I just finished my HG job on my '83, and it's great! The car feels much smoother, balance shafts seem perfectly timed (first time we took belts off and installed new ones), on and on.

The only trouble I have is that I installed a used stock set of headers and the OEM cat to replace the Midas hackjob POS pipe that was on there. The bolts that join my (original) muffler and the new cat don't go in well at all. Installing them towards the back of the car, they angle inwards towards the pipe itself. One is so well stuck in there that I can't budge it, yet it isn't in there well enough to start a nut and bring the pieces together. I have a new steel donut piece in between them. I think I'm doing things right, but I would expect it to go together better than it did. Any bits of advice?

It sounds a little like a Honda with a fart can, there is a good leak under there as is. 2 bolts hold the system fairly well, but seeing as how they don't fit well, I'm not inclined to really tighten them and put a lot of stress on them. Bolts are the metric equivalent of about 1 1/2" long.

BTW, the headers-to-cat fittings were dead on, so I don't think something is messed up. Should I just jack the car back up and keep trying?

 

Hmmm...

Not sure why you are having trouble? I do know that you need to tighten the bolts equally. You cannot tighten one completely and then go to the next because you will pull the exhaust off to the side you tightened.

Put all the bolts in first. Then tighten each nut incrementally until they are all about the same distance down their bolts. Then, check to see if you have any missalignment of the pipe along its length. Go back and loosen some and tighten others to pull the exhaust in one direction or antother as needed to gain proper clearance. This is how you adjust the exhaust to exit correctly without hitting anything.

 

OK. Does the steel donut crush itself as you tighten, or does it keep a small gap between the pipes? I have about a 1/4" gap between pipes where the donut fills in.

 

Try taking all the exhaust out of the car, except the headers. Bolt it all together on the ground, so it'll be easier, then put it in as one long pipe. You can hang it on its hangers before bolting it in so it's quite manageable. While it's all on the floor, you will probably have an easier time trying to get it together / seeing where the problem is. I have never unbolted the cat-back from the cat so I don't know anything about a donut. HTH.

 

hey bud,

Make sure teh donut is sitting in teh whole of teh two pipes and not too much to one side... Also make sure everything is on it's hangers prior to bolting together. Try to get them as sstraight as you can first. After that it should be pretty straight forward, maybe a little angle to teh bolts but nothing major. go buy longer bolts if it will make it easier.