J-pipe removal and stud replacement

had anyone here had to replace the studs on the vf54 turbo? i need to do my timing belt and water pump and i know i have to remove the cat/j-pipe to do it. the nuts holding it on are about as bad as it gets and i have a feeling i will have to replace the studs while in in there. my questions are...

 

1. how the hell can i get the nuts off that pretty much have no sides to them?

 

2. any one replace there studs with a aftermarket kit like grimmspeed? or am i stuck getting them from Subaru?

I just replaced mine with the stock Subaru studs.

 

They make a tools to remove studs... all you need is enough stud sticking out to grab on to.

https://www.google.com/search?q=stud+removal+tool&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS749US749&oq=stud+removal+tool&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l7.3535j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

I have had luck with the socket type, especially when the tool is new.

had anyone here had to replace the studs on the vf54 turbo? i need to do my timing belt and water pump and i know i have to remove the cat/j-pipe to do it. the nuts holding it on are about as bad as it gets and i have a feeling i will have to replace the studs while in in there. my questions are...

 

1. how the hell can i get the nuts off that pretty much have no sides to them?

 

2. any one replace there studs with a aftermarket kit like grimmspeed? or am i stuck getting them from Subaru?

 

You can drop the exhaust manifolds and turbo/j pipe as one unit instead of removing the j-pipe from the turbo.

stew. i have the stud extractors. not too worried about that. these nuts on them are going to fight me...

 

dgoodhue.. i figured i could do that worst case. but i also want to upgrade the j pipe while im in there.

stew. i have the stud extractors. not too worried about that. these nuts on them are going to fight me...

 

dgoodhue.. i figured i could do that worst case. but i also want to upgrade the j pipe while im in there.

 

I tried this about a month ago with my 2010 LGT, got one stud out (the nut was completely rusted away), but could not get any of the others out. Once the weather warms-up I am going to drop the exhaust manifold/turbo/j-pipe as one assembly and work on it outside of the car.

Mine was also extremely rusted. I hit them with PB Blaster almost every day for two weeks before I even tried, and I was able to get three of the nuts off with it in the car. The fourth one brought the stud with it. I was able to get the rest of the studs out once the turbo was out of the car with the double-nut method and replaced them with OEM studs (and nuts). If I had to do it again, I'd probably drop it as one piece just to be able to work on those nuts with better visibility.

Dropping it all tougher may be my only option... I’m not against.... hell maybe why its all out I can up grade to a bnr 18g if I can find one for a reasonable price..... just didn’t know if anyone used aftermarket studs or stuck to oem... this car will be going under the knife when the weather breaks here in pa... I put it away for winter. And don’t need it as a daily. Thanks all.

Even if your j-pipe bolts were not rusty they were hard to remove when new and likely would have require at least one new nut/stud.

Dropping it all tougher may be my only option... I’m not against.... hell maybe why its all out I can up grade to a bnr 18g if I can find one for a reasonable price..... just didn’t know if anyone used aftermarket studs or stuck to oem... this car will be going under the knife when the weather breaks here in pa... I put it away for winter. And don’t need it as a daily. Thanks all.

 

I used OEM studs.