Coupe Midpipe Install

[thahman]

I found a coupe midpipe (resonator) for 50$ and spent the day trying to get the stupid bolts connecting my old sedan resonator to the Y pipe. GAH! I easily got off the 2 bolts connecting the resonator to the muffler, but I was stripping the other two! Any suggestions?

How much do you think a muffler shop would charge to swap it out?

[tollboothwilley]

since its under the car, do not use the 12 sided socket.

Use only a 6, in case of rust. it will minimize rust. Also, jack it up enough and get some extension to break it loose. Without a pipe or very long ratchet you'll just be sorry.

[g35sedanlover]

I had trouble with those too... I let WD40 set on them for a few hours and that seemed to help.

[joe603]

Gotta use penetrating oil to loosen up the exhaust bolts!

[g35sedanlover]

WD40 eats rust where a lot of other lubes don't. It's not a great lube, but if their is rust, it seems to work good.

[thahman]

Grrr - so frustrating! My friend and I spent a few hours penetrating the two bolts in WD-40... we finally got the driver side bolt off, but the other one wouldn't come off for the life of us! I'm about to give in and have a mechanic try and loosen it. It's uh, stripped now.

[WESIDE]

You could try some vice grips on there or they also make sockets that you pound on the bolt and it will come off. I forgot what they call those things.

[g35sedanlover]

I stripped one on the muffler side I think. I drilled the stud out and just used a regular bolt and nut.

[thahman]

Bastard exhaust. I hate any exhaust work for this reason. I got all the other 3 bolts off except this damn one! :-P

[tollboothwilley]

ya, that happens sometimes

Anytime I'm working with bolts that are subject to water/rust I use WD-40 before I even try to get them loose. It will save you the hassle of getting mad and stripping bolts.

If your nut is stripped out with no hope, you're gonna probably have to cut off the bolt, drill it out, then replace with another bolt and nut.

Probably easiest to drill out the bolt side and smack it loose with a hammer IMO.

[bestos02]

in the future - use PB Blaster - stinks but works like no other. i did my MID-Pipe this weekend (on a lift) the muffler nuts were a little tough, but since it was above my head and i used PB it went real well. less than 30 min off and on with new pipe!

good luck and drill it out!!

[joe603]

in the future - use PB Blaster - stinks but works like no other. i did my MID-Pipe this weekend (on a lift) the muffler nuts were a little tough, but since it was above my head and i used PB it went real well. less than 30 min off and on with new pipe!

good luck and drill it out!!

That's the one!!! Yes, exhaust sucks arse to work on

[nismofool]

Sears has a "stripped bolt" kit where its pretty much just an extension that goes onto your ratchet and as you turn your handle, it just digs in and grips the stripped bolt...it doesnt work well, but you can try it. only downside is you cant buy just the single size that you need, it usually comes with 4-6 different sizes in one kit for around $25.

[thahman]

I gave in and checked out the Yellow Pages for muffler shops and out of the 5 I went to, one said they would put it on for 40 bucks (and replaced that mutilated bolt, too!). The other places just to loosen the fuggin' bolt wanted to charge me up to an hr of labor @ 95.00! It sounds bad azz! I'm so glad to have gotten that done with. Hah! The guy at the shop was like holly sh%$ this thing (the old one) weighs a ton! It does... hard to believe they'd put that much weight on that thing...

I'm still in shock that it's finally on.

[tollboothwilley]

SOunds great right??

Ya, I couldn't figure out why they would make the stock midpipe so damn heavy. All for the name of silence i guess.

Now that you have the midpipe in, go ahead and finish off the exhaust with the HKS rear section like i did. You'll love it.

[thahman]

Yah man. Sounds great. I am sitting here at work and can't wait to drive it... it still boggles me that there is that much weight in that thing... it's chilling in my back seat and can't wait to throw it in the garage.