Dropping Exhaust System - Questions
 

I'm wanting to drop my exhaust system in preparation for removing the engine from my 85.5, and am having various amounts of success with the exhaust bolts.

The header bolts basically came right off and the header is now loose - but it looks like the header bolts are too long to allow the header to clear the side wall of the engine compartment.

Furthermore, the bolts between the header and Y-Pipe are very rusted, and I'll need to cut/drill them off. The two intermediate sets of hanger bolts are coming off OK - but then the rear hanger bolts may need to be cut/drilled also.

I'm tempted to try to drop the entire exhaust system as one unit...but my guess is that I'll need to be really careful to try to drop it "evenly" so as not to put too much stress on the unsupported pipes. Also, as for the header clearance issue, it may be best to cut off the rusted Y-Pipe bolts, so I can at least separate the header from the rest of the system - to facilitate an easier drop.

Considering the above, any comments and/or suggestions would be most welcome. Thanks!

If you are trying to remove the whole assm including the manifolds you may try to disconnect the right side motor mount and jack the motor up slightly. The motor should rotate up and to the left allowing more clearence.

I was able to maneuver my manifolds out of the car w/out loosening the motor mount. I had to move the outside manifold (1 and 4) OVER one of the exhaust studs, then I was able to get it out of the car from the top. YMMV, as my mounts are pretty fresh turbo mounts.

As for the lower y-pipe bolts, I just broke 'em off! :D

Of course this won't work on studs, but I always TIGHTEN nuts/bolts as the first step-- hoping they will just break off. Usually works great on rusted hangers, or where you can remove the broken bolt.

My y-pipe bolts were so rusty I broke both ends of one bolt off and the stub was still welded to the two halves with rust and I had to dremel it out. I was able to free the 1-4 header and then drop the whole system with the 2-3 header still attached in order to be able to work on the remaining bolts. Heat works really well if you have a MAPP gas torch (worth every penny of the $50 for one at Lowes). Heat the bolts red hot and hammer on it with a wrench, or vise grips if the bolts are far gone. It's better to heat them if you can, since once you twist the heads off, there's not much you can do but drill them out if they're stuck too badly to fall out and space is really tight down there which puts drilling between PITA and impossible depending on which bolt it is.. The easy way is to twist them off and hope the rest of it will fall out.

There is no reason to separate the cat/y-pipe section from the muffler section. The whole system will drop as one piece without any trouble. It's the y-pipe bolts that are the real pain. I replaced them with stainless hardware. Some have recomended against it since they can become brittle and break, but it's worked great for me so far and it only takes 15 min to drop the exhaust. At least on my car, there's enough room to fanagle the headers out once the y-pipe is disconnected. It's just like those brain teaser puzzles but they should come out. Having some of the studs screw out helps too.

I typically remove the front sub frame, disconnect the muffler and lower the entire engine assembly onto a 4X4 dolly with the manifold and cat still installed. Unbolt the manifold from the head and remove from under the car where you can easily access the bolts.