lol i ran into the same problem with the last turbo i bought. You can either take a grinder and cut the bolts off and then use an extractor to remove them or you can take some pb blaster, soak where the chra meets the exhaust housing and then take a rubber mallet and start hammering away. Just don't hit it too hard or you might damage the turbine wheel when the housing finally decides to separate.
Yeah, I am going to refrain from cutting, I just got that Jpipe off today... what a PITA. Whoever decided to put that swiss cheese metal nut needs to be smacked in the head. I have never felt so defeated with my tools.
I stripped it from its usual 12mm size, so I got needle nose vice-grips, which would just slip. I then tried a pair of pliers which I bent out of shape. I then tried filing down one of the edges so that I can fit a 7/16", which I almost got going but got pissed off sitting there with a little Needle file set and just started drilling at the damn nut. After breaking a bit and making a hole in the nut, I decided to try some dremel tools, and I just started cutting away at an angle with a cut off disk, until I reached the stud in multiple areas. Finally, I was looking for something to use as a chisel and decided to pin the pointy side of my welding hammer and hit the other end with a claw hammer until it finally broke loose.
I was hitting the turbine housing with a rubber mallet, but no luck, my hand just started hurting from the shocks of holding the turbo. I ended up reading a bunch and decided to put it in the freezer. Tomorrow, I will pull it out, put the housing to a torch and hit it with the mallet again.
BTW, how much radial shaft play is acceptable (side to side)? I can hear and feel it moving a little, but cannot see any motion.