a_martin001

Well this is the end. I was installing my headers today and it was going great until I got to the cat. After 3 overnight treatments of PB blaster and using a 2 and half foot long metal pipe as a cheater bar with my wrenches, It refuses to loosen up and has stripped. so now i gotta cut it.

so,

Are the pipes themselves threaded? As in, if I was to cut the nut off, would the bolt just slide out?

Any tips or tricks or things i need to really watch out for while cutting it off with the dremel...any preperation needed?

im guessing i can get the replacement bolts at the dealer......right?

here is some pics.






oh yeah and can I use PB blaster on an o2 sensor?

ML03CLS

Try this..
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...seBVCookie=Yes

Zippee

Not sure what's stripped, only looks like the edges of the nut are rounded and you still have a lot of metal on the nut. Were you using the proper metric socket, not a "pretty close" inch? Try using a 6 point socket which will give more contact than a 12 and an impact tool of some sort will also help break the nut loose.

cltypeSLOW

yes. this man speaks truth.

those nuts are fine, find someone with an oxy acetyln(sp?) torch to heat the bolts up red hot. they will come up like butter if you do that.

a_martin001

well that picture was before i used the pipe for more leverage. THEN it really stripped.

teh aftermath:

fuzzy02CLS

iTrader: (2)

The nuts are what you need to cut. They bolt to the stud attached to the cat.

So you can use a cut off wheel or dremal & slice the nuts. A torch & 12 point sockets will work. Even now you can get a 12 point on those nuts. It may take a hammer to get the socket on though. 1 of those hand held butane torches will do.

a_martin001

what im confused....

i dont wanna cut the bolt, i just wanna cut the nut off? how?

GreenMonster

Or a cheap mapp gas setup like the one I've got sitting on the shelve in the garage... Mapp gas burns alot hotter than propane, and you can get small bottles of it for home use.

The OP must live in the south, those nuts look pretty clean to me

rondog

iTrader: (1)

I friggin hate rusted parts that won't come off. I saw the most stubborn pieces of metal at Jay's Lab the other day, Swear, we spent 3 hours trying to salvage this bolt to no avail.

mclarenf3387

You can try and use a nut splitter to get those off. Not sure if they would fit in there though as its really cramped around the pipe.

I wish just a fraction of the exhausts I have had to work on looked like that.

a_martin001

haha....I used a wire brush to clean around the area, in an effort to help the penetrating oil penetrate more.

AND I GOT ONE OFF TODAY! YAYYY!!

but one is now liberally stripped. and the top bolt, well that one is just a bitch to get to.

also noone has answered my question about the O2 sensor.....

mclarenf3387

I would avoid spraying anything on the 02 sensor. Not sure if it would do any damage, but its not worth taking the chance.

cltypeSLOW

i sprayed mine, and nothing went wrong. i would use a cresent wrench to get it off tho.

a_martin001

tried a footlong crescent wrench this mornin. no luck.

thanks though

MinTS

Haahaha, I had the same problem 2 weeks ago with my install of my XS headers. Same 3 freaking bolts... I tried everything...sprayed, monkey wrench, bought impact gun.....EVERYthing......dremeled the damn thing...got nowhere.

I finally broke down, got it towed for $50 bucks which is super cheap...normally $75....and paided someone to blow torch thoses suckers off.

I ended up paying the shop $180 to torch and install the rest of the xs headers in.

My baby sounds SWEEEEEEEEEET

MinTS

Don't break down and get the Gator grip. Pay someone to do it...it'll ease the pain of a car sitting non-operational in the drive way and less crawling underneath the car.

Blasted69

When I put my Headers on all the nuts on the car came off with ease. No heating or anything, took power tools to it and it came right off, guess I'm lucky, didn't have to soak it or anything.

SkillOBskilled

iTrader: (1)

I failed last Tuesday, I m going for it again tomorrow. One things I wanted to clear up.

http://www.acuraoemparts.com/delray/...13s3m0_b02.gif

It looks as though the CAT has flanges and bolts that are not part of CAT assembly. If so drilling and tapping is a valid option, if not, its clearly not. Whats the final verdict on this?

Torching will be my go-to this week, I just want to know if this is even an option.

a_martin001

the bolt out kit worked great! thank you ML03CLS!!!

shitty stock headers: