Originally Posted by Jim_H

Thanks Thaddeus

Lag, Abby's is an 86.5, I thought those were 'real' mufflers. I thought 89 was the first year they went to the oversized muffler/resonator?

Originally Posted by Jim_H

Lag, Abby's is an 86.5, I thought those were 'real' mufflers. I thought 89 was the first year they went to the oversized muffler/resonator?

Originally Posted by JKelly

First of all, thanks for the air pump tip SHRKBIT. I used a stainless machine screw (fine thread) to plug the vacuum line. Seems to work fine. So finally, I got to go for an extended spin around town....and the surrounding towns too
For awhile, I couldn't quite pinpoint all of the changes the x-pipe made (with new 02 sensor). I began by critiquing the sound from the drivers seat. At first, I wasn't too impressed. I felt like I was riding around in a ricer 4 cylinder with a coffee can muffler. At cruising speed, there wasn't too much of a difference in noise level over stock, but when I punched the throttle it made "the can" sound. Forgive me, but the words "cheap", "kidlike", and "unrefined" came to mind. I guess I prefer a more compressed sound......loud, but compressed; like a muffled roar instead of a whiney scream. I thought about how it would sound if I removed the intermediate muffler. I also thought I had better let the engine get nice and hot; maybe the computer has to remap itself also (?). I stopped focusing on the sound and started "feeling" the car. It definitely breathes easier. It revs noticeably quicker and actually feels like the car has lost a couple hundred pounds (feels lighter, zippier)....not because the cats weighed a ton, but because of the increased air flow and quicker revs; it hits redline fast in 1st gear. 2nd gear has lost some of its rocket takeoff torque. The torque boost is still there, but maybe a little higher up in the rpms and not quite as strong. At first, I thought maybe I actually lost some power, but after a bit of driving around and experimenting, I figured out that I just needed to relearn where the power shift points were. After that, I was saying "YES!!!!"; much quicker. I really like the 1st to 2nd gear transition now. Just because I didn't "feel" the 2nd gear boost, didn't mean I wasn't actually going faster. Also, I have to be more careful in 1st because it will spin the tires much easier.
After getting used to the new shifting experience, I started listening to the sound again. By now I had driven probably 40 or 50 miles, the exhaust was still a tad raspy sounding, but it had taken on more of a "ripping" instead of a "rapping". I thought that was cool. It sounded a little more "high performance". Part of it could be that I'm shifting at better points, part of it could be that the engine was completely warmed up, part of it could be that the computer adjusted itself (?). I think I'll unhook the battery ground and wipe the memory to see if that makes a difference somehow. (I also have Autothority chips installed) For now, I am pleased with the purchase and the changes it made, but what it really did was make me think more about what it would be like with a complete exhaust system.......beginning with headers

enjoy

Originally Posted by JKelly

Thaddeus, I received mine the same day as you (the 24th) and installed it yesterday. We agreed to compare notes, so here's how my day went: What I thought was going to be a 2 hour (or less) job turned out to be 8. It was done on a garage floor with ramps under the front and several 2x6's under the rear. First, that odd little piece of **** Porsche jack slipped and put a nice 3/4" gouge on the side of my car down low....I noticed that this must have happened with the previous owner too because there was another touched up mark that was identical to the one I just made in about the same place. So the whole day started bad. Once I got the car up, I started by loosening the heat shield above the cats. I then had to break the bolts that hold the cat-back part of the exhaust on. That was o.k. though because the x-pipe comes with its own bolts/clamps. I put a bottle jack under the two pipes that go back and loosened the air pump plumbing. I then loosened the cats from the headers. WD40 helped with the bolts. I slowly lowered the cats down to inspect the O2 sensor wire length. The wires just crumbled and fell apart. Somebody had previously spliced in a sensor and the crimps/wires corroded to pieces - uh oh. I slid the cats off of the rear pipes without having to unhook the rest of the exhaust and got on Rennlist to find a "quick fix" O2 sensor. I then went to Pep Boys and bought a Bosch 13913 3-wire sensor for $44.00. It had a different plug on it so I cut it off and spliced it onto the good portion of the remaining wires underneath the car. So now, everything was a go..........so it seemed. When I tried to slide the back part of the x-pipe onto the remaining exhaust I discovered that the x-pipe pipes were about an 1 1/4 farther apart. It wouldn't just slide on.....oh no. I had to take off the rest of the exhaust (pipes and rear muffler) and unbolt the middle muffler hanger to get the x-pipe on. After it was on, I had to use a furniture clamp to squeeze the exhaust pipes close enough together again to bolt the muffler hanger back on......I thought this was ridiculous. By now I was thoroughly pissed at everything; even at the grasshopper that kept jumping around underneath the car trying to find its way out (literally) lol. I managed to drag the exhaust back under the car and hook the muffler back on the muffler hangers. I supported the exhaust pipes and x-pipe with a bottle jack while I bolted up the x-pipe onto the headers. There was a small heat shield on the drivers side header that would not fit back on now. If you have this same little heat shield, you will see what I mean. The way the x-pipe is constructed will not let it go back on without modifying it. The drivers side was no problem getting the bolts back in, but leave them loose until you get the other side hooked up. The other side.........one hole lined up just fine, but the other two were off by one or two degrees. I couldn't believe it I was going apesh!t by now. There could only be two reasons that the two bolts would not go through 1. The end of the header was twisted slightly (not bent, but actually twisted), which I doubt or 2. the x-pipe end piece was welded a degree or two off. Anyway, I had a couple of stainless steel bolts that were about 2 mm smaller in diameter than the originals and they fit through.
Finally, after many hours, everything was tightened up so I turned the key. The exhaust note wasn't quite what I had expected, but it will have to do. My first impression was that it sounded a little raspy. I got back under the car while it was running and felt around the ends of the x-pipe for leaks. I had to readjust the rear clamps. Then, the air pump started whistling loud.........so that is where I am at. I have to deal with the air pump now. I drove the car around a little bit anyway and I somewhat like the sound, but I really like how the torque curve seems to be smoothed out a little. It could just be the new 02 sensor though (?). I'll have to "fix" the air pump and drive it around a little more before I can give a good critique. In a positive note, the car definetly seems to breath better . The install thoroughly sucked for me and I truly hope yours goes MUCH better.