Getting off Factory Exhaust

[atfrith]

Hey, i ordered a super turbo cat-back system from Dynomax last week, and i have heard many horror stories of getting off the old factory exhaust, so everyday since i ordered it i've been spraying a crap load of rust-eater and wd-40 on all the u-bolts and hangers holding on the exhaust hoping that by the time my exhaust got here i would be able to take it off easier. HAHAH, wishful thinking. It is scheduled to be here on wednesday and i just went outside to try and see if i was making any progress and i tried to loosen some of the bolts, none of them wanted to budge and i even rounded one out. Does anybody have any tips or ideas on how to get this sucker off? i would rather not have to pay for the labor of having a muffler shop take it off, so something I could do myself would be the best, thanks.

[gtmud]

First off, what year is your XJ? I have a 00 and found that the exhaust is stainless. Anyhow, the best thing I can say is wait for you exhaust system to come in, see how it is supposed to mount to the existing system, then look into getting a 3" grinding/cutting grinder to cut off allthat rusted stuff, Torches work great , but beware of the fuel tank. All of your hangers that you would have to replace should come in your kit, if not spend a little $$ and get new ones. Would recommend after you install it, take it to a shop and have all the joints tacked with a welder.

[atfrith]

Thanks gtmud, the year is 1990 and ya it looks pretty dang rusted so i figured i would have to cut it. About how much is a cutter/grinder going to cost me?

[bill99hawk]

I have having the same problem with my 89 exhaust. I am trying to remove the cats and the mufflers. The flange that connects the exhaust manifold to the catalytic converter has 4 bolts, all of which are rusted and binded together. Can't budge them. I started grinding them off, but still have to go in there and get the upper two. Not sure if I can get in there with the grinder though. What a PITA.

BTW, not sure if this is what the other guy is talking about, but I have a similiar one to this.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=31309

[bill99hawk]

Here is the one I got. The Chicago Electric one I mentioned above is a good low priced brand. This one works good for me though. Just another option.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=3150

[atfrith]

Well i just found out today that my girlfriend's dad has a sawzall, so thats what i'll be using. Any tips as to what to watch out for while using it to cut off thhe u-bolts?

[bill99hawk]

Sawzall is even better. You can cut the whole pipe off if you want to instead of dealing with the rusting clamps. Plus when you remove the clamps, you likely won't budge the muffler because the pipes were pressed together from the clamps and add in corrosion and rust to that. Just cut farther away from you catalytic converter giving you more pipe to work with. Better to have more pipe than not enough.

[atfrith]

Ya but if i do cut right after the bolt in front of the CAT instead just trying to get the bolts off then wouldn't i have less pipe to work with? It just seems like if i cut the clamps off and tried to slide it off thhen i would have more pipe then just cutting through the entire pipe after the clamp, if i'm wrong then correct me please,lol

[gtmud]

Getting the bolts off sounds good , but like bill99hawk said, the heat and corrosion all but cement them together. If you cut JUST AFTER the clamp you should have enough metal to work with. If you want remove the clamp first then cut just after the crimp mark. Again, I would set your new kit under your jeep and compare everything before you cut, then there is no guess work.

[atfrith]

We ended up just cutting through the pipes after the muffler, still couldn't get a part of the muffler pipe off of the cat pipe though, so we just used the adapter that came with the kit. So far so good, sounds great.

[Saudade]

Nice going. Thanks for the followup.

[gtmud]

Good job!I would go to an exhaust shop now and have all your joints welded, that will give you a completley sealed system, and reliable performance.

[atfrith]

gtmud, i was thinking about doing that.... About how much do u think they would charge for somethin like that?

[gtmud]

NOt sure on the price, just give a couple in your area a call to see what they would charge. Better yet, if you know some one that can do it for you.
So how does it sound? Do they make a set-up for an 00' XJ?

[atfrith]

I will call some places later tonight, as for the sound, it is perfect IMO. I didn't want something that souded like a ricer, very loud and IMO annoying. If you want that then get a flowmaster, but the dynomax was quite quiet at first, but after a week or so it is getting louder and right about now i love the way it sounds, quiet at idle but when u really punch the gas at the higher rpm's it has a deep growl and sounds very aggressive. Mine only cost me 90 bucks plus shipping for my 1990 Cherokee and they do make a model for the 00', but it is 124.95. Not too much more and it is worth the price IMO.