On 4/30/2012 6:19 PM, pickle vanagon wrote:
> (I actually am thinking that even if I wanted to keep the studs, I'd prefer
> to have stainless studs in which case I'd be removing these studs anyways.)

Why? In my experience, although SS exhausts are great, SS hardware
anywhere near an exhaust is asking for trouble.  You won't be able to
get as much clamping force as with steel, given the same size stud.
It tends to gall and lock up tight when torqued, and then you've ruined
both the nut and the stud, and have a bigger problem than just removing
a nut.

The best studs I've run into were on the cat flange of an older Toyota
Previa - some sort of hardened steel. After 150K, the nuts were corroded
to where they weren't even hex shaped (removed with a Dremel cutoff
wheel and cold chisel), but the studs were in perfect shape, no
corrosion at all. I'd like to know what they were made of.

IMO, just get some copper nuts to use with the steel studs if you're
concerned with future ease of removal.