Hi, I tried to install my pacesetter short shifter but had problems removing the exhaust. i have a 93 se-r by the way. what procedure exactly did you guys take to get the exhaust to hang enough to get the heatshield off? all ive been able to do so far is to remove 1 hanger, right after the cat. also, what tools did you guys use to get the cat's nuts off? the position is a bitch and they dont wanna come off!! even tried oilin em up with some wd-40

any help is very appreciated!!!

You don't need to take the cat loose. Take off the two rubber hangers at the front of the cat; Unscrew the heatshield above the cat (remove it if you can, you'll need to dent it to give the shifter clearance). This should give you room to work. This is what I did, anyway.

Hope this helps.

I used a lot of WD-40!!!!!! I unbolted the cat from the pipe closest to the engine, took it off the hangers and just let it hang freely. It is a b*tch to loosen the cat bolts, but it is possible with some patience. After that, I unbolt the heatshield and removed it, and then got to work on the shifter. You'll find there is a lot more room if you unbolt the cat as apposed to just letting it hang attached.

Word of advice: when working on ANY nissan vehicles, use a lot of lubricant on the bolts (let it soak too) and pray to not snap them while you try to loosen them!!!

That has to be the one thing I hate about nissans, very fragile bolts!!!!

I didn't unbolt the cat either. I removed three hangers, then unbolted the heat shield and slid it backwards. That gave me plenty of room to work with.

Better yet, save yourself the money and torment and just cut your stock with a hacksaw. Worked for me. :D

Yeah like they said I just removed the two hangers, one came right off and the other I unbolted the actual hanger, theres no need to make more work for youself then you have too.
Sean

I removed the exhaust from the cat hangers and then unbolted and slid the heat shield down to gain access. I didn't dent my heatshield and have no noises but it depends on how you have the shifter adjusted. Good Luck.

Matt

Buy PB Blaster from NAPA. It's the best rust penetrant out there. Waaaay better than WD40.

I used it on my never touched 152K exhaust bolts and they came out without a fuss.

I didnt have any problems removing my hangers.
Once that is done you are free as a bird.
I took off my heatshields as well and decided to leave them off.

Kiko, I just put in my short shifter this week. Like the rest of these guys said, you really don't need to diconnect the cat. There are 2 hangers w/ bolts in front of the cat and just the rubber hanger behind that suspend the cat. Just take out the 2 bolts and pull the back one out. Theres still not a lot of room, but it's enough. Then, just yank the heatsheild out. You WILL have to use your BFH tool on the heatsheild if you adjust the shifter all the way down like I did. Make sure to dent the entire length of the shield, so that the shifter rod doesn't scrub on the front of it. Hope you got it going.