e-man

Can someone tell me how I'm supposed to remove this bolt from the flange on my old exhaust? The nut is spot welded to the flange, and the bolt is absolutely frozen to the nut. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. Bear in mind that I do not have an air compressor or a torch. Do I just need to remove the bolt or the nut as well? It seems to me that I would want to use a new bolt AND nut if and when it comes time to reinstall it, right?

BurgandyGS

Get one of those handheld grinders with a small wheel for metal. And buy another bolt.

e-man

I have a Dremel, if that's what you mean. But even if I cut off the bolt on both sides, there will still be a part of the bolt on the inside of the nut. How do I get that out?

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

If I was in your situation, I'd get a bolt cutter and cut off as much as possible. For the leftovers, I would use a drill and drill it out. Thank god I have drill bits specifically for cutting into metal

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1999 Lexus GS400
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jaja

oh i see what you're saying... the bolt cracked and the OEM nut is welded on the exhaust right and there is no way to get the remainder of the bolt off right? I assume you got it off so you're installing a new exhaust... if so forget about this until you have to install it next.

if you have to use it, I'd just take it to a body shop to grind the thing off... just use a similar sized bolt + nut next time you want to install the oem exhaust.

not sure if this helps..

or drench it with wd40....

BossGS4

iTrader: (2)

PB Blaster + 3lb Hammer + Elbow Grease .............

or

Just go buy a torch @ Home Depot / Lowes for $20

Bill_GS3

Cut the tack welds on the nut. When is becomes time to reuse it buy a nut and bolt.

If you can secure the exhaust you may be able to use a good sized hammer and cold chisel.

Or if you have access to an acetaline tourch you can just cut if off that way.

-Bill

Tammy

Soak the broken bolt and the nut with a good penetrating solvent, like "PB Blaster".

You have enough bolt left to grasp it with a large pair of vice grips. Work the bolt back and forth, gently at first, tightening and loosening until the bolt comes free. You may also consider a plumber's propane torch to heat the nut away from the frozen bolt. Once removed, run a metric tap through the nut, restoring the threads..

I would then purchase replacement bolts at a Toyota dealer, insuring the hardness grade matches the original. The new bolts should be installed with "never-seez" anti-seize compound applied.

STONER

I used a hammer and pounded on the bolt side until it broke the tack weld. The flange is pretty tough, but the methods others have mentioned will work also.

GWELEX

There's another rust penetrate/disolver that hasn't been mentioned, KROIL. Amazing stuff, I used it on my '58 convertible project. Out of all the rusted nuts and bolts that held that thing together I only broke 6 bolts. We're talking a complete body off, ground up restoration here. EVERY nut and bolt was removed. Here's a pic of the front brake and the kind of rust I'm talking about:

BossGS4

iTrader: (2)

Kroil is awesome stuff but you're not going to find that on the shelf at Pep Boys or Autozone. PB Blaster is a cheap jakes's version of Kroil.

All my pistols, rilfes, shotguns are treated by Kroil exclusively. It's a micro penetrating oil and solvent and it aint cheap $7 for 8oz can ........

salimshah

Take it to a local garage and ask them to do the work for a fee.

Least distructive DIY:
Soak over night in a penetrating oil. Dip the thing or put a soaked rag on the bolt assembly. Give the nut couple of jarring whacks every few hours.

Get a pipe wrench (or similar) and only try to grab the cut off end and twist away. A bench vise can also be used to grab the cut off bolt end. You can even try the good end but that will destroy the threads on that side.

Buy two nuts (same thread as the the cut off bolt). The trick is to get the depth of the nuts right ... you are trying to get both of them on the bolt and tighten them against each other ... causing a lock action. Once locked you can use the bottom bolt as a bolt head.

More destructive would be to ... after the overnight soak, whack the nut and then use wise or equivalent to grap the bolt and twist the nut + exhaust. If you get half turn .. the rest should be easy.

Destroy the nut:
Nut splitter ... make sure there is enough clearence to get that thing on, and just split the nut in two.

Cut the spot weld. Hack saw, dremmel, grinder what ever.

Note: The more detructive method you use, it will be hard to go back to the less destructive way. So I reccomened working from the least to the most .. ie if you mess up the bolt threads, you have to remove the nut. If you take it to a garage, they may jump to the most invasive the most expeditios way.

Salim

e-man

You guys are great. These are all great suggestions. Thank you very much. Hopefully, this will help others as well.

e