Hi Gang,

 

I put the car up on the hoist today, (tire shop beneath my office) and finally it is time to put a new muffler on the 91 legacy awd wagon.

 

I ordere dthe piece from worldpac $140 canadian. But when we were looking at the piece it seems that the studs and nuts which hold the cat section to the muffler section are totally corroded and rusted. I sprayed them with some PB blaster but they hardly resemble nuts any more.

 

I was going to have the tire shop perform the work because they have been great to me (give me world pac at cost + 10%) etc.

 

My question, should I just take it to an exhaust shop? The bolts from the cat pipe to the muffler appear to be presses or welded on making replacement of broken bolts which appear to be likey a very possible reality.

 

TIA

Are you talking about the front cat? it's in the header. So you'd have to replace the header. There is an intermidiate pipe from there to the mid pipe with the second cat.

 

Which piece are you talking about?

Sorry for not being clear. I am talking about replacing the rear section with the muffler. It bolts to the intermediate section with the 2nd cat or resonator. The problem is that the studs appear to be part of the intermediate flange and I doubt they will survive the extraction of the rear section.

If your '91 exhaust is like my '96 exhaust, cut 'em off. Threaded fasteners on an old exhaust are a lost cause.

 

I replaced my rusted out flange with a split flange. Of course, that's not an option either if your flange is integrated, or if the lip the flange rests on is in bad shape. In either of those cases, I'd guess the easiest approach would involve welding.

 

Are you still running the original exhaust?

None of the bolts on the mid pipe with the second cat are integrated. They're just bolts. Cut 'em off, and just buy some stainless steel bolts and nuts at the hardward store.

Thanks a bunch....they sure look integrated must be the special ferrous coating my car came with : )