Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Exhaust Remove bolts from stock pipes?

Has anyone had any success removing the bolts from the stock pipes once the nuts start spinning? Any tips?

thanks,
Hugh

Here's what I did -

I silver soldered the spinning nut. Soaked the he11 out of the bolt w/ penetrating oil and out they came. Its worked on 3 sets of silencers. One time I had to re-solder. If you try this method - Be sure not to get any flux on the chome beyond the area you are soldering, i.e., don't let it run down the side as it melts. It will etch the chrome, particularly if left on. So, if it does run, get it off as soon as possible.

Had to dremel mine off.

Thanks for the tip on soldering the nut I'll give that a try.

I did originall dremel the tops of the bolts off but now I want to reinstall the stock pipes.

thanks,
Hugh

Pipedr could you tell me what kind of soldering gun you used and just the process in general. Haven't done much soldering and it seems like the exhaust pipe would act like a giant heat sink.

thanks,
Hugh

I don't think a gun will provide the necessary heat. I could be wrong, but, the fastener is a pretty big heat sink and the wattage required will likeley be pretty hefty.

I used a Prest-o-Lite torch. I think the metal is light enough that a standard hardware store Bernz-o-Matic would do the trick. Use the finest tip and flame you can, concentrate the heat to the nut. The heat will pull the solder into the void between the nut (actually more like a bolt anchor)and the silencer metal. Even if you don't get a good soldered connection between the two, the solder will jamb up and prevent the nut from turning. Afterward, apply the heat to the bolt - not a lot, and don't remelt the solder - just get it hot. attempt to remove the bolt while hot. The problem is the thread sealant. Its tough stuff. If your interested in salvaging and possibly reusing the silencer for any future reason, clean out the threads and re-tap to clean all the sealant out. Then do the same to the bolt threads and coat with an anti-sieze compound. Also, replacement bolts of the same configuration are readily available wherever there is a nice selection of metric fasteners stocked. Whenever I get a whim, I sometimes change silencers (long, short, quiet, loud...). I always anti-sieze and use a lock washer instead of thread sealant. I have never had a bolt stick or a nut turn since - with the one or two exceptions where the solder broke free. I believe all occassions where the solder broke free was from initial attempts where I uses regular lead solder - Which for that matter works fine also and requires less heat. If you don't have a good torch, regular leaded solder may be your best bet. If you intend to swap silencers from time to time, you just may have to re-do once in a while.

Thanks for the quick reply. I think I'll be getting a friend to help me. I would just end up burning my house down. We'll be doing this at his house.

thanks again,
Hugh