Pre Cat Decat - Errr HOW ??

[grinder]

right then - gonna fit my decat pipe ( turbo end )

took off the rear under tray - that was the easy bit

the bottom nut on the turbo was finger tight - so that came off no probs

NOW THEN - how the hell do you get the other 2 nuts off ??

i can get my hands to them and thats it - no real room in there for a spanner or a ratchet

gonna try and get the heat sheild off to see if that makes life easier

but apart from that - im lost

HELP

ta

stu / grinder

[ozzyvelcro]

I had mine done recently at nemesis and watched while kevin battled with it for two hours (said it was the worst job he\'s ever had to do).
From memory he went in from the top after removing the air intakes and dump valve then used a stubby rachet with plenty of oxy/acetylene on the nuts.
Apparently trying to remove them without heat can cause the nuts to shear and then needing the manifold restudded.
Hope thats of some help I may be wrong as im no expert but its a job I\'m
glad i did\'nt at home.

Cheers Danny

[Grizzly]

He he. You big girl.

The only one thats a bit of a pain to get at is the top inner one (Engine side) and as i\'ve said before its worth the extra time removing the upper inlet (or at least the IC) to get at. When i changed Jon\'s Turbo i removed it with all the Inlet etc still on and you couldnt even see the thing. Just don\'t drop anything into the inlet.

My advice is remove anything that will give you a bit more space (Bonnet?Ic and Uper manifold) this will make you life alot easyer (just take a little longer to do) then have a good look at the Top outer nut (closest to the Iner wing) you should get a good idea of the stupid heat sheald etc round it.

Another tip would be to leave the outer one tight while undoing the Iner nut this way it will not have the weight of the Down pipe on it so you will be able to spin it off whith your fingures then undo the easyer one.

Chris

[grinder]

thanks for the advice chaps

i can see both nuts just fine - looks like the heat shield on top of the cat has been already removed

its really annoying when you can see something and cant really get to it - i suppose it didnt help doing it at 22:30 last night in the dark !! LOL

so taking the IC off will give me more space - im happy to go down that route rather then struggling !!

the plan so far is :

1 - remove the heat shield round the turbo
2 - phone chris and get him to come and help !! LOL
3 - after chris politely refuses..
4 - i reckon getting the shield off will be problematic enough
5 - once thats off i should bebale to get to the top not ( wing side ) pretty easy
6 - remove IC if it comes to that
7 - try and get the other nut
8 - check gaskets to make sure they are ok
9 - and im hoping rebuilding it is easier than removing it

i will keep you all posted

thanks

stu

[Grizzly]

I\'ll swap. I\'m moving all the stuff from the house move from the ground floor to the Third floor (after being put off for two weeks and living in the garage

Knackered!!! Two days of running up and down stairs, o well should be done today.

Anyway have fun with your DP mate. Trust me when you get it off its like a 10min job to fit the new one back.

[Brett]

Hey STu, when you take your IC off, mail me the bolts pls

[grinder]

right then - the turbo end is loose now ! ( 2 out of the 3 were finger tight - which is a bit worrying )

i cant seem to budge the 2 nuts that connect to the main exhaust - they are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO tight

i think this has beaten me - gonna ring the exhaust place in town and see if they can spin the nuts off with what they use and put them back on spanner tight

will update again soon

Stu

( would have taken pics - but they are all toooo dark and you cant see anything - sorry chaps )

[Grizzly]

There always the ones that are Tight. Try getting a combi spanner (ring one end and open the other) that fits well then get another spanner that is a size bigger then with the Spanner on the Exhast nut and lots of WD40 on it put the second spanner\'s ring end over the open end of the first spanner (the leading fork when turning Anti clockwise), Then making sure its all on properly and square give the open side of the second spanner some beans.

If you understand all this you will effectivly get twice the leveridge (Spelling?) and it would have to be a VERY tight bolt for say a 17mm with a 24" lever. The trick if you can\'t get all this under the car is to put the spanner on, Jam a second one on the other side of the Bolt (so it pushes against the floor and wont turn)  then  get in a position where you can use a foot to push the spanner. Theory is your legs can exert alot more force than your Arms.

Chris

BTW. this may not make sence as i\'ve just woken up and havn\'t put my contacts in yet.

[grinder]

its worse than that chaps !

the cat is now in the garage !! - yippee

ERRR NO !

having done the leg trick ( before i read this !! ) - sheared on of the bolts on the exhaust - and the other one looks like there is no thead left on it

so i need to get them out SOMEHOW ! - damn these cars to hell - car is now stuck on the drive with no way of moving it

i would take another section of exhaust off to get at it but i dont want this to happen again - and all this AFTER i took it to the exhaust place for them to "break" the nuts looose

so thats it at the mo - one well and truely p****d off stuart

pics to follow around 19:30 tonight

Stu

[Grizzly]

ok, take it off at the next joint down, then put it in a vice, center punch the Bolt then drill it out and then you can put two bolts through with locking nuts.

Chris

[grinder]

i tried to get the next section off - but that is again stuck on - and i dont want to snap more nuts/studs

teh next plan is to maybe drop the entire exhaust off to see what i can do with it when im not under the car

i just wish i had never started this - but there is no going back as the car cant even be started and driven

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

[grinder]

really out of my depth now

[grinder]

the above pic is a full stud - but that one needs to come out aswell

HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLP

[Brett]

Get a decent tap and run it down the entire length of the nobbled stud, that should give you enough thread to do what we discussed mate

[grinder]

yeah , thats one possibly sorted , its the other i have no idea

do you think its wise to drop the entire exhaust - and work on it in the back garden