Checking Pre-cats. Where it all went wrong.

[Anonymous]

Having a spare hour today I deceided to check my pre-cats as the 2' is approaching 20k miles on the clock.

I started on the first 8mm bolt on the top of the heatshiled. I took a bit of effort but it got the thing moving, then it grabbed, then it sheared. Doh!  s:( s:(  

I then moved onto bolt two.  Applied Plusgas this time and attacked it aftern running th engine for a while.  Once again it moved & then grabbed.  This time I applied more Plusgas and managed to get it out, all be it warped as a banana.

The shorter front bolts came out ok.  I then tried to remove the left 02 sensor.  This wouldn't budge & I wasn't about to argue with it.  The right hand sensor came out ok tho'.  I checked the pre-cat, everying looks OK.  I then attacked the sheard bolt stem stuck in the manifold.  I drilled it out and used Plusgas & a stud extractor.  I got the thing moving when ping!  The welded nut underneath the manifold sheared.  Now I've got a stud extractor jammed through the manifold (fat end won't pass through the hold) stuck in the sheared welded manifold nut.  I'm currenlt hacksawing the stud extractor to get the thing out.  Stud extractors are hard tho   s:x :x s:x  

Any ideas how I might re-attach the heatshield considering the nut under the manifold heatshield hole will now be mising?

[aaronjb]

Ahh the ol' shearing stud extractor - we managed that several times at the last pre-cat gutting meet.  In fact, I only recently finished having the bolt plus stud extractor spark eroded out of the manifold..

Anyway - I think your best bet is simply not to put the heat shield back on unless you really have to.. Otherwise you'll probably need to get a nut welded back on there  s:? :? s:?

Seems like a lot of bother for something not entirely necessary  s:) s:)

[Anonymous]

I was thinking of putting a bolt in upside down with a star washer on the back side and a circlip on the front to stop it falling through.  Carefully re-seat the heatshield and use a nice chrome dome - type nut to secure?

Anyone think this might do the job?

[loadswine]

How about one of Che's manifolds as a replacement?
http://www.mr2roc.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=10316
It would look a lot better than stock and probably give better gas flow than stock or gutted.

[Anonymous]

Yeah! I looked at this earlier.  Very interesting & very cheap.  Definately worth thinking about.  

However,  after hours fighting with the **** bolt, getting burnt on the exhaust & smashing my nuckles on the head its become personal.  I'm determined to get the thing back on and painted too!

[spit]

Its a drag when these things go spectacularly pear-shaped. Hope you're not too disheartened.

I'd go with Aaron's advice and just leave the shield off until you've had a chance to take stock. Your best chance of getting a tidy fix will probably be when you take the manifold off completely to smash out the precats  s8) s8)  

(Most of what follows is me thinking aloud, so feel free to ignore it!!)

That said, if you can clear the hole, your upside-down bolt trick will probably work, but you'll have to be dextrous to stop it spinning...or maybe slender-nut & spring washer it on the top side. It'll need to be a good fix though 'cos it gets f hot up there!

Or you could use a nutted version of the U-clip fittings around the manifold bracket to give you the thread you need to bolt in from the top. Sorry, dunno what they're called but I'm sure they exist  s:shock: :shock: s:shock:

Or you could tap the bracket itself with an oversize tap & use a bigger bolt.

Or you could wait for me to get off my ar$e and put my stock manifolds up for sale so's u could offer me a ridiculously low price for one of them.  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

[Keith J Singleton]

Hi Guys,
Just reading through some of the topics going on. I've just acquired an 05 Roadster with 2,800 miles on the clock! Ex-demonatrator. Is the heat shield bolts something that's going to need attention is years to come and is there any preventive maintenance I should be doing in this area?
I've also had all the wheels off and given them a really good clean inside and then coated them with waxoyl to prevent any of the usual bubbling on the outer face of the wheels. They're already starting to pit on the inside of the spokes!

[Anonymous]

Thanx Split,

I thought about a re-tap however, the bracket itself looks rather thin to take a decent thread.  The hole will be clear once I've hacked the stud extractor in two and released the nut & wots left of the extractor.  I can't visualise the u-clip fixing you mention but it sounds interesting.  

I'm definately going for stainless replacement bots.  This shouldn't cause a problem should it   s:?: :?: s:?:  

Still smiling tho:  s:D s:D    Those cats look ok for now!

Keith J Singleton:  Keep an eye for any stainless replacements responses, it might be worth thinking about before your bolts rust, warp & sieze.  My 2' is just over two years old, spends most of its time in-doors & the bolts are stuck in there good & proper!

[spit]

I can't visualise the u-clip fixing you mention but it sounds interesting.

I think I'm thinking of something called the "Captive Nut"

[Anonymous]

I've also had all the wheels off and given them a really good clean inside and then coated them with waxoyl to prevent any of the usual bubbling on the outer face of the wheels. They're already starting to pit on the inside of the spokes!

