91'240sx coupe exhaust manifold problem

[s13redtaz]

hey everyone, I have a 91'coupe that i just recently picked up. the problem is there is an exhaust leak. i took it to a muffler shop and they said that its a bad gasket that connects from the manifold to the exhaust pipe. the whole exhuast system is new when the brought me in to look at it.they also said that it was double studded on the manifold.

my question is would i be able to do this myself and put a new gasket in? or should i just fork the money over and have them do it?if i can do it myself what should i be looking to do first? (parts, price and ect...)all input is appreciated!

[180fan]

how much they charging for labor and how cold is it in your garage/outdoors?

[s13redtaz]

75$ for labor and 106$ total, i have a garage but its about 20-30 degrees up here now. i dont mind the cold though.

[LayNLow240]

do you have any tools and some spare time?

[s13redtaz]

yea i do, time on the weekends. just worried that i might run into problems since its "double studded" first time i heard of that. if i decide to do it, how should i go about doing it?

[LayNLow240]

take off 3 bolts holding cat to the header, move cat and exshaust down and out of the way, install gasket, bolt it back up.might want to either spray some penetrating fluid on it a few hours before you work on it, or go drive it for 15-20 mins to get it hot and loosened up, because usually the bolts on the cat will be rusted/frozen. so this should help get them off. not sure what they mean by double studded, but i recently helped a friend install a buddy club spec 2 with test pipe and i didnt see anything special about the cat besides the bolts thread into it. so heat should help with taking it off. if not try the fluid after, just not both at the same time, as the stuff is most likely flammable and we dont need you catching anything on fire.

[s13redtaz]

thanks a lot! im going to take a look this weekend. hopefully the snow will let up if not space heater here i come!