I just pulled my cat for a swap with the berk. The bolts were a pain and I had to cut one off. I may add exhaust in a few months and would like to have the bolts come loose easier next time.

Will anti sieze or coating bolts with oil or anything help to free them down the road?

 

I just went though the exact same dilemma last week installing my HKS. The 3 cat bolts were so rusty that I had to remove everything from the header back and use a torch and cutting wheel to remove the cat bolts. I wound up replacing with 3 new bolts, nuts, and lock washers.

In a few months the bolts will be fine. Mine were so bad because they had no budged since the car was built in 2001.

 

stainless steal bolt will do the job

 

Just stick some anti-seize on the bolts. I had issues getting the nuts off my cat, so the last time I had them off I made sure to get some anti-seize on there. I just had to take them off again last week, and this time I had no issues.

 

the people at kragen told me that anti-seize will cause my bolts to fall off after a while...... T.T

 

I haven't worked on bolts that rusty, but did you try using silicone spray?

Dan

 

I remember the bolts on my cat were a royal pain to get off, so were the ones for the header heat shield


I think I snapped at least half the bolts off at the head. I can see why many exhaust systems use the hook style method of attachment

 

Bolts should be held on by face pressure,and thread interference, not thread friction. Anti size will not cause a PROPERLY torqued bolt to come loose.

 

Anti sieze is you best bet or maybe a hi temp grease, there are special heat treated bolts you can find but they are a bit pricey. (but so are OEM).. As far as stainless steal, it is okay but it is not the best type of metal to use on a hi temp application.

 

You should spray down bolts at least 10 minutes before you start working on your exhaust. That gives the spray time to loosen it. Anti-seize after reinstalling works as well.