swingwing

First of all a hat tip to DGrayling for his 997.2 spark plug DIY. I studied his post several times and it has good tips - especially the recommendation of having a half moon 13mm wrench or ratchet. I give this DIY a 2 (of 5) wrench rating. Push it to a 3 if your exhaust fasteners are severely corroded requiring some extra effort to remove. I was going to change spark plugs in conjunction with this job, but could not free the left coil heat shield. I decided to finish this muffler replacement and save plugs for another day.
Secondly, the transaction with FD Motorsports was really smooth, especially the core return. There are several options when ordering, but I went with titanium ceramic coating, fastener kit and core return. Net cost was $766. I drove the car today and think I see a noticeable difference in performance. The engine seems to breath better and sounds great. I plan to do nothing more with the exhaust; for me this is 'jes right!


Mufflers came in large box which you'll save to send back your cores. Lots of packing material inside, so save that. Return UPS label is under Fister's pack slip.


Put car up and remove rear wheels. Remove the bumper support just in front of the muffler. Hint: I think removing the whole rear bumper first would simplify this job.


Left exhaust tip is removed, and preparing to loosen the muffler inlet clamp bolts. When free, slide the clamp outboard up the muffler inlet pipe.


Clamp fasteners on right muffler inlet. Notice the corrosion on them. Be sure to purchase new fastener kit from Fister.


Remove the two 13mm flange nuts on the muffler support.


Rear muffler bracket is attached to the cat converter. These 13mm nuts are going to be corroded and maybe a PITA if you live in salt country. If you snap a stud you can knock it out with a punch. I snapped one and used an M8 x 1.25 bolt as replacement for now.


Removing the upper bracket nut is where the half moon 13mm ratchet wrench really paid off. There's no room for anything else IMO. Removing the rear bumper first might change that.


Old mufflers are out. Transfer the brackets and inlet pipe clamps to the Fisters.


Old/new hardware and the wonder wrench. The nuts on cat studs were pretty bad so I fitted new copper muffler nuts I had on hand. Thread is M8 x 1.25. Old nuts are 13mm, copper ones are 12mm.


Getting ready to go up and in. Ceramic coating is really nice and I think will help marginally with the heat.


Assembly is reverse of removal. I didn't use a torque wrench on any of the fasteners.


Final plug for using guide pins when remounting the wheels. They really help getting these heavy wheels in place. Torque wheel nuts 96 lbs-ft.

ronvanr

What bolt/nut material is best for replacing the rusted ones on the exhaust system, stainless steel, copper, something else?

Where did you get that 13mm wrench?

swingwing

The $10 fastener kit Fister offers will answer for the inlet pipe clamps. For the studs and nuts on the cats I'd just get new hardware from Porsche. The copper nuts I've used come from a Wurth fastener kit I bought some time ago for my BMWs. I've found since then that these fasteners are used by all the German manufacturers. I bought a bolt/nut template gauge that's handy for figuring out thread and pitch sizes.
Although it's possible to get a single wrench, I went ahead and bought a five piece Gearwrench set from Amazon. I figured I could use others in the set down the road.

HenryPcar

That is not ceramic coating right ?

swingwing

Yes it is. I mentioned that in start of my post.

RDIMA

Can you post the result

swingwing

sandwedge

So you're keeping the OEM center muffler? Just asking since so many Gundo/Fister converters were disappointed and not happy until pairing it all up with one of the x-pipe options in place of the center muffler.

RDIMA

Yes. no need to hear before install. Thanks RD

swingwing

I've got no plans to do anything further. These mufflers have given me exactly what I was looking for on this car. My previous car was an E39 M5 that I owned for three years and poured over $30k into (it was higher mileage car that needed work). I did the majority of the labor on it, and the result was a very nice car. It was a tough day when I put it on the transporter to new owner. I'm starting out with a newer, lower mileage car this time and am not going to repeat what I did with the M5. What I've learned so far is that the sky's the limit with Porsches; I'm just going to maintain this car and enjoy the ride as I learn it. I might put in a short shifter but that's going to be about it. Like many here I think these 997.2s are great cars, plenty o' Porsche for me.

HenryPcar

Fully agree with you. Actually the sky's no limit with Porsche modes.

HenryPcar

I was going to order the chrome version, but after seeing yours, I believe is titanium ceramic, it looks better. I'll order your version instead because here in California, smog stations do visual inspections and any shining new exhaust non-OEM might not pass their CARB requirements.

swingwing

Yes, ordered them in Titanium Ceramic. Maybe you can get my cores ha ha. I sent them back on a Friday, had my refund a week later. Kudos to FD Motorsports for that.

Astraelraen

I cannot get the nut off of this bolt, the whole bolt turns in the mounting bracket. I can't get anything behind the mounting bracket that will give me enough pressure on the bolt to "lock" it in place so I can turn the nut. I can barely reach my finger(s) back there and can feel the head turning. Based upon the replacement bolts its a very flat head or a carriage bolt. I tried to grab the threads of the bolt with pliers to hold it and turn the nut with a wrench and that doesn't seem to work. Any ideas?

Wayne Smith

The jarring action of an impact wrench may work. Needle nose vice grips could be possible.