Re: trying to remove exhaust

[Brett P VanSprewenburg <brettv@rocketmail.com>]

---Aaron <catacomb@psu.edu> wrote:
>
> Hello all.. any help is appreciated, as always:
> 
> I'm trying to pull off my exhaust to replace the muffler and gut the cat,
> but I can't get the darn things off.
> 
> I gave up on trying to get the bolts out of the cat. flanges. This is
> because I broke two cobolt bits, and I even bought a tool made specifically
> for extracting broken bolts, but still didn't work.  The ony thing that
> works at all is the dremmel rotary cutter with fiberglass reinforced
> cut-off disks.  Nothing else with cut into the metal.

Hacksaw will work. Sawzall will work too.
> 
> I'm now trying to pull the whole system off starting from behind the cat.
> The problem is that I can't remove the joints where one exhaust pipe fits
> into the other (each spot where there are clamps).

They're rust & heat 'welded' to eachother.  Two words:  Hot Wrench.  Heat
the crap out of them and that should break them apart.  Propane won't be
enoungh, MAP gas might if you can't find someone to torch em.  Warning
though, those pipes are pretty old and heating them up like this might
weaken them beyond using them again.

> 
> The clamps came off fairly easy.  However, I can't pull, twist, or wedge
> the pipes enough that they will budge.
> 

Not unusual at all.  It will take an _amazing_ amount of twist to separate
them, far more then you are likely to be able to bring to bear under the
car...without heat.

> Are they installed with some kind of cold-weld glue?  

No, just a normal slip/clamp joint.  Metal to metal.  Rust and heat work
really really well, don't they? ;)

> Is there any kind of tool that can be used to seperate these joints? 

Maybe if you put it in a vice...and a huge pair of channel locks...

> 
> Very frustrating..  I have to go pick the rust particles out of my eyes now.

I have been in your shoes too, many many times. :)  I've had to go to the
emergency room a couple of times after episodes like that...rust junk in my
eyes for one.  The docs pulled it out with a magnet!  I've discovered that
contact lens are somewhat built-in protection for little metal particles,
usually work just the couple of seconds I need to remind myself to go put
on my goggles.
 
Good luck.

==Brett

> 
> -Aaron 
>  84 8V

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