Often times, the hardest thing to take apart on these old jeeps are the two bolts that hold the down pipe on to the exhaust manifold. The ears of the manifold break real easily and you don't want to break the stud off either. Then a simple project turns into a real PITA. So what is the best way to remove these things without severe damage?
Well, if your down pipe is junk, this is the best way, take a torch, and snip the side off the nut on the front stud and cut the head off the rear bolt. Easy as pie, right? WRONG, you have to be careful to not cut the stud!!!!
Reason I say a junk down pipe is, you will burn a hole in when snipping the nut. Run a die down the stud too to clean up the threads and you are good to go!!!
This method can be done without removing the fender or manifold.
I did try heating the nut up red hot which didn't help any. So if all else fails, this works! I replace the exhaust on my '49 today and ran into this issue where the rust was so bad.
Picture of snipped nut.
