Allright so my friend is trying to replace his driveshaft on his 90 300ZX and is having a couple problems. So we have to remove the exhaust from the cats back to be able to remove the driveshaft, but the bolts are super tough and there is build up in between the joints. We got one of the bolts off but the other nuts are kinda stripped, not completely though, but we still can't get them off. Any tips or tricks that will help us remove the exhaust any easier?

Allright so my friend is trying to replace his driveshaft on his 90 300ZX and is having a couple problems. So we have to remove the exhaust from the cats back to be able to remove the driveshaft, but the bolts are super tough and there is build up in between the joints. We got one of the bolts off but the other nuts are kinda stripped, not completely though, but we still can't get them off. Any tips or tricks that will help us remove the exhaust any easier?


try to soak the bolts with wd40. also you can try air hammer to turn the headbolt. had the same problem before and thats how i did mine.

^ what he said ^

They also have this stuff called liquid bolt remover... great stuff...

Is the air hammer the only thing that will loosen these bolts? We have the exhaust removed but the bolts that connect the differential and the driveshaft are also hard to remove. All we have is WD40, a set of metric wrenches, and arm strenght. So do these bolts need some specialty tool, becuse I've read that people have done this job with only some degreaser and wrenches, but I'm having trouble believing they completed this job on their own.

pb blaster/liquid wrench, time, and a lot of muscle

I'd put some coke on the bolts, believe me it work's. Just make a hole in the bottle and sqirt it on. Do it a couple of times. I'm shure at leats 1 will go.

i used PB blaster and standard set of metric wreched for all my bolts.

the bolts connecting the driveshaft to the rear diff are tough but they came loose for me with out any trouble.

You have to remove the exhaust? I had to put in a new drive shaft myself on my 90 300zx and didnt have to. It was tight, but still very doable.

have you tried yelling at it yet?

forget all that liquid spray --- use an acyteline torch and torch it ... it will come loose alot faster , the heat will make it expand.... thats what i use at work all the time on anything that wont melt and if im replacing it then ill melt away......

oh btw i dont think i spelled acyteline right ----

I agree with both the acetlylene torch idea, and the yelling.

At least the yelling will make you feel better :banghead:

If the bolts arent to stripped and you simply need to apply more force, just use a snyper bar.

Trust me we did plenty of yelling, lol. The bolts weren't too stripped but we replaced them anyway so once we got the old ones off we threw those bitches away. Our arm strenght wasn't enough so we had to settle for some WD40 and our legs, worked pretty good, only one bolt broke.

Good news is we got the one peice driveshaft, transmission mount, new hardware installed, and some light weigh reduction on his Z, so we we're both really happy. Took it out for a drive and everything ran perfect, no more annoying shaking at 60 MPH, back to one hand steering.:thumbsup:

excellent. Glad to hear that u got the work done and it fixed the problem :icon16:

I used a 48" breaker bar and my lift. Seeing as knore I or my shop forman had any impact strong enough to get them out. But the good news is if you are replacing the stock 2 piece with a 1 piece you dont have to put them back.

True, four less blots to put back on, freakin 2 piece, but getting them off was a definelty a bitch.