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[lesask]

so I share my story. I had a real tassel but managed it. You have to get the car on ramps and stands, I cannot see how anyone can change the middle pipes and back box without getting it fully into the air. The bolts that go from the loose flanges on the middle pipes to the fixed flanges on the cat pipe are crazy, they are bolts into threaded receptors. Basically you cannot undo these, they will snap off. So now you have no choice but to now drill these out, this is tricky but doable. I did it by using angle grinder to flatten down the bold ends to be flush with flange. Then use a centre punch and then I used cobalt drill bits from 4mm upto 12mm in stages till I made the through holes, dont worry about the threads, they will be destroyed. Once you have nice holes made then refit using new through nuts and bolts, so much better. Clearly washer these and I also used spring washers as we dont really want these nuts loosening off. To get one of these bolts out took as long as all the other work put together, it was really tricky. You can do this without removing the heat shield. Les.

[Terbs]

I am no mechanic, and I have done both my estates and saloon, by just putting the rear on ramps. Plenty of Plus Gas on the cat bolts for a week, maybe I was lucky, but got mine undone

[lesask]

 

[biggriffin]

Top man, you did the right thing, just drill em out.

[2boxerdogs]

Never done one & don't think I ever will now, got an excellent tyre & exhaust outfit near me owned by a colleagues father.The thought of laying under any car no longer appeals to me.

[VXL V6]

I am no mechanic, and I have done both my estates and saloon, by just putting the rear on ramps. Plenty of Plus Gas on the cat bolts for a week, maybe I was lucky, but got mine undone

Same here, managed to do two V6's without issue. The other V6 wasn't so easy and Daz had to drill out two bolts and re-tapped the threads in the cat flange.

Guess it's just the luck of the draw and really depends on how corroded it all is.

[terry paget]

I lost two, had to drill them out - rotten job - bought a blow torch, and have lost none since. `

[Josh98CDX]

ive done a v6 on the floor with just the front end up and didnt lose any

[Bigron]

Of course no car parts last forever, but with modern techniques and materials, why cannot manufacturers engineer such exposed and vulnerable parts to resist corrosion more effectively?
I guess the answer is to save a fraction of a penny in the overall cost of building a complete car? Never mind the travails it puts owners to further down the years.

Ron.

[terry paget]

Of course no car parts last forever, but with modern techniques and materials, why cannot manufacturers engineer such exposed and vulnerable parts to resist corrosion more effectively?
I guess the answer is to save a fraction of a penny in the overall cost of building a complete car? Never mind the travails it puts owners to further down the years.

Ron.

But why a bolt in a thread that is going to rust solid, rather than simple holes in both parts that a nut and bolt will hold together, and be easily replaced?

[VXL V6]

Of course no car parts last forever, but with modern techniques and materials, why cannot manufacturers engineer such exposed and vulnerable parts to resist corrosion more effectively?
I guess the answer is to save a fraction of a penny in the overall cost of building a complete car? Never mind the travails it puts owners to further down the years.

Ron.

But why a bolt in a thread that is going to rust solid, rather than simple holes in both parts that a nut and bolt will hold together, and be easily replaced?

Probably quicker to assemble on the track.

[Nick W]

Of course no car parts last forever, but with modern techniques and materials, why cannot manufacturers engineer such exposed and vulnerable parts to resist corrosion more effectively?
I guess the answer is to save a fraction of a penny in the overall cost of building a complete car? Never mind the travails it puts owners to further down the years.

Ron.

But why a bolt in a thread that is going to rust solid, rather than simple holes in both parts that a nut and bolt will hold together, and be easily replaced?

The answer to both is simple: how many exhausts does a car need in the first(lets be generous here) 8 years of its life, by which time it's no longer to be serviced in the dealer network? Then consider how much quicker, easier and cheaper it is to thread a bolt into a tapped hole compared to nut and bolting them together. Finally, you need to know the exhaust fitter's technique for dealing with such broken bolts: heat them to red hot with the oxy-acetylene and knock them out with a punch. That's probably quicker than dousing them with penetrating fluid and trying to ease them out.


There are more worthwhile questionable servicing issues that could have been implemented better at the design stage for nothing.