I'm sure it will be, I know I just need an extra pair of hands to help out. I'll be putting the girlfriend to work tomorrow!

If only the X pipe had flex joints...

 

yeah..PITA. Leave the rear clamps loose until you're done up front. As I suggested in an earlier post it might be easier to loosen up the upper CAT to header bolts (at least on one side) to make it easier lining this up. We didn't but thought about it. The way we did it was to do one side up first, clamps straight then tighten. I then put a pry bar between the frame and the CAT on theopposite side just before the clamp and forced the CAT side into alignment. Seems the X pipe is about 1/4" to narrow. With pressure on the pry bar, we lined up the clamp and tightened. I figure a few heat cycles to make everything happy. It was a bit frustrating. What I though would be a one person 30 minute job turned into a 2 person 1.5 hour job.

Another idea that will make it easy for one to do would be to loop a ratchet strap between the CAT ends. Ratchet that baby in until perfectly aligned and tighten the clamps. I'm suspecting this would have been easier than the way we did it...(had I given the problem more thought.)

 

Thanks for your insight, Steve. I was just thinking about looping a ratchet around the cats to try and get them into proper alignment. I will probably give that a try tomorrow.

I wish I could say I spent only an hour and a half on this. I told myself "I've done this a million times, it will be a piece of cake" and it ended up being the worst car modding experience I've ever had. The time I spent a couple hours trying to get the sheered locking lug nut off my 370Z was better than this.

 

well, since it was asked and 2 posters have had fitment issues...

i have the magnaflow x-pipe (not offroad), it is 3 inch piping instead of frpp 2.75 inch and a different x design

i put it on cat-side first (without tightening the clamps) and the most time was spent equaling out the clamps joining it to the over-axle pipes, after that all clamps were tightened and i had no exhaust leaks. It fit like it could have been the factory H-pipe

i also didn't pay $400, $278 to be exact(got a deal, anyone can-PM me)

good luck on the install, i think the sound will be worth it.
And to others that have asked, there is NO rasp, look at the 1st vid in post #30 in the thread, that's my car, is there any rasp in it?

 

Now that I know what I need to do I think getting the Cat flanges lined up correctly should be a lot easier tonight. I'm going to try the loop ratchet method first.

 

I'm thinking that technique should be a piece of cake. I've used the ratchet strap method on other things (like installing my lower control arms, Audi TT rear suspension installs etc.) Let us know how you make out Steve!

BTW, the more I drive the car with the X pipe the more I like it. The effort will be worth it!

 

I will definitely let you know. I am sure I will be very pleased with the final result.

I will have been through hell, though. I am suffering from some sort of allergic reaction and am itchy as hell. My skin is really sensitive to lots of metals (I can't wear watches with stainless steel bands) so that could be it, or I could have been bitten by something in the several hours I spent futzing around underneath the car.

If this all goes well tonight, I will be working on installing my stripe kit tomorrow. Even more fun.

 

Good luck man. Anxiously waiting on the results

 

We're behind you Steve. Looking forward to see how your helper does !!!!

 

Might not work on it tonight, guys. This reaction is getting pretty bad, took two benadryl and am waiting it out a bit, but I might be going to the doc later. Eyes are half shut at this point... this stupid X pipe is going to be the death of me! LOL. Hoping I can get to it tomorrow morning...

 

So we got the passenger side to line up correctly without leaking, but the driver side has a pretty tremendous leak. Trying again, for probably the 19th time, to get this stupid thing to clamp up. I hate these clamps, btw... what ever happened to the two-three bolt flanges with gaskets? Ugh.

 

I think the only thing left to try now to loosen the drivers side cat a bit.

 

Still have a big leak at the drivers side cat connection. Even tried flipping the x pipe to see if that would help at all. Going to try one more way to get this on involving two tie down straps... One bringing the cats in proper alignment and the other pulling the drivers side x pipe connection as flush as possible with the cat. If this fails I am going to put the h pipe back on and go on some sort of crazed rampage.

 

One more tip....I had to support the resonators/aft mid pipe to make the CAT to X-pipe flanges align..

 

Steve, we have been supporting the pipes to keep them in alignment. How did you align the clamps on the cat flanges? We used two tie down straps to pull the cats in and also one to pull the driver side x pipe as far into the cat flange as possible, but we are still having a leak, only at that flange. Wondering if I am doing something wrong with the clamp... Should it be covering the entire x pipe flange?

 

My flanges ended up looking like this. You almost need to hold them while tightening to keep them from cocking on the joint. I had a very slight air leak on one. No noise from it though. Haven't checked again since the pipes have seasoned in place though..

 

Kind of hard to tell from that angle, but i think yours might be a little further back on the x pipe than mine. I'll give it another try.

Would there be any harm in using some high temp red silicone? I really want this to work, especially since i have spent this much time on it and have apparently compromised my health. Haha.

 

Also just realized that you have the bolt on your driver side clamp facing inside the x pipe. I have it to the outside... I wonder if theres any possibility that the orientation has an effect... I wouldn't think so, but at this point I'm willing to try anything.

 

I wouldn't think that would be a problem at all..

Clamps seem symmetrical so I doubt that would be a problem..

Glad I'm not allergic to stainless steel....That's my favorite metal!

 

How about torque specs... The clamps say 30nm plus/minus 2nm... Is that right? Seems awfully tight, don't want to shear the head off the bolt.