I couldn't get any of my exhaust bolts to come off (I needed to get them off to replace/gut the cat). I tried WD-40, Liquid Wrench, NOTHING worked...those buggers were seized on there...


So, I picked up a dremel tool from the store and put on some cutting discs and at 35,000 RPM of spinning I cut those bolts right clean off (they were SOOO seized that even after the bolts were in half they had to be hammered on for some time to get them off, all with my car only raised an extra 6 inches and me underneith...YARG!!!

Oh well, Gutted cats here I come (I might replace the cat with a straight pipe or just a peice of metal pipe to replace it for this summer (even something cheap like crappy tire metal)

 

yeah those are a kinda pain in the ***, especially if you dont have a lift.

 

What kind of dremel do you have? Mine only spins at 30K rpm.
Did you try a torch or an impact wrench (at a shop)? I'm quite surprised you had to cut them off.
Sean

 

Gutting the cats will give you lots of backfires and burps. But the little power hop us is nice. I ran gutted cats for about 4 months...till I got my header that is!

 

To get seized exhaust bolts off, I put my socket wrench with breaker bar on the bolt and use my jack to jack the socket up. It gets them off everytime, but only if you're on the left side of the car. :-D

 

Torch? Impact wrench? Shop?

I was working in my garage with limited tools, everything I have now I bought in the last month.

Jacked my car up, put it on jack stands, and tried unbolting the exhaust, the actual threaded part is still on the exhaust, but the bolts are in half right now

The dremel is one of the smaller heavy duty ones (one of their new ones) with 5000-35000 RPM (the extra 5000 helps )

I think that instead of gutting the cat I will just put in a replacement custom midpipe (that I will make =P)

 

For the a fraction of the price of a Dremel, you could have just taken it to a shop and had them whipped of in minutes, or bought a propane torch and a breaker bar.

True that you would not have come out with a Dremel from either of those solutions, but I think spending $10 at an exhaust shop for someone to loosen the nuts with an impact gun would be more than worth it over lying under a car with a grinder for an hour getting sparks sprayed all over you.
Plus, it would have been much faster than waiting a day to buy th dremel and then gridning away for an hour.

But, to each his own.
Congrats on getting it loose, and I really recommend your midpipe idea. It will sound a whole lot better.

Sean Cathcart

 

Yea, well I needed a dremel anyway, its great for the small sanding jobs I am doing, as well as the re-finishing of my brushed aluminum rims and suspension components.

Its a great tool to have (I would drive the car but right now, no driving insurance on it, only fire/theft/vandalism, as well as the holes in the exhaust causing me to get sleepy while driving LoL...

I am doing the whole exhaust, might do it full custom back to the Y pipe from the first pre-cat (I am NOT using the dremel to take that part of the exhaust off of the turbo Outlet...HELL NO! lol

 

I looked like a dumbass when I did mine. I just stuck one leg under the car and kicked the socket wrench till the bolts loosened. Man that was dangerous!!

 

I tried that, but it wouldn't come loose (the exhaust is stock and has almost 180,000 miles on it.) Those bolts were like rusted TO the threads.

 

Yeah, that's what I figured. The dremel really is a fantastic tool; I used the attachment for it to mirror polish my intake and TB after porting it with an air grinder.

Sean Cathcart

 

If the bolts don't come off, you're not using a large enough breaker bar...I have a 4 foot bar that I use for everything...It even takes that damned flywheel nut off...

 

I love my Black and Decker Wizard. And, Aaron, a 4' bar? DAMN, I bet you get mad torque with that!! Probally more than the engine puts out!!

 

4-foot breaker bar no worky with just enough clearance to slither under the car

 

I like my 6ft bar.
Able to twist mustang wheel studs.
DONT ASK!