Hello,

While removing the Cat a few days ago, the 3 bolts (near the engine side) were stuck pretty good. So i used some "Liquid Wrench" as well as "PB Blaster" (could not find Kroil oil locally ). After letting the Cat sit for 2 nights and respraying the bolts periodically, the nuts were still stuck on. I now ventured on to a butane torch to heat up the nuts. This somewhat worked, as the nuts fell off...taking a piece of the bolt with them. Doh! At least i was able to get the Cat off.

Question is, does the 3 bolts that are on the Cat come off, or are the welded on? They are still stuck on. May I have some suggestions on how to remove the bolts. I recall 'drilling them out' is what others have used, is this true? What type of drill bit is necessary?

Thanks for everyone's time.
Edgardo

The three bolts I am referring to are in the attached pic. (pix courtesy of Swoope from another thread)

 

you can bang em out, just be careful

 

they fit like splined wheel studs, knock them out with a hammer

 

Thanks all!

By the way my local Mazda dealership wants ~$6.50 per bolt! Does anyone suppose I can use 'normal' and not 'splined' type bolts for this application? (Automotive grade) So that when i need to remove the Cat again I don't run into this issue again.

Thanks!
Edgardo

 

yeah. just go to the hardware store a get 3 bolts, 3 nuts, 3 washers and 3 lock washers. It'll work fine. This is how I did it when one of those nuts sheared off with some of the thread. I haven't had any problems since

 

Thanks all!

Using my cousins 4lb hammer did the trick. Thanks for all the suggestions. Here are some pix:

 

^nothin like a good ol' baby beater to do the trick!

 

I just tapped mine out today.

Will be replacing with stainless bolts and it will make swapping the cat out much, much easier.

 

where did those bolts on the Cat connected to?

 

Also make sure to add a little never-sieze to the threads. It will make it easier if you need to remove later.

 

The header side.