Downpipe Nightmare

[Barnzyuk]

Hey guys,

Wondered if anyone could help me. I Drive a 1989 GTi 8v, and the downpipe is blowing really badly, and needs to be changed. Im trying to get the bugger off but i just cant seem to do it. Ive read from previous posts that its a pain due to studs snapping, but that doesnt seem to have effected me so far.i have 2 of the bolts off(the ones on the gearbox side) these were 17mm and came off no trouble. however on the other side(airbox side) they seem to be 15mm with a smaller thread size, and they seem to be much softer, and the sockets just dont seem to fit properly. ive tried undoing them with a 15mm ring spanner but im just rounding the bolts off . What should i do? is there an easy way to get thes soft bolts that are just rounding off off? im tempted to have a go at taking the manifold off and remove it whilst attached to the downpipe but from what ive read thats a complete pain aswell. and the other thing ive read is hemove the head and do it whilst its out of the car, but that idea scares me as ive never done it before. if anyone has any thoughts or ideas they would be greatly apprieciated.

Jon

[neil_1821]

erm i'm not 100% sure what you mean, but i'm pulling my enigne out my Mk2 and i've taken all the bolts out, thing is half of them were missing, but the ones that were in can be a pain, so for about a week everyday we soaked them with WD40 or something similar and they came undone easily, try to find the best fitting part, if you do end up rounding htem off then taking the gasket cover and head off isnt too bad, but then again neither is taking the manifold off. My advise is to just go for it, dont regret any of it, just have a try, there's always a soloution.