Hi There
I’ve been busy this morning stripping the back end out of the Exige and unfortunately I had to cut the bolts that hold the cat to the manifold as the hex heads had pretty much flaked away.
Just couple of questions:
Is the flange that holds the bolts integral to the manifold ir can it be replaced?
And if it can’t be any idea’s on how to get the bolts out, at the moment I’m thinking lots of heat and bid mole grips 
Here’s a few photos of the progress so far.
The flange is welded to the end of the manilfold.
A can of wd40 will be your friend… Give the bolts a good squirt and leave them to soak for a while before trying to turn them out with out with a decent pair of grips…
If you haven’t destroyed the heat shield completely in the process of removing it then cut it down so you just have the peice that goes under the boot floor and rivet it back in place, you can then tuck the other end back in under the clam.
The heat shield came off in one piece which was a pleasant surprise so I was going to do as you say and trim the back off and re-fit it back in place.
thanks 
Marcus
A thing of beauty! I’m not sure about the manifold but my cat bolts were well stuck so also used WD which did the trick.
Rap the u-bend in exhaust heat rap as it looks better than the rattling heat shields, i think so anyway.
I presume you are leaving the two side grills off ?
I totally agree on the exhaust wrap point, I have some grey DEI wrap and some stainless cable ties awaiting fitment, I’ll post some more photos when there’s something worth looking at
Just one more thing:)
Is the coupling on the manifold a lotus specific thing or is it a toyota part?
the manifold is toyota.
If you get stuck I have a s/h one here with about 5k on it…
PICS Gav or STFU!!!
[quote=SeanB]PICS Gav or STFU!!!
[/quote]
�5K is a bit expensive too…perhaps he meant �5??? 
Thanks TT I’ll see how I get on with these bolts.
Is it a clam off job to change the manifold if it comes to that 
Any thoughts on this as a possible alternative,
Stainless Manifold Ebay
No clam stays on, not many bolts just a bit awkward
This is turning into a bit of an epic 
I’ve spent an hour getting the top heat shield off the manifold three nuts came out, and one was so rusty it had no head left
I then find that the bolts and studs that hold the manifold in place have seen better days as well, so much so I managed to remove the left hand side nut, but the bolt that is one in from left does not want to budge.
So I’m thinking of removing the clam to avoid rounding the the heads off and causing even more issues
I’ve removed the rear clam from an S1 Elise before but never an S2 so any advise would be well received.
Many Thanks
Marcus
Bad luck, my 04 with 40000 miles the bolts all came off with no problems.
Its a bit drastic to take the clam off but if you have the time it’s may be the thing to do.
I just had a call from Mr Valentine and he’s given me a few more ideas to try before I go all out, pulling the car to pieces, thanks for call Jim very much going the extra mile
Nearly choked on ma Horlicks when I read this Marcus. It’s the usual problem with a bit of heat/rust, the threads are crusted to the flange. The rusty bolt heads get rounded off when you try to undo them - nightmare. I usually weld a large nut to them - does the trick because there’s not a lot of thread holding them.
Always use Plus-Gas (from frost.co.uk) to loosen any rusty fixings - amazing stuff - forget about WD40, that’s not what it’s for.
A bit of heat from a little butane gas-burner, squirt of Plus-Gas, mole-grips on the end of the bolt shank - don’t bend the bolt as you’re turning it - should do the trick!
Sorry about that jim I didn’t mean to be a choking hazerd 
Things have move on today, I bought a Laser Impact stud extractor, plugged it onto my sealey cordless impact driver and the studs came out in a jiffy. a very handy tool indeed can’t recommend it enough
Great news looking forward to seeing the finished job, you must be too…lol