98 a4 1.8 The flange on my cat came off and i don't have enough money to buy another cat so i'm going with the test pipe. the problem is that i have succussfully taken off the broken off flange from the turbo and i am having troubles finding enough room to take off the other bolts from the lower part of the cat. I took out the airbox and wheel on the passenger side to give myself more room but it doesn't seem to be enough also the bolts on the lower part of the cat are all rusted out and no matter what size of socket i use i just seem to strip the bolt all to hell. So i've tried everything on how to take off the bolts so i think my last choice is to cut them off. My question is what else can i take off the car to give myself more room to work with and what do u think i should do to get off the bolts. Thanks
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sorry to hear that man, your options are very limited to begin with, originally I was going to tell you that you should spray them w pb plaster and wait 24 hours or more of soakage, but since they are now rusted and stripped, it sounds like you are stuck cutting them out....

removing out cat's hasd always and will always be a PITA, what most people do with the lower bolts is soak them and make a super extended socket wrench, like 3 feet worth of extensions. umm, if you weld you may want to just cut the old cat out and weld a new adaptor for the tp(or just weld the tp in place)

I am pretty sure there is nothing else you could remove that will help you w the cat.

good luck man, keep us updated and take some pics!

 

dude you cant get the bolts out from the top. those nuts are welded to the cat. (probly why your stripping them lol) you have to go at it from the bottom with a few extensions and a universal joint at the end. do yourself a favor and pick up some pb blaster and soak the bolts the night before than go at them in the morning.

 

^^^^yeah +1...i just finished doing that...USE LOTS OF PB BLASTER!! and you have to get to them from the bottom..and if the welding breaks on the top, then get a wrench and put it on that top bolt and have somone hold it for you while you use an extendor at least a 10 inch( i used a 10 inch + 5 inch) and you need a swivel thing at the end of the extendor so you can get at those bolts from an angle..its impossible with out the swivel thing..literally....Its a big bitch....i got about 3/4 of the way done and couldt get 1 bolt off and i was about to put it all back together..just dont give up you will eventually get it..heres some DIY's.
http://forums.audiworld.com/a4/msgs/2511177.phtml
http://audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=101953

 

dont try and cut through the cat btw. i tried that and that bitch is SOLID!

 

not to steak your thread, can you put a test pipe on a 1.8tq with a tip

 

^yup

 

haha. u can do anything. just make sure u check the emission laws in ur state first cuz if u violate a emissions law, u'll have a pretty court case in ur hands

 

Work from the wheel well and take off the heat sheild thats above the passanger side cv boot. Its like 3 allen bolts and it will make it much easier. The onlynut that is welded to the cat is the top one. So really the only way to get thatone bolt out is from the bottom. Work from the bottom or top, whatever it take for you to get it out.

 

what the hell kind of cat do you have? cuz on mine, all 3 nuts are definitely welded on. and you'll take just as much time trying to go through the wheel well than just using an extension and a universal joint