Can't Remove Stock Cats. Help!
 

I took my car to GT Motorsports... to have my Stillen HFC's installed, they were unable to remove the top bolt of the OEM cat on the driver's side, but were able to remove everything else. They were unable to break the bolt and told me they'd have to remove the header to remove the cat and it will cost more and I'd have to leave the car overnight. I couldn't deal with that, so they put everything back.

The bolt is a bit stripped. Is there anything I can do to get it removed without taking it to the shop?

good luck. I had my cats torched out and one of the bolts just broke off

It will break eventually. I used a 6ft pipe as a breaker bar and it snapped right off

My pass. side snapped when I used a 3 ft pipe on it, the driver side stripped before it would snap so I had to use a recip. saw but was able to keep the header on the car. If you use the saw plan on alot of batteries and blades and a good deal of time. Best of luck.

Are the 07+ bolts harder to remove?

Try spray more lubricant, anti-corrosion, liquid wrench, or something similar. Let it sit for a while, for the chemical to interact, and try again. I know the last bolt sucks, but you have to take your time. If it still doesn't come off, after many times of spraying those chemical (try to get the best ones), you might have to saw it off (the bolt). It took me about 2 hours to get the last 2 bolts to come off.

i went to MRC i must have taken them about 30 minutes to take the cats off.
just for info the top bolt was removed from the top by removing the intakes.

Yessssirrrr. I had to torch mine and break them off with a pipe for added leverage. Good luck OP they aer a beeeeeyotch.

PB Blaster and a breaker bar.

It will suck, but keep fighting.

I hate those tight-ass bolts. I remember having to kick my wrench cuz I couldn't get one of the bolts loose on my exhaust and almost gave up on it.

They usually can break loose.

It looks like the shop is trying to make some labor money off of you. Sorry to hear that.

+1^...i actually took off my front wheel and got right there....gl

The HR cars seem to have two different problems w/ the cats ... one is stuck bolts that have to be cut or broken half of the time to remove them. These aren't just over tight, you're a sissy and can't get them loose, these are probably not coming off w/ out some sort of means above and beyond normal methods.

The second problem i have seen on these cars is the O2 sensors seem to want to strip out on some of them on removal.

to the original poster, probably gonna have to do some cutting, just be careful not to damage the stock "header" if you are keeping those.

The bolt head looks stripped, I'm thinking I'll have to saw it off. I'll have to find a saw small enough to fit in there. I wish I would have attempted to install the cats myself, I think I would of had better luck using a fresh socket and tap the breaker bar a few times with a hammer after applying some gunk lubricant/WD40 on the bolt. I bet that would of been a better shot. I made the mistake of assuming a tuner shop if anyone can make it happen, not always the case.

You can still try your method if you grind the nut a little to give it some grip (if you can get to it) in a new socket. G/L and dont sell your H/F cats keep trying (saw your post in socal f/s). good luck

I was able to stick my arm behind the engine and get a wrench down there onto the bolt with a solid feel, i just don't have enough leverage and the engine is still kinda hot lol.

I'm going to autozone in a moment to see if I can find any tools that may be of use. I'm thinking maybe a flex rachet 3/8 drive, and a 14mm socket. I have a 3/8's breaker bar so maybe I'll just buy a 14mm socket

why not just pull the header out w/ the cat attached, that way you can have some room to work on it?

you have to remove the engine to do that.

says who? you can pull the header and test pipe out the bottom of the car just fine. Been there done that.

I'm pretty sure I read it somewhere on here.