Nuts, bolts, etc., for exhaust - brass instead of steel?

[Lincolnmania]

i have seen and worked on cars from michigan........it's nasty.............worked on a 90's f150 from detroit a few yrs ago, took an hour a wheel to get the lugnuts and the wheels off

[Crownvicman289]

i have seen and worked on cars from michigan........it's nasty.............worked on a 90's f150 from detroit a few yrs ago, took an hour a wheel to get the lugnuts and the wheels off

Yeah buddy! First time I took the wheels off the Crown Vic, probably back in 2002, I had to stick a 6 foot pipe on the end of a breaker bar. The west will spoil you with rust free cars.

[sly]

heh... everything comes off down here... sometimes whether you want it to or not.

[King_V]

Update...

Well, finally got to it after doing a tuneup on my daily driver.

Progress? Nearly nonexistent.

Bolts didn't look too bad themselves, but the ends of them opposite the head, where the nut goes on, looked like a blob more than a hex nut!

Was able to get one of the bolts turning. Er, well, sort of, turns out that it twisted and broke. So the bolt head, and the first maybe third to half inch came out with the bolt head, and the rest is still stuck in there.

Guess I'll have to use a hammer with something to knock the rest of the bolt out.

Also, what are those bizarre weights that are attached where the H/Y pipe attaches to the cats? Sort of like a wing with a small, barrel-shaped piece of metal on the end. What are they for?

[turbo2256b]

I have used brass on the exhaust manifold flange. For ease of removal next time as the studs often rust so bad they have to be torched to remove a steel nut. Brass will usually come off but new brass nut might be needed to reinstall. Copper never brass bolt no.
Were possible I use stainles studs , nuts, bolts. Never had an issue removing them. 10 years later there the only ones that came appart after Mich winters and reused when put back togeather. Marine stores have the better stainless hardwear. SPS good fasteners most other places good luck.

[johnunit]

the winged things are a resonance/vibration reduction thing. If you're not staying with a stock exhaust it can be discarded.

[turbo2256b]

Update...

Also, what are those bizarre weights that are attached where the H/Y pipe attaches to the cats? Sort of like a wing with a small, barrel-shaped piece of metal on the end. What are they for?

Your cars a Duude ...man

[gadget73]

yup, resonance dampers. If yours arent all crappy, throw them back on. Won't hurt anything, and it may make it slightly less drone-y.

[1987cp]

I took the trouble to grind my dampers to fit over 2.5" pipes. Helped the drone a little, though not tremendously.

[johnunit]

My stock system (I think original cats but everything after the flange behind them replaced) didn't even have one.

[gadget73]

bet they were tossed when the H pipe back was replaced.

[King_V]

Your cars a Duude ...man

[King_V]

make sure the flanges on the cat pipes are smooth and flat, if they are bent, bend them back the best u can with a hammer, and use a shitload of ultra copper on both sides of the gaskets and let it dry before starting it up.

While I'm on this topic - do you recommend using the ultra-copper stuff regardless of the flanges, or only if they were bent and subsequently unbent?

[1987cp]

Ultra Copper is good stuff. Feel free to smear it on any exhaust joints you like!

[King_V]

Much much much delayed progress. Real life gets in the way.

So, I went back under the car. There basically are 4 total bolts holding the H or Y pipe to the flanges by the cats. The outer ones, which are lower, and the inner ones, which are higher.

Of course, needed a lot of Liquid Wrench.

Hrm, turns out that, while the bolts go in from the back, the "nuts" at the front holding them on aren't really nuts. They're these odd, flat, teardrop-shaped things, and only where the bolt comes through does it portrude out and have threads. Strange. But very thin and very lightweight.

So, anyway, 2 months ago, I tried to get the passenger side outer bolt off, and it broke midway. Ok, well, let me work on the other three.

In all cases, I needed to use a floor jack under the end of the ratchet handle to get things turning. I don't have a torch, grinder, or anything exotic at all.

Passenger inner bolt - eventually got moving, and came out. I don't want to say "no problem," but at least nothing broke.

Driver outer bolt - that flat teardrop nut broke with the force of turning. However, it left a little bit of itself, like a collar, permanently on the threads. Vice grips could not hold it. And, of course, it's too big to be pushed through the hole.

Driver inner bolt - again, not exactly "no problem," but at least nothing broke, and it came off.

Ugh, so that outer driver side bolt is loose, I can slide it back and forth about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch.

Try to use the vibration damper thing as leverage to maybe try to pull it out, but the damper's metal started bending - guess it's soft!

Ugh, get out the hacksaw. I never, ever remember to get new blades for it. Start cutting. Get barely anywhere. Blah.

Oh, wait, hang on, I *do* have new blades for it. Holy crap, when did I have the presence of mind to do that??

Less than 5 minutes later, bolt is cut. Exhaust system is off - all that's on the car are the manifolds and cats.

The car actually doesn't sound all that obnoxious like this... strange. Oh, it's dumping out right under the front footwells, so when you're in the car, that drone is there. But it's . . . I don't want to say "mellow" . . . but definitely quieter than I expected.

Now to find the time to get the new exhaust on. Oh, and get driver's side muffler and tailpipe hangers.

Interestingly, the original muffler on the passenger side had some kind of heat shield between the muffler and the hanger, that sandwiches between, presumably to prevent heat damage to the rubber part of the hanger. I don't recall seeing this part in the catalog....

Oh, and note to self . . 4 clamps, 2 inchers. Ultra copper. Nuts and bolts.

I know I'm going to forget something along the way.

EVENTUALLY this will get done and I'll actually drive the darn thing!