odonnell

...to make R&R less of a hassle. I did mine for the first time a few weeks ago, and was having a hell of a time getting those 6 nuts/bolts off. I remember 4 went smoothly, 1 was annoying, and 1 was REALLY annoying. I was thinking, what about tapping the flanges so you don't need to have a wrench/socket on each side of the connection. Or maybe I'm just missing the magic touch. Is tapping them asking for trouble when it comes to integrity?

Paulyy

Here's what I think,

Good:
Easier to do up.

Bad:
More of a chance the bolts can seize up.
Which leads to them breaking.
A chance of it rattling off.

You could use ani-seize paste. stuff usually works well. But them falling off is the problem.

odonnell

Thanks for the reply. I use anti-seize on almost everything, but yeah you're right about them wiggling loose. Moreso than a nut though? I suppose the nut has the advantage of friction acting against the bottom face.

Tom M'Guinn

I suppose it would also reduce the amount by which the flanges could move under thermal expansion somewhat. If you try it, I might be inclined to tack weld nuts onto the flange rather than try to tap those old crusty flanges.

gpr8er

here's what I use for those pesky 2

Paulyy

+1 on tack welding nuts. Thought about this after I closed my laptop.
You can then use stainless steel nuts and bolts. Yes you can weld stainless to mild.

V2Rocket

tap the flange and drill the bolt heads for safety wire

Jay Wellwood

I assume you mean the flanges where the x-over pipe bolts up to. Seems like you'd have to enlarge the corresponding hole in the non-tapped flange to accommodate the studs which might result in reduced area for landing the washers/nuts?

What about just welding the bolt in from the top side of the flanges?

odonnell

Hmm, I like the idea of welding in the bolts to create studs. That opens up the option to use locknuts from below (not nylon obviously). Only concern would be, if I'm actually making it harder to R&R, because now I have to line up 3 studs at once when fitting the crossover or header section. Probably won't be that bad, I just know how big of a bitch that can be.

Jay Wellwood

Make them staggered in length perhaps?

Use copper lock nuts?