Exhaust/up pipe help needed
 

Hi all,

Did a turbo swap last weekend and one of the 3 bolts at the bottom is guff and the nut will only go on half way.

Is this bolt easily replaceable?

I haven't had time to get under the car again to pull everything off, and the (3) service manuals I have seem to be all for the non-turbo models.

Can anyone who has done a DIY header install shed some light on this?
Or does anyone have a component diagram for the 99/00 WRX (turbo) exhaust system?


Cheers,
Jeremy

Bolt in question is the one on the right in the picture of the up-pipe.

When I look at it, it appears like I should be able to just replace the bolt itself...

Hey Jezza,

Can you use a thin file and correct the thread? As in if you can get the nut on halfway, you must have damaged the thread on the pitch whist removing the turbo possibly?

Try and find where it is damaged, clean up the thread, then use the nut with a good helping on anti seize and work the nut up and down a few times til you get it on all the way.

Bolt is easy to remove.

Spray some crc on the bolt and where it is attached. Lock 2 nuts into the bolt, just do it and lock them together. Then unwind the top nut and the whole bolt whould loosen.

Regards,
Mao

[QUOTE=Jezza;583812]Bolt in question is the one on the right in the picture of the up-pipe.

When I look at it, it appears like I should be able to just replace the bolt itself...[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the info guys, much appreciated!
Will have to give it a crack on my next day off, will let you know how it goes.

i get the feeling the bolts may be tack welded to the underside of that flange.heat shield may have to be removed to see though.

jezza if you want to just change it over i have my old stock wrx down pipe here let me know.

Have a re-threading tool for that if you need it.

Regards,
Mao

Have finally got round to doing this today.

Just had another look at the thread, and looks good, so I tried getting a nut on and got it to go on without too much of a fight. So that's all good.

Bad thing is I've dropped one of the nuts in between the engine and the gbox, doh!

If you can't find the nut make sure you replace it with a proper exhaust nut and not just a normal nut. The proper exhaust nuts have a coating on them and are hardened and heat treated. A normal nut will seize on there because of the continuous heating and cooling cycle.
You wont be able to get it undone again.
The genuine ones are $11 a piece I think, definitely not just a normal nut.