BryanS

A while back I was installing a Thermal Cat back system. While doing this I wound up breaking the studs that come from the cat. I didn't want to remove the cat from the header since I had such bad luck unbolting the midpipe from it, so I was trying to "fix" it while it was still on the car. I eventually sorta drilled out the bolts and placed a new bolt through the hole, but the hole was so small since I couldn't get a drill to cut the metal of the cat flange very well and I had to use a pretty thin bolt.

Now I am going to be switching my Thermal for an RS*R and I would like to make sure it is securely mounted to the cat. What do you think I should do? Can I anneal the flange with a torch and try drilling again? Can I drive out what is left of the original bolt with a hammer? Should I remove the cat from the car to work on it? Should I just replace the cat and be done?

On a side note - I recently had my car smogged and it failed the first time. It was over on HCs. After adjusting the timing to oem specs and replacing the dist. cap, rotor, and plugs I just barely passed. I don't know if maybe my cat is getting near the end of it's life and should be replaced anyway.

What do you think I should do?

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'95 Prelude VTEC
AEM CAI, RS*R Exhaust, Short Shift Adapter, Magnecor KV85 wires

Qveon

whem boy....

Does your car kinda smell like rotten eggs? If so then i would just bust those old bolts and remove them with rust-eater and replace the cat.

If you going to try and save the cat, you can try rust eater, but then you are going to have to drill, grind, torch, whatever it takes to get that out.

Do you have an acetaline torch? If so you might try that and see what it does.

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