exhaust flange bolts removal - driver's side

[orange9mm]

i am in the early phases of removing my engine and i am stuck trying to figure out how to get to the top 2 driver's side exhaust flange bolts, passenger side was easy as there is more room. any tips? i had to use a breaker bar on the 4 i have removed thus far as these bolts are super rusty.

[Fredfox]

Mini ductor II and heat it up. No flames.

[orange9mm]

that is a really cool tool, sure beats a breaker bar and or touch.



the top bolt on the left i was able to break free with my breaker bar but i can not get a box wrench or ratchet on the other side to counter hold it so it just spins instead of unbolting.

the top right bolt is tucked behind a very tight bend in the exhaust tubing so that i can only get a socket on it but no ratchet with it. i have no idea on how i would even approach trying to counter hold this one.

should i be removing anything to help get to these. there is a heat shield that looks like it might give me some more space to get to the left bolt.

[tmpusfugit]

I was able to reach the heads of the bolts on mine using a 13mm box end wrench. I used an air impact driver on the other side. I think 4 of them came out with no real hassle, and 2 of them twisted off. I replaced them with 5/16" stainless steel bolts, lock washers, and washers. I did soak them overnight with one of the frozen bolt liquid solutions but I don't think that did much. Brute force and the shock impact of the impact wrench seems to do the trick. Of course that is only good if you can capture the head of the bolt at the top....

I have been able to remove them from all 3 of my 928's over the last year in this fashion.

[orange9mm]

i can get a 13mm box wrench on the heads facing me but i can't getting anything to counter hold them on the opposite side. wtfo

[orange9mm]

i was thinking about taking my dremel and a grinding stone bit along with a flex shaft to sheer of the bolts heads/nuts. good or bad idea?

[tmpusfugit]

You can most likely shear the heads off the bolts with a large chisel and a 2.5 pound, or larger, hammer. Or, you could center punch the heads and drill them off in pretty short order. A Dremel IMO is too small a tool to grind off the heads. You could of course use a larger hand held grinder if you can get enough access. Personally, if I couldn't take them off with the appropriate wrenches, I would go for the center punch and drill method. There is sufficent space to do that readily....I had the exhaust off 2 days ago to fit a new Flowmaster, so my experience in this area is recent!

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by orange9mm

i was thinking about taking my dremel and a grinding stone bit along with a flex shaft to sheer of the bolts heads/nuts. good or bad idea?

Good... With a flex shaft and a tungsten head bit, you can dremel the nuts in no time.

[Xlot]

I use a 13mm 3/8 drive socket on a 6" extension - the extension is long enough to allow access to all the lower side heads/nuts past the bends of the downpipes. I counter-hold the top-side with the 12-point ring on a regular 13mm combination wrench.

Spray with plenty of good penetrating oil (Kroil etc.). If the breaker bar doesn't work, I use my 3/8 drive air impact gun.

Two of my cars came from snowy climates where they saw road salt etc. so were pretty rusty in there.. more than your pic appears.

One other point worth noting - if the manifold gaskets are original, they're made of Asbestos. Make sure you wear a proper respirator mask and goggles as they will break up when removing the cats.

[Landseer]

Usually the things stated above work for me.


But a couple times I've used the appropriate one of these in a socket, then held it with a wrench

[MPDano]

Would a crowfoot wrench work in this situation?

[Mrmerlin]

dont use stainless bolts on the header pipes they will gall and then seize ,
use good quality carbon steel and some antiseize
ACE has good quality bolts

[orange9mm]

took a saws all to the bolt between the manifold and flange along the gasket. cut it like butter. the gaskets were thick so i didn't damage the mating surfaces.

on to the clutch. from what i have read i should drop the clutch pack to make pulling the motor easier.

[Mrmerlin]

correct the clutch will hit on the bell housing if its not removed prior to an engine pull

[orange9mm]

What does the following mean:

"Remove mounting strap for pressure line to
slave cylinder."

Does that mean I unbolt the bracket holding the soft clutch host and hard line from the block? Or does that mean I disconnect the two lines from the bracket itself?

[Mrmerlin]

it means remove the 2 bolts that hold the bracket to the oil pan thus the slave assembly will hang free of the engine

[orange9mm]

ok, i tired getting to the bolt that holds the bracket to the back of the block. no dice. i think what i need to be doing is unfastening the line from this bracket somehow. it appears to have a shim wedged between the collar of the line that applies pressure to keep the line in place. how do i do this???

[orange9mm]

#33 in this picture below is what appears to be holding the line on the bracket. how does one remove this?

[orange9mm]

i have ordered some 16" pliers off of amazon. i think i might be able to get to the hose holder / collar shim from the top of the motor.

[Landseer]

You might be able to spin it to face downwards using a long thin screwdriver.
Grab it then with small vicegrips and hit the vicegrips.

Not a big deal.