Gibson Cat Back Install

[Steve_RI]

This looks to be pretty straightforward, but I have never played with the exhaust before on this truck. At the cat, I'm going to cut the bolt heads off because everything is pretty rusty. The Gibson has a welded flange, but am I going need a gasket or anything else for this? I see that Gibson provides new bolts. Is cutting those bolts off the best idea or is there a better way? Thanks.

[KovemaN]

I would soak the bolts with some kind of penetrating lube like PB Blaster. Smack them with a hammer a few times and soak them some more. Then try to remove them. If they are stuck the heads will break off anyway. You might get lucky and coax them out without breaking. Once you have the entire cat out you can grind the broken stud flat with the flange and then drill it out. That's your only option if you want to keep the original cat. You should be able to get a direct fit replacement for a decent price on ebay. The Magnaflow part number is 22760 and should be under $100.

[Steve_RI]

I thought that the flange on CAT was going to mount to the flange on Gibson muffler. I guess this is not going to be as easy as I thought. Thanks for the help.

[KovemaN]

The flange on the cat should bolt up to the gibson system. I was just giving you a heads up on the rusty converter bolt issue. Hopefully they will come right out for you.

[GrimGreg]

When I did mine I had to drill out the bolts, saved the threads on one of the 2 (yes the cat side of the flange is threaded). The other one I drilled out and used a new nut and bolt. for a gasket I just used Copper RTV.

[Steve_RI]

Okay, I got it now....thanks for the heads up.