Greg wrote:
>
> Thanks for the responses so far. If I can't hammer the socket over the
> nut and were to instead cut off the rusted nut and bolt with a dremel
> tool, would I be able to replace the bolt coming from the cat or is it
> spot-welded to the cat?

It's probably a stud welded to the cat. The best way to do this, given my
experience doing exhaust work, is to heat the nut up. Most mechanics would
use a small tip on their oxy-acetylene torch. However, you might be able to
get by with a MAPP gas torch (just make sure that it's one that puts out a
nice conical flame, I've seen some which produce a very diffuse flame which
isn't what you want most of the time). Heat up the outside of the nut until
it's red and then turn it with a socket. Use an impact type socket or you
can risk taking the temper out of a chrome socket and then it could easily
break the next time you use it.

> The nut appears to be 13mm, but the rust is preventing the socket from
> fitting over it.

With regards to the nut size, Honda usually doesn't use 13 mm sized
fasteners. It was probably a 14 mm at one point. I suggest using a special
"twist" socket that works great for stripped or rusted nuts/bolts. You can
find some examples at http://tinyurl.com/hrp8a and
http://tinyurl.com/kg9td. They are worth their weight in gold when it comes
to removing rusted or stripped nuts.

Eric