collector bolt trouble

[ARRESTmeRed04]

really what was dodge thinking when they put the little sheet metal tabs to back up the collector bolts??? why not just thread the manifold or use a regular nut?!?! how stupid are these people.....now that i feel better, i got one side off but the pass side looks even tighter, i soaked them with PB blaster and they still just tear the tabs up, any ideas??? i used a sawsall and grinder on the other side but l doon't know if i can get them in the pass. side

 

[ZCx]

they are a pain in the rear. i used a half gone cut off wheel & that belguim guy said that he was able to get some vise grips on them to hold them enough

 

[SRTINCT]

Been there, done that. It's part of the initiation to exhaust work on our trucks. Truly is a PIA. We feel your pain. Vise grips are a must.

 

[Goose]

I'll third that small vise grips and a lot of colorful words, but the result is worth the effort.....

 

[belgiumbarry]

yeah :rock: just turn the bolts till those backing plates are spaghetti and then clamp them with a visegrip to the manifold flange... easy , just a bit searching how to place the visegrip... :rock:

 

[JimTeTe]

Been there, done that. It's part of the initiation to exhaust work on our trucks. Truly is a PIA. We feel your pain. Vise grips are a must.

Your Right there Big Guy, Done that ........ Sawzall was my tool of choice ...

 

[BurntRubber]

you just want to laugh and cry at the same time.

 

[FSTJACK]

Blow them out with a fire AXE...........

 

[moparracing]

i removed the clip & used a 17mm closed end (box) wrench on the square end..... worked for me.

 

[ARRESTmeRed04]

mopar, how did you remove the clips? would have tried that but mine were so mangled that i couldn't get any wrenches on them, i really thought about a blow torch but then i's have a tread about my truck and my house burning to the ground....

 

[FATJACK]

Blow them out with a fire AXE...........

Thats exactly what my muffler guy did:rock: :rock:

 

[94rt10ohio]

Ahhh, bad memories...

I ended up taking the manifold bolts out of the head so it would drop lower and I had better access to them damn bolts.

 

[yellowfever#154]

I used a air powered die grinder with a cutoff disc that was worn to about 2". Worked good, just took a little time to get it in the right spot not to cut anything else.

 

[moparracing]

mopar, how did you remove the clips? would have tried that but mine were so mangled that i couldn't get any wrenches on them, i really thought about a blow torch but then i's have a tread about my truck and my house burning to the ground....

my clips completely came apart without issue & then i just used the 17mm wrench.......

best 'o luck to ya, these shorty setup's suck....... this is part of the reason i went to long tube headers...

 

[belgiumbarry]

now really, the visegrip works perfect :rock: but you don't try to clamp the nut against turning as we normaly should do , you clamp the nuts together with the manifold-flange lips....easy :nurse: