I just thought I'd share my triumph this evening. I got my downpipe off. Yeah three whole bolts and I'm calling it a night. Well technically 6 bolts. I read that this was going to be a nightmare and it definitely looked like that from underneath. I spent a few nights strategizing and started with the most difficult bolt first, the low bolt closest to the engine block. I got that one loose and the nut came loose from the cat so no turning back after that.

I read the how to on the other site for it and I wanted to do anything but deal with it that way since it seems like trading one difficult job for another, the O2 sensor, and it's just another gasket to replace.

Here is how I went about doing it. First off you got to take the heat shield off that protects the CV boot. That creates a whole lot of restrictions in the range of motion possible to getting tools and extra hands in there. The other thing that helped was that I sprayed the bolts with WD40 and let those puppies sit over night. You can see the can has the squirt straw. That's critical because you cant see all the bolts your spraying but just let it rip and hope it gets on them.

Next you put the wheel back on after you get the heat shield off, jack the car up, and get a light under there. even with a bright light there is so much obstruction that it's hard to get the work area illuminated. Loosen the spring loaded bolt for the first exhaust hanger and tilt the hanger up so it's out of the way. You'll need the bracket the hanger bolts to as a fulcrum for the ratchet extension.

You should have a clear view of each bolt from certain angles. I did the lower inside bolt first. Lucky for most the nuts are welded onto the cat so at least you don't need a second tool in there to do it. Not on this one for me though. The welds popped loose and I couldn't figure out why I couldn't get my closed end 14 mm wrench around it until I discovered the tack welds were keeping if from sliding on.

Two things were key to getting those bolts loose. 1. The ratchet handle was flexible which gave me good range of motion 2. I applied torque in both the clockwise and anticlockwise rotations to get the bolts to break loose. The latter point is the most critical because the swivel adapter put on after the socket can cause the edges of the bolt to strip if you aren't careful. The bolt isn't on tight but it is rusted together so I applied torque clockwise and anticlockwise to break the chemical bonds.

Pictured is a 6" and 10" extension. You probably need at least 13" to get to the bolts. Sometimes the full 16 length actually got in the way of where my head was positioned. Take great care ensuring the socket is all the way on the bolt and not tilted because of the swivel adapter. Now rotate the ratchet click by click and apply torque. Use the downpipe or exhaust bracket as a rest and fulcrum and find a ratchet position that reduces the propensity of the socket to roll off the bolt because of the swivel, use the shallowest 13mm socket you can find.

With my setup there was about a 30 degree area where I could apply sufficient torque without the socket wanting to roll off the bolt then I just kept applying it in clockwise and anticlockwise direction. It would pop loose and then I'd do little 5 degree turns at a time to keep the socket in the working position until it was totally off. Once I got the method worked out and a wrench around the first nut the second and third bolts were a breeze. With all the bullshit and working out the strategy it took 3 hours. The last two took twenty minutes. I hope with this it only takes you an hour.

Good luck. I hope this works for you.