Anyone got any good method for removing the exhaust nuts on the cross pipe on the first gens? Mine seem to keep getting a "sliver" stuck into the threads. I've so far only managed to get one of the stupid things completely off....

 

cross pipe? all i know is I need a wrench, another wrench, and brute strength and mine comes off.

or there's the torch. everything comes off with the torch.

 

X2. They are a bitch to get off. Soak them with a good penatrating oil before taking them off. If you can use a good 6 point wrench instead of a 12 point. Helps to keep from rounding the nuts

 

i swear to god if i ever meet the stupid asshat that designed the 3.0 exhaust, i will knock him sensless. I've spent the last 2 hrs trying to get that last bolt off that is too close to the bellhousing to remove with an extension and i can't get enough torque on my open end to remove it... i got the other 2, but who the hell puts a pipe less than a 1/2" away from the bellhousing when they know that it will need to be accessed?????



This alone has me considering just dropping the $400 extra on headers just so i dn't have to deal with it again

 

Asshat is sooo my word...

On a side note, you should invest in an impact.

 

had an impact, ended up deciding that in order to make space to fit an extension, i would lift out the motor a bit away from the tranny and try again. I got the space, but the impact wouldn't break it lose. so i then decided i would take off the exhaust manifold on that side and disconnect the crossover...
Crossover bolts were going great and the last one broke in half (didn't even give it a lot of torque either) Got all the manifold - head bolts off except for the bottom rear one, which i still cannot get off.

I finally (after 3 hrs trying to get this damn thing out of the truck) tried one more time with an open end wrench and then one more on the end of it. i finally broke it loose and managed to bruise up my wrist real good on the brake booster when it finally gave way. Now i'm trying to convince the wife that it will save her a lot of my frustration to spend an extra $400 and get headers...

 

+1 on the headers. I put mine in and can't imagine how I'd have done the stock exhaust with the motor in the truck. You pretty much need the heads off to fit the headers in though. (I did mine when I was doing head gaskets anyway.)

 

Try being a tech, I find domestics are the worst for retarded designs. About five years ago I was trying to get some trans. electrical clip off of this mazda (i think). It was such a pig. By the time I got it apart, I came up with a retirement plan. If I ever meet an automotive engieer I wanna just pop him one in the teeth, get it on tape and sell the clip to every guy in north america that's ever bled while working on a vehicle. I figure I should make enough for court costs and a very comfortable retirement.

 

asshat is our word we been using it for so long