Spring Bolt Fitment on Aftermarket Exhausts

[tsonnenl]

I was changing out the gasket between my Gibson exhaust and the stock cat to fix a leak, and remembered seeing this post recently about the orientation of the springs on the spring bolt.

Mine were the wrong way, so I tried fitting it the correct way. Am I the only one who's bolts are not long enough? Even compressing the springs fully in a vice and temporarily zip tying them doesn't give me enough length to push through to the flange on the cat. It's been a while now, but I'm pretty sure the bolts are replacements that came with the Gibson and not the stock ones. Does anyone know where I could find longer automotive-grade replacements, assuming I'm not just doing something wrong?

My other complication is that the salt has eaten away at the nut built into the cat flange enough that the threads on one side split when I was tightening it down, so now I can't get any real torque on that bolt. I don't want to mess with buying or installing a different cat just for this, so I need to find a nut to throw on behind the flange, which would require longer bolts too. Working on cars would be so much easier if they didn't just disintegrate in your hands and turn one task into three...

 

[tsonnenl]

I see plenty of exhausts listed in signatures around here. How did your spring bolt install work out? Did they fit installed on the side of the flange, or did you just leave the springs off or something?

Thanks.

 

[4Runner1371]

Bump. I need answers to this. My Gibson is coming in next week. Plan to replace with longer spring bolt. I need to know what size bolt I need to complete the connection. So far my search ability have been futile.