I remember being a kid and thinking snow days were the best thing between summer vacations.  Even in high school, a snow day once saved me from an impossible History final.

Now, as an adult with a license and a full-time job, I am not such a big fan.  In fact all I can think about is that if I continue to live in a place that has winter I will spend 40% of my life unable to drive with the windows down.  40% of my life barely able to keep my cars clean!

California looks really good right now but I am sure as soon as I moved they would get a monumental earthquake.

Oh and don’t forget winter’s terrible aftershocks: salt and rust.  Just the other week I had the pleasure of installing a turbo-back exhaust on my friend’s Subaru.  Let me preface this story with one important fact: Jim lives in Connecticut.

An exhaust pipe cutter is your best friend.

I knew the underbelly of his Subaru was going to be rusted thanks to the road salt but we were in for a surprise.  20 hours, 4 trips to Autozone and 5 broken bolts later we were finally done.  I have to admit it was a pain but when we fired up the turbo boxer engine it was worth it!

Rules for Removing Rusted Exhausts

So it’s been a while since I had to tackle a rustastic exhaust system.  For the sake of future generations I wanted to share a few tips.

Rule #1: ‘PB Blast’ Every Bolt

PB Blaster is a “penetrating lubricant”.  Its name and description provide countless hours of jokes.  And its magical oil brings rusted metal back from the dead.  Spray this stuff around all rusted bolts and nuts and wait a good 30 minutes.  It will soak into the smallest cracks and make it much easier to break loose rusted hardware.  It only failed us on the bolts that had rusted so badly they literally lost their shape.  Which brings us to rule two…

Rule #2:  Have a Pipe Cutter Handy

By the end of the first day we were tired and frustrated by a few of the bolts.  Actually every bolt from the catalytic converter back was rusted beyond recognition.  Only one option:  chop it out! Naturally we decide this at some point past midnight and neither of us brought an exhaust pipe cutter.

First thing in the AM we head down to Autozone (again) to rent one.  These pipe cutters are basically chains with circular blades embedded in them.  Wrap the chain around the pipe, hook it into the other side of the handle and then squeeze and rotate.  A few minutes later you get a perfect cut!  Two cuts and the whole exhaust was out!

Amongst legends. The Subaru is under the knife...I spent the whole time afraid I would accidentally hit the GT-R!

Rule #3:  Get Stainless Hardware For New Exhaust

If your kit does not include a complete set of bolts and fasteners you may need to take a trip to the hardware store.  Only buy stainless steel if possible.  Even if you never change the exhaust again, you will want to save future wrenchers from the hassle.  We were only missing hardware that connected the cat to the mid pipe.  We replaced them with a combination of English and metric bolts, nuts and washers from Home Depot and the local hardware store.

Rule #4:  Buy New Gaskets

One of the other trips to Autozone involved finding a ‘donut’ gasket to go between the cat and mid-pipe.  The original one was so rusted it crumpled in hand and, naturally, the directions told us to reuse it.  Would you believe that most auto parts stores don’t have a  cat-to-mid pipe donut gasket for a Legacy GT?  The nerve of some stores!  Actually we thought no one would have it but we discovered that a standard 2.5″ one from a Chevy 350 would work.  The best thing would have been to order one from Subaru ahead of time.  Hindsight’s 20/20, etc etc

So those are the rules as best as I can remember.  A lot of shops will use torches and air tools to free stubborn bolts but we did this the old fashioned way: ramps and hand tools!

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