Djeez...I'm getting depressed with my 7. You know.. this is a "go fast" car as probably every owner will have experienced by now. And as many know the temptation of investing in "go fast" goodies instead of doing the reliability mods.

So what do I do? I get myself together and do the reliabiltiy mods.

I put in an expensive AST (Import to Europe) which I worked on all day to get it hooked up without leaks.

Next thing... I'm searching the web for downpipe info. Lots of discussions about fitment issues etc.... So I buy a 'sure-it-will-fit' downpie (HKS).
So finally I get to the point of fitting it. I make sure to find out wether I can loosen all the difficult to reach manifold bolts... no problem at all. So next are the bolts towards the midpipe section..

Well "hello goodmorning" no way in hell I"m getting these of. What started with a wrench ended today with a high pressure air gun ... nothing.. no movement at all.
Funny thing is that the bolts have no rust. I guess the constant heating has fastenned them this much.

So tommorow i'm going to try and get the car to my neighbours gargage to have it over the "pit" and try to get some extra force on it from below the car.
If that doesn't help I'm torching those d*mned bolts of...

Unless you guys can give me one last brilliant tip...

Feel free to share..

Many thanks

Neal

 

just soaking them overnight with a rust penetrate should do the trick

 

What he said. Whacking them a few times with a BFH does not hurt either (though make sure not to hit the threads).

One of mine was a total PITA even with a good soaking. Leave the four bolts on the top of the DP while trying to remove it so that you don't have movement there.

 

I did... several times

 

what they said plus a breaker bar with a 3 foot long extension....

 

soak them in PBblaster. you can buy it at home depot. its like WD40 only a lot better

 

do you have Home Depot's in Belgium? J/K I had the same problem with mine, I end up having to cut them off after trying all of above.

 

Speedworks...Look carefully at the nuts,I found mine were tack welded. They must have come from the factory like that 'cause everything was original when I bought the car. I beat on them like crazy till I saw the weld. I cut the weld with a cut-off wheel and they released right away.

 

I agree on pb blaster, 10 times better than wd-40, those were the only things that would take off the midpipe bolts for me.

 

aerokroil. don't spoil it, kroil it! penetrates to 1 millionth of an inch.

www.kanolabs.com

 

What the others have said.......soak overnight in one of the penetraing oils.....it should dissolve any rust and lubricate what's left. One extra tip.....tap on the bolts a couple of times after you apply the oil. This helps to get the oil inside.

 

If you have room and no oil.. take a chisel and put a good mark in one of the faces of the nut, then try and turn off. Usually the chisel will spread the nut enough to loosen it and allow you to turn it off.

 

Just take a torch to it and heat it up. That what the shop would do...

 

PB blaster + breaker bar.

Don't feel bad. I struggled for over 2 hours to get mine off. I kept lubricating it and heaving on it and it wouldn't come (sounds bad I know).

Finally, I jacked the car ALL the way up so i could get a breaker bar in with enough clearance, and finally got it off. It was more tiring than going to the gym.

 

Hold on... a couple stubborn fastners are your "self destructive 7"? You're THAT frustrated with downpipe bolts? Do a timing change on a 4G63 or a downpipe swap on a VG30DETT... you'll know frustration. You just need some patience.... and like the others have said, some Pb Blaster.


Not trying to be a jerk, it just seems like this is a minimal problem compared to what you could be going through with your 7...

 

I thought this one was coming so I had myself prepaired for it :p lol

Self destructive as in.. the car "knows" it's a good thing to have this replaced but still is to stuborn to believe and let go.Figuratively speaking off course.

I know there are a lot worse cases like blowing an enigen to piece but hey.. you gotta start somewhere

On topic... tonight my final attempt with airgun and heating... if not I'm gonna saw it of..


Thx for the tips guys

 

I'm having mine done today...

Shop just called and said "these bolts aren't comming off and we dont want to break them"

They said there are fuel lines on that side...That true or are those the oil feed lines for the turbos? They were hestiant to heat it with a torch.

It's my friends shop so they know how picky I am with my car and rather be safe than sorry..

So Should I tell them to heat whatever they have to heat, I don't want it causing any problems with the turbos...

 

I'm with AggieFD:

The car doesn't "Know" anything. It's a bunch of metal, aluminum, and plastic. It has no soul. It has no thought process. It's a machine. Made of parts and processes that anyone with enough patience can learn the in's and out's of and know how other factors like heat and placement affect them.

That said, this wouldn't be the first car that I've had trouble removing exhaust bolts from. Be it rust, or due to the overwhelming heat of a rotary engine, just SAW THE BOLT OFF. Buy new ones, problem solved. None of this, leave that on for eleventy-hundred hours or soak this or that BS.

Good luck. I think Self Destructive is the worst word to use for your situation too lol.

 

They're worried about heating something with a torch that probably reaches about 600-800F every time you drive it?

That's f-cking retarded about breaking the bolts off too. I've never heard or seen anyone break any of these engine back bolts (studs on exhaust manifold maybe), but not the bolts. The bolts are designed to handle the extreme exhaust heat, and I doubt a breaker bar will actually break them. If you actually break the heads off teh bolts, its probalby a good thing, because I believe only the mid section (cat section) actually have threads. The dp and c-back section aren't threaded.

 

I would get the downpipe ceramic coated before putting it in. That will greatly help the components in the engine compartment.

 

Well speak of the devil:

Today I purchased a muffler for my daily driver (91 Integra) and had to remove 2 exhaust bolts that were probably a couple years old, witness sand/salt/snow/rain/dirt, etc. and some excessive heat.

So, instead of crying to the G2 Integra forums about how my Integra disowned me, I grabbed a wrachet and a monkey wrench, fixed one on the head of the bolt, the other on the nut, and just turned opposite ways, HARD. So hard, it left deep, red (almost blood red) imprints in my hands for a good half hour. But, you know what? I twisted so hard that, no, the nut did not unscrew...rather...I did it with enough force that I twisted the bolt in half itself.

Pic below Now the new muffler is held on with a new set of exhaust bolts.

Hehe.

 

Well last night I got them off... FINALLY I after some more oiling and hammmering I decided to use my Dremel with a small cut off blade to cut the bolts a bit. Which helped a lot and they came off. Still with alot of hassle.

Anywayz. I now need to put on the HKS DP which has been a pain in the *** as well. I have no 2 left hands you know but the gasket didn't stay in place, bolts were falling out.(one hit my lip being underthe car and punctured my tooth thotugh my lip..

So.. conclusion.. I'm of for a new attempt and it better works or.... ;-)

 

Updeet... It is on... FINALLY (deja-vu) and I must admit that the car is a lot different.. at least engine behaviour. revs a bit quicker, louder tone but hardly noticable. My PFC boost reading went from 0.74bar (peak) to 0.78bar (peak)

Now I was wondering... Between midpipe (stock) andDP (HKS) I put back the original gasket with some sealing paste. I didn't check if it was to small for the HKS. Doesn't reaaly mater as long as the stock MP is on. Will fix it when the HF cat project starts.

Greetz

 

I got all but the top left one off..

Any tips on best angle of attack on that bad boy?

 

Good job Speedworks.
If I was there, I would take you down to the Delirium Cafe in Brussels and buy you a nice Delirium Nocturnun straight from their taps.

Now get rid of that stock cat converter.