come off a little easier.

Wear gloves, obviously, and don't panic if a stud comes out with the nut still attached. It happened on two of mind and I just put it back in like that and ran it for 2 years, until fixing it last week.

 
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Alright

I found a ride to work. When I get home at around 11pm tonight, I'm going to try taking a dremel to the broken ends. I figure I'll just cut the ends off and punch them through with a pick or screwdriver/hammer.

Either way these bastards are coming out and im putting my new exhaust on tomorrow hahah.

Thanks guys, if you have any more suggestions throw em out there!

Work time,
Brandon.

 
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You won't get them out with a screwdriver and good luck with a dremel.

Buy a cheap $20 Black and Decker die grinder from Walmart and get a meaty punch or you'll never get them out. Those two tools will serve you very well. I nicknamed my grinder "The Persuader" and use it constantly.

 
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Good luck with this. let us know how it turns out. I always run into this type of ****. The difference between members here is usually who has the tools to do the job AND tools to clear hurdles or the dude with the tool box of assorted oily hand tools and the refusal to pay big bucks for a simple install (me).I always test a bolt and If I feel I might cause damage, I drive it to my friends shop and he will take care of the bolts for me. That makes me lucky I guess as some people dont have that.

 
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Man that sucks... it brings back memories of when I lived in Michigan and had to deal with rusty bolts. Texas is hot as hell, but it's nice working on a car without any rusty nuts/bolts. When you put everything back together you might want to buy a packet of anti-seize and coat the threads.

 
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anti sieze is a must, what u need is an easy-out set, or set of left hand drill bits specially designed for removing bolts that the head is broken on, the snap-on guy at work sold me a set for 50 bucks, and they are worth it, specially when a bolt can halt the use of ur car, a torch helps, and so does penetrating oil, but a drill is a must, and the header(bottom of the cat) has nuts welded to it on the lx, i just replaced my header, and i bent one, but it still came off, bottom line, u might have to get a header, or switch to ex exhaust(its better anyway, wish i had)

 
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Speaking from past experience... if you purchase a set of left hand drill bits for removing bolts, buy a good set. I bought a cheap set and ended up with a bolt and a broken bit stuck in the bolt! LOL

 
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yup, thats why i bought snap-on

 
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Man, I totally wish i knew that information about the nuts on the header before I went at it today hahah.

Good news is that the exhaust is installed!

A big thanks to everyone who posted in this thread with advice! (And speed, I'm definitely going to have to get a "persuader" hahah.

I woke up at like 10Am this morning, got my older brother to come out and help me with some of this ****. I had to take the dremel to the bottom of the cat and grind off the part of the bolt so that it was flush with the cat. We then took a drill bit and started to drill through the bolt to try and just drill it out of the hole. Well, 3 drill bits and half a can of free-all later, I got pissed and decided to hammer a screwdriver into the ****ing bolt. (Which was the best thing i did).

When I hammered the screwdriver into the bolt, it got stuck in there, so instead of pulling it out, i took vice grips and turned it. What do ya know! The bolt turned too! So i pretty much turned that one right out. The other bolt was a bitch. We grinded/drilled it/hammered it/spit on it/etc, but it just got stuck. So another 2 hours later, we eventually got the damn bolt out. WOOHOO!

After that, we took a 3/8's bit and drilled out the threads on the cat, went to autozone to pick up bolts, nuts, washers. And we hung the magnaflow and bolted it all up.

Now I just have one little problem. The tip of the exhaust is against the bottom of my rear bumper. I tried adjusting the u-bolts but I just cant get any space out of it. I broke a few pieces of wood and stuffed them in the slits in the bushings (To make it hang a few cm/s lower), but that just wont do it.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Brandon!

 
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You're going to want to bring the mid-pipe closer to the body of the car. That way it will angle downwards at the tailpipe. Just get some lockwire, fold it in half and twist it so it braids together. Use a screwdriver to twist and twist and twist it while some holds the other end with pliers.

Then grab your scissor jack and jack the exhaust up in the middle until your tailpipe is a little lower than you want to be (to allow for wire flex). Make sure you jack it up where you can loop the wire hanger around one of the heat shielding bolts that you back out a little. Hang it and be done with it.

Like this:




You can see my wire hanger on the left side.

Or take it to and exhaust shop and have them bend the pipe a little.

 
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That sounds like a simple enough solution speed. Once again, I appreciate you helping me out with this . Thats what a community is all about! BTW The exhaust sounds awesome!

 
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u have a coupe or sedan?? cuz i had to actually cut the hole bigger on my sedan bumper cuz of this problem

 
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Sedan.. Yeah i was reading around on the forums and I saw that one or two people had to cut thier bumper... Hmm.

 
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did u try to rep me??? i got a blank rep a little bit ago... cant figure out who it was, and all i did was install an axelback

 
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Yeah I repped you . I think im gonna try the tie trick that speed posted, and if that doesn't work, and all else fails, I'll end up notching out the lip on the bumper. I really don't want to melt it hahaha. BTW, how did you end up cutting it? Just free cutting by hand? or did you mark off what you wanted cut?

 
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use a protractor to get a circle, or just something round, a piece of string tied to a pencil and the other end to a nail, anything to make a circle, use a knife or cutting wheel, or whatever u have that is sharp, its not hard to cut since its plastic, and noone will ever be able to tell

 
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Ah I see. Hahah, looks like I'm going to have to break out the trusty dremel again :P

 
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yep, that would work, i just used a really sharp pocket knife, its really soft plastic

 
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Congrats on the install... sure glad that my installation was not as difficult as yours.
On the 2004 sedan, there's an area on the inside of the rear bumper that's already shaped for a larger exhaust. I just cut from the inside-out, and then touched up the area with duplicolor. It looked pretty good until I backed into another car and cracked my bumper.

 
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Ouch gp4, that's really tough luck man. It looks like you did a great job on the cut though from the pic, I couldn't even tell you cut it!

I whipped out the dremel about 20 mins ago and trimmed the back bumper. Its nice now, not rubbing or anything. FINALLY, after 2 days, 3/4 can of free-all, sweat, blood, more "****"s and "Bitch"s then a new york street corner, I've gotten the exhaust installed.

I love the way it sounds, and if anyone comes across this thread while searching for opinions, It is definitely worth the $360 from www.nopionline.com

 
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congrats, its not fun if u dont have any problems

 
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Yeah your right greeen. I learned the hard way that NOTHING ever goes right when it comes to working on a car.

 
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Word to both of those statements. Glad your exhaust is on finally!

 
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Thanks speed , not to change subjects or anything, but you of all people know that NOTHING goes right when working on a car. Glad to see that you finally have your car idling nicely! Its gonna be a beast when you get it rolling on the streets man. I can't wait. I'm going to stay N/A through college, and maybe when I'm done Ill swap a k20 in or boost. Who knows haha. But yeah, the exhaust is on and it sounds great!