exhaust studs rant

[yelcab1]

I was bitten by the exhaust stud virus yesterday. I had to change an oil hose out and one of the headers had to come out. Five nuts came out with the studs attached to them. One, a barrel nut, was so deep onto the stud that there was not enough room for the hex bit to bite so it stripped. The barrel nut had to be drilled out, then the stud had to be drilled out. What a pain. !!! I won, but the battle was hard fought.

[Discseven]

Heat works wonders on those nuts.

[john walker's workshop]

When they round out, as long as you can get at it, heat red hot and use an air hammer bit on the side of the nut to start it turning and work it from there.

[s5uewf]

rent a set of acetylene tanks and get a set of hose/gauge/mixer/tip at harbor freight and keep it just for these situations. Oxy/Acetylene is great for heating up these old bolts.

Another approach is one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Bolt-Buster-BB2-ACC-Handheld-Induction/dp/B00ATSL7VE

A friend uses one instead of torches whenever possible - truly magical and can be used for a variety of things that need heating from wheel hubs when changing bearings, to expanding pipes when sleeve fitting joints, to nuts that are seized, and so forth

[RSTarga]

Aren't there copper nuts for that application?