this weekend we are in the 60's here in MI which is highly unusal for feb so i decided to install the catless xpipe.... now it finally sounds right

the install was pretty easy and fitment was spot on

 

Do the 02 sensors fit into the x-pipe? Or did you remove them?

 

it has the 4 bungs and they all fit, although i had to reroute some of the wiring as the cables are to tight otherwise

 

Doing this tomorrow...

 

Did you remove the mufflers when installing the x pipe or did you leave them installed?

 

i left the mufflers and bumper on, i got fairly lucky that most of the nuts / o2 sensors came off fairly easy

a flexible drive attachment for the socket and geared wrenches will make the process much easier

 

Thanks, planning to do this soon I can get the bumper off easily enough not confident on the mufflers as it's just more more risky bolts.

 

yeah thats why i didnt bother with the mufflers, i figured that was just going to cause more grief

 

To remove the old cats did you undo the bolts to the headers then the clamps on the other end and they just pulled out?

Then on the installation did you slot one side in first them the other side then line up the header end?

Hope these questions make sense!

 

Correct, the 3 nuts on the cats were a pain in the rear mine were 1/2" and I didnt have a ratchet wrench. I only snapped one of the 6 but I went and purchased all new ones for the re-install because I didnt want to deal with that again, and I got a new set of imperil ratchet wrenches which made that much easier.

and yeah then i took the clamps out as well the nuts were super rusted and I ended up cutting 2 of them off and buying new bolts it was much easier. If i had it back i would have just cut them all it would have been faster.

put penetration fluid on everything as much in advance as you can, i only let mine sit for probably 30 mins and it helped but it could have been better.

One thing I would have done different is to take the airbox out and unhook the 02 sensors (like the instructions show lol), getting them out was a pain without doing that but re-install was impossible due to the different positions. So I would day that from the beginning, the airbox is super simple anyway, one bolt, one clamp for the hose and unplug the maf it takes 2 mins.

For the re-install getting the pipe in there was easy
- put the xpipe up with only the header clamps. They are angled but on mine they were marked driver / pass and the writing piece was at the bottom. Also I have a very small leak around the header brackets so I would suggest to use exhaust gasket sealer around those
- once you get it up there put the header pieces on before you tighten anything
- put the 2 support clamps in the middle on just enough to hold it from flopping around
- re-install the 02 sensors
- put the sleeve clamps clamps on loosely to hold that part in position
- put the header ends on tight so they are lined up properly, those pieces are on an angle,
- tighten the sleeves
- tighten the support clamps in the middle
- and last tighten the clamps that held the header brackets.

pretty simple if the nuts co-operate

 

I did take the bumper and heat shield off to make the process more seamless. It is only a 10 minute job to take the bumper off and put it back on at the end.

 

yeah that may make it easier to get at, probably the 02 sensors would be

i am changing my tailpipes to the duals so I will have to take the bumper off for that I am pretty sure

 

Where in Michigan are you? And I have the same set up on mine

 

I am in Clarkston

 

Thanks for the write up, airbox is straight forward to remove so ill keep that it mind too!