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Snapped Exhaust Studs

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chris_rd92
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Snapped Exhaust Studs

Post by chris_rd92 » Sun Mar 06, 2022 5:31 pm

So today literally could not have gone worse.

Yesterday I took a 5 hour round trip to pick up a very nice Powerflow cat back exhaust system from another forum member for my bb8, and today I had planned to fit it today. Oh how naive of me...

I didn't realise that the cat had a heat shield that covered the bolts joining it to the mid section, and obviously the bolts holding the heat shield on rounded off immediately. I ended up cutting and tearing the shield off as it was rusting anyway. The bolts holding the cat to the mid section were also completely seized, and after fighting them for an hour I decided to cut them too. Got the lowest one off with no drama, but couldn't get to the top one. Here is where things go from bad to worse.

My clever brain decides it would be a great idea to just remove the whole system from the downpipe, then I can spend time replacing all the rusted bolts while it's off the car. Genius! So the first think I do is get a breaker bar on the nuts holding the down pipe to the manifold, and immediately snap my socket extension... So I get a bigger one and try again. This time all 3 nuts all break off nicely one by one, so I thought I was finally getting somewhere. As I'm loosening one of the nuts, it begins getting tighter again, until suddenly the nut and stud just sheer off!

Now I'm stuck and don't know what to do. I realise that the Manifold will have to come off so I can drill out the broken stud, so I go to remove the manifold heat shield and obviously the lower bolt sheers off immediately, so now that's 2 I have to drill out. I get the cover off and take one look at the manifold nuts before deciding to pack it in and pay a garage to sort this mess for me. They will definitely break if I try to loosen them and I really don't want to be extracting broken studs from the block too. So now I'm stuck with a car I can't use and feeling utterly defeated by what should have been such a simple task.

I also have another dilemma. A while back my flexi started blowing, and I had a universal replacement badly welded in by a friend which I have a feeling is already on the way out. Since my entire exhaust has to come off, is it worth buying one of the reproduction replacements that I'm seeing on ebay? ---> https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175028861328

Seems expensive considering it's not even stainless. Anyone know where I can get a stainless version? Or even an complete stainless manifold?

Sorry for the rant, it's just been one of those days...

Cheers

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Drax
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Snapped Exhaust Studs

Post by Drax » Sun Mar 06, 2022 9:50 pm

exhaust bolts, especially original OEM are terrible for rusting & rounding :( ive had a similar situation for a while trying to sort a blowing mani-downpipe on my 5g.

i attempted Saturday just gone to get the manifold off, but the brackets that hold the lower section of the mani (a h22 one anyway) are very hard to get to and both rounded on one side :? i managed to get the other side off but it wasn't enough, not even enough room to grind it off. i gave up and just tried my best to clean the bottom of the manifold and then use new gaskets and sealant to attempt a seal. didnt work.. yet again :thumbdown:

in your situation getting the whole system off is a good idea, you can then work on it a lot easier.

replacing it, especially with a reasonable/good quality complete system can be done by an exhaust specialist, whether you have the money for a stainless or not isnt going to be cheap, id say 700-1200 mark for a full system. this is my plan for my 4g but ill be going 3" for that anyway, saving the pennies!

these guys do a good affordable downpipe if thats what you want though, i've had a couple from them
https://www.cats2u.co.uk/content/14-do- ... proved-cat
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Snapped Exhaust Studs

Post by chris_rd92 » Mon Mar 07, 2022 12:31 am

Drax wrote:
Sun Mar 06, 2022 9:50 pm
exhaust bolts, especially original OEM are terrible for rusting & rounding :( ive had a similar situation for a while trying to sort a blowing mani-downpipe on my 5g. .

i attempted Saturday just gone to get the manifold off, but the brackets that hold the lower section of the mani (a h22 one anyway) are very hard to get to and both rounded on one side :? i managed to get the other side off but it wasn't enough, not even enough room to grind it off. i gave up and just tried my best to clean the bottom of the manifold and then use new gaskets and sealant to attempt a seal. didnt work.. yet again :thumbdown:

in your situation getting the whole system off is a good idea, you can then work on it a lot easier.

