Exhaust downpipe disaster
When this 2004 Rover 75 was brought in with a blowing exhaust, we knew it was going to be a problem, so we can only blame ourselves for the ensuing fun and games.
The exhaust blow was between the catalytic converter and downpipe, so it was clear the gasket needed replacing. We decided to try and undo the securing nuts – big mistake! Not content with shearing off the first one, we had no better luck with the second one. We now had two sheared studs that needed to be drilled out.
The good news was that both studs were accessible from the back of the flange, meaning that, once drilled, a new bolt could simply be popped into place. What we should have done in the first place was to cut through the side of the corroded nut, allowing it to be removed from the stud – far quicker and easier than drilling out the stud.