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the downpipe is KILLING me.

pontiacgp759

pontiacgp759

New member
alright fellas, i'm havin one hell of a time gettin this stock dp off. i've tried pb blaster, heatin it with a torch, using a hammer, everything until i stripped a bolt. i ended up drilling it out and only managed to remove that tonight. all of this took me 3 hours. By the way, these are the rusted mothers that are closest to the u-bend. worst comes to worst, ill strip out the other one trying to get it off and drill it out also. my only fear is the two bolts connecting the dp to the manifold. though they are hardly rusted, they are on there TIGHT and i'm afraid with the angle i might strip those out as well. Any advice would be great. whether its for the rusted one or the manifold bolts. I'm about to say screw it and take it to the shop down the road. Although i'd much rather save the money and try to get it done myself without damaging anything. I apologize for ranting but i feel like i wasted 3 hours of my life on one pathetic bolt. lol
 


First of all, don't bother trying to un-bolt the bolts that connect the u-bend to the flange on the cat-back. I cut them with a saws-all. As far as the other 2 bolts on the manifold side, i soaked mine in wd-40 and let it sit for 20 minutes. Then hit it again with w-d. Then i made sure i had the right size socket and a breaker bar. I then set the socket and breaker-bar on the bolt, wedged miself out from under the car, and used my leg and foot on the breaker-bar, and got them loose. Work smarter, not harder ;)
 
I took one look at the ones by the ubend and decided i'd let the poor bastard im selling the old exhaust system to deal with it. The bolts by the manifold will take some time without an air ratchet and you will be sore in the morning. Use a few extensions on your ratchet to reach the bolt and use an extension bar if needed. I threw some blaster on mine about an hour before hand. they where tough, but not impossible. be very patient and you will get it done.
 
I was able to get the manifold to DP bolts without too much trouble with an extension and a breaker bar. The DP to catback bolts required heat and an impact, but came out in the end. Without air tools, you're probably gonna need a pipe with the breaker bar.
 


god i wished i had some air tools sometimes.....

all i can say is lots of wd-40 and give it time to soak it. i broke a few bolts myself doing the headers.
 
hey guys thanks for the quick replies. luckily i have an air ratchet. i'm gettin them off today for sure. or at least i hope thanks again
 


my brother is a mechanic and he swears by his air tools. he actually uses them for just the normal engine bolts and what not before he torques them down too.
 
For the hangers, hit them with some silicone spray then put a jack underneath the down pipe to support it while you work it out of the hangers.
 


I figured I would be in the same boat if I tried to take my DP off myself as well. So I paid the local muffler shop $30 to swap it out for me in 15 min.
 
For mine, I sprayed all the bolts with PB Blaster, then ran the car for 10 minutes, then started working as soon as I could get my hands close to the exhaust. The heat and PB made them extremely easy to remove. Just don't burn yourself in the process. A nice thick pair of gloves may be necessary.
 
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