Torch
 

Torch....................
:tup:

Well, I took it to The Performance Center in Augusta, GA and these good ol country boys got it off. There is no way I could have gotten it off. They could not break it loose with "conventional" tools either. Ultimately, the certified blue tip wrench tech stepped in to cut the head of the bolt off. Unfortunately, he was unable to pull the O2 trigger to start cutting, so all he could do was literally melt the head of the bolt. That finally disfigured the head of the bolt enough that a socket would hold and enough heat to bust it loose. Even after it was broke loose it was no cake walk. It almost looks like the bolt thread has a bur on it or was slightly cross threaded. But, I'm in business now...onto the G3's. Here is the aftermath...

Congratulations on not letting that bolt kick your a$$. Here's wishing the rest of your install goes smoother :rock:

Wow. That is a pretty stubborn bolt. I'm going to assume it won't get reused. LOL.

Haha, No. I told them "good job" when they got it out; "now, put it back".

I'm keeping it and making a shrine for it.

When in doubt, find a pro! Congrats on the evil bolt.

Sounds Good! :happydance::happydance:
I unfortunately Didn't have it kick my Ass, but was lucky enough to break it off with a breaker bar.... :D

Hey Phantom21.. do you (or anyone else here) know the size of that bolt? Both of mine sheared off and need to get them replaced. Thanks

14mm bolts

right i know its a 14mm hex head on the bolt, but was kinda looking for the thread size. no big deal though, realized i dont need them.. found the bolts that came with the FI HFC's.

btw those bolts are like 6 bux a piece from the dealer. 6 dollars for a bolt.. wow

What the hell! Are they titanium? :rolleyes:

As much as I agree 6 bucks is outrageous for an exhaust bold, I do think they must be Ti. I kept my $130 PITA bolt only as a conversation keep sake. I was going to use some HDD magnets to hold it to my desk and found out that the bolt has no magnetism on the head of the bolt and VERY little attraction on the threaded end or vise versa.

How much does the bolt weigh? If it doesn't have much 'heft' it may be titanium. More likely it's just stainless steel. With these bolts shearing, rounding, and being meltable, they sound like they're aluminum. All three of these options would be non-magnetic (as long as the SS is high enough quality ie low ferrous content).

Aluminum bolt? If so that was really dumb (or intentional to keep us from tampering). Aluminum and Steel(the flange and threads) when heat cycled repeatedly will fuse. Fuse=sux

Glad you got it off. I'm loving the idea of Long Tube Headers so I don't have to mess with these suckers.

THIS SUCKS!!

My Driver side 14mm head also rounded off...and the Sears bolt extractor socket doesnt work either....I completed passanger side and cant finish her off...

Did you drive to the exhaust shop with 1 HF Cat and one regular one??
Damn Nissan Gorillas with their torque guns....

frick!

you might want to have it cut off, now I don't know how strict they are their but if they don't want to remove them for legal reasons have just cut off the bolt and drive back home to remove it, if there pretty cool take the cat and have them install it.. good luck

Heat it up with a torch before you cut anything off!

My installer used a blow torch and slowly worked it loose with air tools. I asked if he broke at least 1 bolt, and he never did. I think he re-used the bolts when he put my stock cats back on as well.

I actually spent the time to do the install in my garage today and started at about 1030am...I was at the finish line at 1pm with the last bolt to break loose and it stripped..PB Blast or not, it is stuck and its hexagon shaped head rounded...

I really dont know how anyone can get a torch in on the driver side since the steering rod is close by and are there some fuel lines too? Anyways,..Im going to take it to an exhaust shop next Saturday to get it off...

It's time like this I like working on my Subie,..exhaust all acccessible..+1 for boxer engines... :)

try a short extractor socket 1/2'' and bang into the sripped head of the bolt and use a high impact universal with long extnsions with a 3/4'' adapter with a 3/4'' breaker bar you need help one to keep the socket from slipping out and the other to break it free... I mentioned high impact universal swival due to regular ones snapping even the 14mm socket should be high impact I broke two craftsman sockets trying to break the top bolt free.... if too much trouble have a muffler shop deal with it..

I was using a 3/4" sockets and extentions, but at the top I used a 3/4" to 1/2" adapter to 1/2" breaker bar. That way I can get more torque and leverage to get the bolt off.

I have a Sears stripped bolt extractor and taped it to the socket and used the method above. The extractor socket just slipped and came off, but after watching some youtube videos, they also banged the extractor socket over the stripped head. When the socket slipped, i noticed it was the tip of the socket and banging it onto the head might get more surface area. Problem is, if this doesnt work, hopefully the socket wont get stuck to the nut head as i don't see a way to get it off and one would have to drive around with a socket on exhaust bolt head.....

Worse case too, if the nut head totally breaks off, how does one separae the 2 flanges with the threaded bolt stock joining the header flange and cat,...this would seem worse IMO

Do you have another person to help! this is the frustrating part, you need someone to keep their hand on the socket so it doesn't slip off, that's how I got mine off. I held it in place while someone else cranked on it with a ratchet with a breaker bar.. mind you they are a pain in the arse to remove..

edit: in the event the bolt head snaps you can remove the cat at that point and from the hole thats left you use the bolt and nut to retighten it back up. since part of the bolt is now stuck on the cat you can extract it easier off the car so you can reuse in the future.

Have a question,..

If the bolt head shears off, isnt the threaded part still in joining the header flange and cat flange together? Can someone verify this? Not sure how one can separate the cat from the exhaust manifold flange at this point....

I will try your method as well and ask my cuzn to hold the extension and socket in place as I torque it off...

the thread is not on the header flange so if it gets broken off the threaded part will be left stuck on the cat which if you removed the screws on the other end towards the rear you should be able to work it loose damn I wish I could just be there to help...argh...
here are some pics of what I finally used 1/2'' size deep 14mm
http://images38.fotki.com/v231/photo...SCF0502-vi.jpg
http://images17.fotki.com/v295/photo...SCF0505-vi.jpg
http://images53.fotki.com/v444/photo...SCF0503-vi.jpg
http://images53.fotki.com/v444/photo...SCF0504-vi.jpg
http://images53.fotki.com/v444/photo...SCF0507-vi.jpg
http://images17.fotki.com/v522/photo...SCF0510-vi.jpg
http://images47.fotki.com/v1589/phot...SCF0509-vi.jpg

Why is there a 9/16th socket in the picture? A 6 point 14mm is the socket you need to use. 9/16=14.3mm

probably the 02 sensor remover?

I heard these work fairly well for removing stubborn bolts:







http://www.militarypictures.info/d/80-3/Barret_M82.jpg

I was in a hurry at a local auto parts, and thats the only socket close to what I needed was a 9/16 and thats close to a 14mm just like a 1/2 is close to 13mm and so forth... the long socket made it possible for it not to slip...

o2's are usually 7/8", or 22mm.

:iagree:

Just took a guess..
Btw,..White 370z's is another color that looks great next to red.
Red too flashy and attractive to cops.
I already have 2 black cars,
I think PG is the nicest color for me for a Z....

OMFG did no one read that thread on the stripped wheel bolt... I read the whole thread... HAHAHHA wow.

Exactly the kind of bolt extractor I have,..Just got to hammer it onto the head so that it wont slip off....