replacing it, especially with a reasonable/good quality complete system can be done by an exhaust specialist, whether you have the money for a stainless or not isnt going to be cheap, id say 700-1200 mark for a full system. this is my plan for my 4g but ill be going 3" for that anyway, saving the pennies!

these guys do a good affordable downpipe if thats what you want though, i've had a couple from them
https://www.cats2u.co.uk/content/14-do- ... proved-cat

Cheers for the advice mate. Sounds like you're going through a similar hell to me haha. Mine is a H22A5 so I feel your pain. My long term plan is definitely to go fully stainless, and since I already have a full cat back system sat waiting to go on, I now only need the manifold and downpipe.

I hate paying for work which I could do my self, but I'm hoping my local garage can remove my current system without any more snapped bolts as they have the proper tools and a lift. In the meantime I'll be on the lookout for a second hand stainless manifold and downpipe.

Ooooor I may take a chance on this one, even though it's suspiciously cheap... Photos look decent. I mean, how bad can it be? :wtf:https://fullcartuning.com/56360-sk-impo ... da-prelude

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Snapped Exhaust Studs

Post by Scott560 » Mon Mar 07, 2022 8:45 am

This is the job that made me buy a new car...

If everything is going against you - sending to a garage is best, but I wouldn't do it until you have all the replacement parts otherwise the garage will just end up with an unmovable car.

I found it easier to remove the entire downpipe/cat/mid/rear from the car in one piece. Just the 3 manifold to downpipe bolts and the bracket thing. Mine came off OK but that was with lots of penetrant oil, 6 sided impact socket, try with the impact first, but ended up using a 3 foot breaker bar. Still a heavy and awkward job by yourself. I simply cut the exhaust rubbers and the whole thing crashed to the ground.

A bit of heat and some penetrant oil usually gets me results. Previous exhausts I've had to sacrifice an undersized socket, banging it on with the mallet first. The impact sockets really are nice though, they definitely don't deform like the halfords pro chrome vanadium ones, which are a bit soft.

Let us know how you get on. If you are cutting any bolts be sure to cover the paintwork to protect from sparks - my white mr2 was never the same again, whole engine cover and top side looked like a 'rust fleck' paint job, but didn't show at first...
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Snapped Exhaust Studs

Post by chris_rd92 » Mon Mar 07, 2022 8:51 am

Scott560 wrote:
Mon Mar 07, 2022 8:45 am
This is the job that made me buy a new car...

If everything is going against you - sending to a garage is best, but I wouldn't do it until you have all the replacement parts otherwise the garage will just end up with an unmovable car.

I found it easier to remove the entire downpipe/cat/mid/rear from the car in one piece. Just the 3 manifold to downpipe bolts and the bracket thing. Mine came off OK but that was with lots of penetrant oil, 6 sided impact socket, try with the impact first, but ended up using a 3 foot breaker bar. Still a heavy and awkward job by yourself. I simply cut the exhaust rubbers and the whole thing crashed to the ground.

A bit of heat and some penetrant oil usually gets me results. Previous exhausts I've had to sacrifice an undersized socket, banging it on with the mallet first. The impact sockets really are nice though, they definitely don't deform like the halfords pro chrome vanadium ones, which are a bit soft.

Let us know how you get on. If you are cutting any bolts be sure to cover the paintwork to protect from sparks - my white mr2 was never the same again, whole engine cover and top side looked like a 'rust fleck' paint job, but didn't show at first...
Yeah this is basically what I decides to do in the end; remove it all from the manifold. However by using a breaker bar I've snapped one of the studs holding the downpipe to the manifold, so now the whole manifold has to come off the engine so it can be drilled out, and from the looks of the manifold nuts they will definitely snap if I try lol. Screw this car lol

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