Richard Jenkins

While shopping for a new winter vehicle I ran across a smoking deal on a 2000 996 so now my beloved 98 Boxster was relegated to winter duty.

Ive driven her in the winter in the past and she's done suprisingly well in the Rochester NY snow usong Toto Proxes 4s.

She he looks pretty rust free except for the headers. I'm worried if I let it go too long I'll never get those bolts out. is it worth trying to take them off, clean them up now. Perhaps some stainless headers. I'm not too worried about performance. I'll never break any records in the AX circuit anyway. A little sound would be nice. Otherwise the car is entirely stock.

Macster

Best to address the fasteners now. You get to do this on your time schedule. If you wait one can (make that will) break and the exhaust can leak and then you have to deal with this at a less then opportune time. A leaking exhaust can result in erosion of head metal at the leak and the exhaust manifold may not seal properly. This can also lead to localized overheating which can crack the head.

Not sure what you can do about the headers. (IIRC the stock headers, at least on my 2002, are stainless.)

But at least remove all the fastener hardware and replace with stainless hardware. When I had off road motorcycles I frequently visited a fastener supply store which carried a good selection of stainless steel (USA/metric) fasteners. I used stainless steel for almost all bolts/fasteners for which I could easily substitute after market for OEM. Same for my vehicles. Whenever possible I'd replace the factory hardware with stainless hardware.

mikefocke

I recall several nightmare stories of bolts connecting the headers to the block snapping. Do them when you are forced to and not before is my thinking.

Richard Jenkins

I never thought about the fasteners. Thanks for advice on that one.

My fear is breaking off a bolt taking off the headers. I was hoping to catch the rust before that became a risk. Perhaps it is too late already to avoid this.

I've done a little testing at my work and I've found the 50/50 mixture of acetone and ATF works great for freeing up rusted bolts on CNC machines. It also worked great for freeing up the nut on my alternator. I was hoping it would work on my header bolts as well. Just have to be careful not to get it on anything plastic. This stuff will eat it up.

I love this car and hate to see her rust away which will happen in the Rochester winter. I can't get anything close to the same quality for the money I would get for selling her. She's got 80k on her and I've had her since 20k and never had a serous issue (did change the IMS) when purchased.

insite

i agree w/ mike. you are already in a position where the bolts will break. the car is older; the bolts anneal & get soft. IMO there is a near 100% chance you will break at least one. don't mess with them.

insite

BTW, your mention of acetone & atf may be good, but the issue isn't just the rust. it's a combination of galling, pitting & annealing that will be your primary issue.

Macster

Techs tell me in my nothern CA area exhaust bolts break and this area sees no snow and little wet weather.

In a car exposed to winter driving and all that means you can count on bolts breaking. You'll just have to take your time to remove the broken bolt and ensure the threads in the head are sound or use some kind of a thread insert to resurrect the threads.

To help loosen up suspected frozen bolts I used heat and a hammer to tap on the head to break the bolt free.

You try an off the shelf penetrating oil, giving each bolt multiple applications over a few days. You can hit each bolt head with a hammer at the time you apply the penetrating fluid. The impact helps loosen the bolt. No need to get brutal with bolt just a sharp impact a bit more forceful than a tap is all that is needed.

But unless you are very lucky at least one bolt will break off and you'll have to be prepared to deal with this.

pmkazz

While trying to remove the exhaust manifolds on my Southern California 996, I broke 4 bolts. And they were not rusted. Had to bring the car to my friends shop, drill out the bolts and install timecerts. It was the biggest PITA job ever. So just be prepared for a potential problem. IMO.

olegd

If it ain't broke don't fix it! The manifolds are usually stainless steel while the bolts are always iron. This is because stainless steel looses strength under extreme temperatures.

Spend your money on a set of winter tires and enjoy!

Schnell Gelb

The fix is S/S STUDS not bolts. Kits are available inexpensively .That is the easy part. Removal of corroded/broken bolts has been covered at length previously. We mentioned trick tools to make a nasty job easier. The primary challenge is to get a