Take your car back to Toyota and get them to change/refurb the wheels under warranty. If they've started to go, then it'll just get progressively worse.

[kanujunkie]

I can't visualise the u-clip fixing you mention but it sounds interesting.

I think I'm thinking of something called the "Captive Nut"

or clip-nut

you should be able to get the stud exractor off with 2 pairs of mole grips then just get a new nut welded on the back of the flange. it is possible to do just tricky

[Anonymous]

Still smiling though:  s:D s:D    Those cats look ok for now!

Mine looked fine from above it wasn't until I removed the manifold and found that one had started to fall apart underneath. I would bite the bullet and get the manifold off, clear out those cats and get your bolt hole sorted at the same time. Make sure you plus gas every nut and bolt everyday the week before you do this though or you may be drilling out even more broken bolts.

[roger]

They're already starting to pit on the inside of the spokes!

You'll probably notice that's the leading edge, which gets hit with all the rubbish and road-kill.

Unfortunately it appears Toyota skimped on the finish (probably the accountants saved them a few yen   s:oops: :oops: s:oops:  ) so they deserve to get as many wheels back as we can!

[aaronjb]

Let's keep this thread roughly on topic (pre-cats)  s:) s:)

Keith - don't be worried about the heat shield bolts.. but do worry about the precats - several large threads about the issue that a good search should show up (search for "pre AND cat" or "precat"  s:) s:) )

[Anonymous]

In my experience over the last 24 hrs the bolts & studs are a major factor here.   Waiting the three years for your warrenty expire will probably mean a few hours of grief with siezed bolts.

I've finally got the stu extractor & bolt separated  s:P s:P  .  Now I'm off to find a contortionist welder   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  .

[kanujunkie]

I've finally got the stu extractor

didn't know i was part of the problem  s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

[Anonymous]

I don't think you're part of the problem - In fact the opposite.  My advice would be to swap the bolts to stainless early-doors.  

Kanu: On your recomendation I visited the local garage who welded a nut back on FOC.  I asked about a de-pre-cat whilst I was there but the didn't facy removing the manifold after they saw what I went through on the first bolt.  They suggested an upwards approach by splitting the exhaust at the main cat junction & remove the matrix from below, leaving the manifold attached - I declined.

I need a week or so to de-stress before returning to the Precat removal quandry.

Below is the new Toyota Banana-Bolt   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:   and the embedded stud extractor   s:evil: :evil: s:evil:  -Nice.  Below that is the Heat Shield back on   s:bounce: :bounce: s:bounce:  .



Not quite chilli red but it looks ok by me.

[kanujunkie]

hhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Halfrauds high temp red paint by any chance?

[Anonymous]

YIP,  Does exactly nothing like what it says on the tin!

Don't burst my bubble now -I'm just happy to get the thing back together!

Maybe its jus the lighting conditions?  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

[kanujunkie]

Kanu: On your recomendation I visited the local garage who welded a nut back on FOC.  I asked about a de-pre-cat whilst I was there but the didn't facy removing the manifold after they saw what I went through on the first bolt.  They suggested an upwards approach by splitting the exhaust at the main cat junction & remove the matrix from below, leaving the manifold attached - I declined.

we did Ernie Balls one that way after a similar issue with the manifold studs, thats where the picture of me in the condom suit came from (cue Dan!). The trick is to stuff loads of oily rag onto the top of the precats thru the O2 sensor holes. then gut it from below, problem is your underneath the crap thats raining down on you. It works but 1 little bit going back up the pipe could destroy everything, so makesure you trust them to do it right

[kanujunkie]

YIP,  Does exactly nothing like what it says on the tin!

Don't burst my bubble now -I'm just happy to get the thing back together!

Maybe its jus the lighting conditions?  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

nope turned mine orange too   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

[spit]

For reference, another one to avoid is Tetrosyl red engine lacquer - unless pink really is your passion  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

[Anonymous]

Spit:

Or you could wait for me to get off my ar$e and put my stock manifolds up for sale so's u could offer me a ridiculously low price for one of them.

Give me a shout when you put your manifolds up for bids.  I'd be interested considering the false start I managed with the one on my 2'.  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Other than that it could be a Che's replacement. I think I read that Beastie is going to order one?  I'd like an assesment of the quality & reassurance that everything lines up as it should.

[loadswine]

Glad you got it sorted for now.
Have to hold up my hands and admit that my heatshield is exactly the same colour. Mmmmmmmmmmmm Salmon!!  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[Anonymous]

Spit:

Or you could wait for me to get off my ar$e and put my stock manifolds up for sale so's u could offer me a ridiculously low price for one of them.

Give me a shout when you put your manifolds up for bids.  I'd be interested considering the false start I managed with the one on my 2'.  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Other than that it could be a Che's replacement. I think I read that Beastie is going to order one?  I'd like an assesment of the quality & reassurance that everything lines up as it should.

Its ordered and hopefully on the way  s:) s:)   I will give a full report with piccies when it gets here.