Alright here is my dilemna: I removed the four nuts from the turbo manifold, the two nuts from the pre-cat to main cat, and I removed the clamp around the pre-cat. No broken studs . Now maybe I am just a dumba$$ but I can not get the pre-cat off the studs and out of the car (the easiest part). WTF am I doing wrong. Did I miss something? One thing I noticed is that the nut on the stud closest to the firewall is smaller than the others, although I am pretty sure it came from the turbo manifold stud. Please help

 

I think you got one of the wrong stud's (or nuts) off, there should be 4 all the same size. The small one you refer to is for the exhaust manifold. Feel around there's one you missed,and you can put the small one back on.

 

Jim's right. Did this 3 months ago. All four nuts are the same size.

 

Try to pull the main cat off of the pre cat (you already got the screws off). That could be putting pressure on up at the top of the pre-cat and holding it on. Rest the end of the main cat on a crate or something if you already pulled off that clamp.

 

Well first of all I left the y-pipe on, I could not reach the right nut on the intake pipe to the rear turbo. I felt all along the downpipe to turbo connection and I could not find another bolt, unless the one closest to the firewall is a lot deeper than the others. And the smaller bolt is a 14mm it is just a tad bit shorter?

 

Success!! I was able to get the pre-cat off. The main cat was really pushing up against it, and I guess my car just came off the line retarded because that small bolt was for the pre-cat, and thanks for the help guys.

 

There are shorter versions of the stud available - whether they were installed from the factory I don't know.

The shorter studs are much easier to install/remove the dp since it's so close to the frame.

Usually, the staking on the nut brings the stud out with it - having all four studs still in the manifold almost seems odd.

Dave

 

You would think. All my studs stayed in. It was a whole operation to get them out too. Screwed the nut back on all the way (with the Pre cat off obviously) and worked it back and forth until the stud came out. Lots of liquid wrench for that job. The Pettit DP I got came with shorter studs.