- This topic has 3 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 12 months ago by
.
-
Topic
-
:woohoo:
Woohoo! Finished replacing the front pipe or A pipe on my 1989 Honda Accord LXi, 2.0L L4 SOHC 16V, 5-speed Manual Trans, 4-dr Sedan, Non-CARB (49 state), Fuel Injection, 249K mi., A20A3 Engine.
THANKS a MILLION to Eric for all of the videos that helped me have the confidence to attempt this repair! Was quoted over $300 for the repair. The front pipe cost me $84 and with miscellaneous seals, nuts, bolts probably have another $45 in the job.
Picked up some tools to help: electric impact wrench, impact sockets, impact extenders, stripped bolt extractors. But that’s the fun – buying tools – isn’t it?
One thing of note: I coated the inside and out side of the pipe with Eastwood’s Hi-Temp Internal Exhaust Coating. Coating is supposedly good to 1800-degrees F. Theory is the rest of the car will rust away and the A-pipe will still be standing!
Next, I don’t have an acetylene torch, so I heated up the bolts with a propane torch. The large bolts on the header studs (14mm) were heated for 3-minutes each. They never turned cherry red but had flecks of bright orange all over them. Never-the-less, the bolts came free with the impact wrench without too much complaint.
The smaller bolts (12mm) DID turn evenly cherry-red with a couple of minutes of propane heating. But yeah, without heating and an impact wrench this was a no-go project.
Oh yeah, and anyone following me on the repair is gunna love it! They will find OEM nuts on the header studs. Also wire brushed the studs and applied some Naval Jelly- allowing it to sit while I took a meal break. After cleaning that off, coated the studs and new bolts with never-seize. But hey, I’m @nal!
Stayin’ dirty!
-
Replies
-
Glad to hear the job went well. If you took pictures of the process
we could put this in repair central how to forum for the next person
to see. 🙂[quote=”college man” post=122826]Glad to hear the job went well. If you took pictures of the process
we could put this in repair central how to forum for the next person
to see. :)[/quote]er, me? {blush} you’d want my pics even though Eric has excellent videos?
Actually, as I was laying there heating up the first bolt, I thought about taking pictures and decided no one would want them. Now that said, I think one of the front ring seals fell out and I may need to pull the whole thing down to get the seal back in. (noticed some smoke coming up from the header) Prolly will use the extra set of steel OEM ring seals if I do. If you think it would be of value, I could mock up the old pipe and catch some snaps of the process? Certainly the re-install will be the same.
I do have a full set from the thermostat replacement – if that would be of any use. Also planned on a full set for the radiator replacement.
With so many good videos of Eric’s can’t see how some still photos would help? But hey, if it does, I’m glad to contribute as a thanks for what I have been able to learn here.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.