That thing I was waiting for showed up not long after I finished the last post. So naturally I decided to put the new muffler on right then and there. I was ready. I’d watched a couple install videos and I even ordered a set of muffler hanger removal pliers from Amazon.
The muffler is attached to the car with 4 rubber muffler hangers and two studs on the muffler that attach it to the mid-pipe. I squirted soapy water on the rubber hangers for lubrication and to give it time to work, I got out a pair of jack stands and jacked up the back of the car, so it would be easier to get at everything. I laid down the flattened muffler box as a pad so I wasn’t laying right on the driveway. Next, I unscrewed the nuts on the studs, one nut and spring came off while the other stud came right out of the muffler flange. So, I was left with this:
Because the studs reside in the muffler itself, they both need to come out so that they can go into my new muffler. The same thing happened on the installation video I watched as the manufacturer included it on the muffler’s order page. The fellow got out his vice grips and twisted it right off. I went and got my vice grips and try as I might that sucker was not coming off. I jumped in the Mini and drove over to Autozone to get some liquid wrench, thinking that’ll do the trick. Nope, several soakings and hammering away had zero effect.
Another option would be to try the ol’ jam nut trick, but I needed another of the right sized nut. There was one right in front of me on the stud that did come out, but unfortunately it was stuck on the stud with the same intensity as the stud that didn’t come out of the muffler. I took the stud that came out, put it in my pocket and headed to Lowes to get a nut. I screwed the stud into the handy panel they have by the drawers with all the loose hardware and found that I needed a M10x1.25 size. I open up the metric drawer and the only M10 nuts they had were M10x1.50. Shit.
Do I chance it and drive 5 miles east to Home Depot to see if they have a M10x1.25 nut? Which is probably unlikely, or do I throw a Hail Mary and drive 5 miles west to the Mazda dealer? I headed west. Even though the odds of the Mazda dealer having one of those nuts or even another stud were just as long as the Home Depot, at least when I get there if they don’t have it, they can order the genuine Mazda parts for me. They didn’t have the parts in stock, so I asked them to order me a stud and a nut. Being a belt and suspenders guy, I said, “Better yet, order two of each.” They’ll be here Tuesday.
When I got home, I looked at the back end of the Miata provocatively hoisted up in the air on jack stands and contemplated leaving it that way for the next 5 days. I thought it would be better sitting on the ground so I started to gather up all the tools and such underneath the back of the car. Look back up at the photo above, do you see the stud in the muffler with its nut off and the stud that came out with the nut still attached? Do you also see the 2 springs that give the muffler mid-pipe connection a little play? Well, I could only find one of those springs. Where could it be? I looked all over the driveway. I checked to see if it rolled down towards the street. I check in the grass next to the driveway. I checked in the shed where I’d been in and out of looking for the right nut in my 20-year drawer. I looked in the car. I looked in the house. I looked in the Mini. Nowhere.
Instead of another drive, this time I called Mazda and luckily the parts guy I was dealing with was still there. I told him that I now have a missing spring and that I’m blaming it on squirrels. The local rodent family and I are in a battle to get to see whether they can live in the little gap between the shed and the house (this is a future blog post hopefully.) Could he order me 2 of those springs as well. He did and they also will be here Tuesday.
When I hung up, I remembered that I couldn’t leave the Miata sit there. I would need to move it to have the driveway clear, because on Friday folks are coming over to pick up the hospital bed we had for Donna. The bed, along with nearly everything else she needed, I have been donating so it can get to another ALS patient who needs it. Crap. I needed to put the stock muffler back on the car. I put the nut and spring on the stud that stayed in the muffler and the screwed the springless stud in and that will have to be good enough for the quick move out and back in the next day.