Hi,

Need to replace my tail pipe from the catalytic converter to the muffler. Have everything off, but I can't break loose the bolts between the converter and the rear/middle tail pipe. A couple of questions: 1) Are either the rear/middle tail pipe or catalytic coverter bolt holes threaded? If not, I can just grind the heads down, knock out the bolts, and replace all three; 2) If either are threaded, any advice (have tried heating the nuts; no luck).

Thanks,
Ron

 

not sure what kind of car you have, but on my 2000 civic sedan they were not threaded. one of mine was rusted on so I took a hack saw and cut the head off and it still wouldnt budge so i bashed it with a hammer till it popped out. you dont really need to use those spring bolts, you can replace it with a normal bolt and washers from the hardware store.

 

the bolts are pressed into the catalytic converter if you look closely on the back of the flange on the cat you will see that they are not a typical square or hex bolt. heat it up and smash em out or cut em off. i ended up having to take mine to a shop to get them popped out and i just bought some random bolts from sears hardware and stuck em in. so far so good.

 

Thanks for the tips. I cut the bolt heads off with a chop saw, ground the leftovers, heated the converter housing around the bolts, and whacked 'em 3-4 times with a ball peen hammer . . . they came right out!

Only hitch now is the new tailpipe/resonator hangers are off a couple of inches. Got all but one to fit. I'm assuming someone out there makes tailpipe hangers you can clamp on where you need them . . . any insight?

Thanks,
Ron