Manifold to Cat Stud Removal Help

[BigMike18]

So I'm not sure how this bolt ended up like this but its all frayed and cross threaded and the nut finally began to slip off. Can't zip it back on even with an impact, so I want to remove it and just put a bolt on there because the other two are fine. Making an embarrassing and loud metal clanging noise that I would love have go away, no check engine codes just yet. I gotta say I do like the drones it makes though.

My question is, can I just 3-4lb hammer and punch these things out after a few days of PB Blaster soaking and maybe a torch?

Anyone who has done this before or had a similar issue any info would be great, thanks.

 

[alia176]

So I'm not sure how this bolt ended up like this but its all frayed and cross threaded and the nut finally began to slip off. Can't zip it back on even with an impact, so I want to remove it and just put a bolt on there because the other two are fine. Making an embarrassing and loud metal clanging noise that I would love have go away, no check engine codes just yet. I gotta say I do like the drones it makes though.

My question is, can I just 3-4lb hammer and punch these things out after a few days of PB Blaster soaking and maybe a torch?

Anyone who has done this before or had a similar issue any info would be great, thanks.

"punch these things out" - what do you mean exactly?

The stud is threaded on both ends what are you wanting to punch out? If you ruin the threads on the studs and on the flange that really isn't a big deal if you want to switch a regular bolt/nut combo.

If this was me, I'd just use a pneumatic angle cutting wheel to zip off the nut/stud combo, remove the other nut, move the downpipe out of the way, then replace both studs with new studs and a new gasket. This is a lot of work lying on the ground though.

 

[BigMike18]

I mean taking a hammer and a punch and whacking it out then going in with new bolt and nut.

This is manifold to cat connection point is 3 studs and 3 nuts, the other 2 are fine just not this one. So the only one I want to punch out is this one.

The metal connection point clangs together, but just not enough to trigger a check engine code.

I don't have an angle grinder at the moment i've got a Dremel, but that is a real pain to cut bolts with.

 

[alia176]

You can't easily punch a stud out of its hole since it's threaded! I'm assuming you're thinking of hitting the stud where the nut was and hoping to move it upwards and that ain't gonna happen.

Another option is to remove this entire exhaust pipe section, then use the "double nut" method to remove the bad studs, then install fresh new studs and new nuts. Use PB blaster to soak the hardware for the entire week before attempting this project on the weekend.

Time to invest in some new tools if you want to be a DIY guy, which never hurts anyway. An electric die grinder can be used here with a cut off wheel. A muffler shop would use an oxy acetylene torch to cut the stud off and then do what I suggested on the previous reply.

This is $hit job no matter how you slice it.