Installed my Tubi exhaust.... went for a spin...

I took the rear off. No way did I want to tackle this job without taking the bumper off.

Bumper/Shield/Lights removal 20 minutes taking my time.
Take off old exhaust 30-45 minutes taking my time.

Now I was just twiddling my thumbs waiting for UPS to show with ma goodies.

Once they showed up, I went to work.

Took maybe 1-2 hours taking my time. The parts that took the longest and were the most pain in the ***?

1. Moving those mounts from the old exhaust to the new. Those round wire mesh things are a pain.
2. That bottom bolt was the hardest bolt. Since there was no spacer, it was hard to get a socket to tighten it fully, so I used a wrench and did it slowly.

REALLY happy I took the bumper off. I got a chance to clean up and look at how I will do it when I go to change my plugs. Bumper and exhaust off? Plugs and Coils looks much easier.

Tires stayed on. I only used the jack to raise the rear when I was getting that bumper screw in the wheel well. But just had to lift the car to get a better angle. Removing the bumper is much faster than jacking the car. Putting it on stands. Taking the wheels off. Putting the wheels back on. Torquing the wheels. Getting the car off the stands. Plus the much welcomed benefit of not having to do any weird contorting to remove ANY bolt.







Stock hard bits off. Cover, sheilds, lights, side and center.<br/>





Laid them out for placement and test fitting





All bolted up.





Side shot...





Everything but the cover and lights..

 

Installed new plenum & GT3 throttle body - finished my winter mods list just in time for the spring equinox! Haha

Now ol' froggy pants has:

Fister-D Sport Mufflers
Fabspeed Equal Length Headers
Fabspeed X-Pipe w/ 200 Cel Cats
Maxspeed V-Flow (X51) Plenum
Porsche 84mm (GT3) Throttle Body
Evoms V-Flow Cold Air Intake
NPS 3.5" Quad Tips
Protomotive (custom) Tune

Eibach (front & rear) Sway Bars

Feels great, sounds complete, and pretty manly.

Now need new tires (again), and time to get into the suspension. Still undecided on stock dampers with TPC Racing DSC box, or Bilstein B16 damptronics or PSS10's.

Also took a victory lap over the mountain at sunset after work...

Oh and I clicked over 85,000 miles this week.

Some pix from today & last night:









This last one is kind of interesting, the fog / marine layer made this solid flat line that looked like an optical illusion - pretty amazing. This was last night on Mt. Tamalpais:



Good times indeed.
Dan

 

Great pics Commanche...I bet it sounds great too

 

Seems like the older the ol' frog gets, the sweeter the croak?!

Gorgeous pics and yup, yesterday's light was outrageous!

How about an early morning April Fools run up and down the coast before you start futzing with the suspension?!

 

Yeah, bouncing off the rev limiter recalibrates the heart... the car's and your own.

 

Claybar, polish, and a wax. Most of the way done last night but pooped out. Only remaining is waxing drivers side and rear bumper. Planning to remove the wheels and detail the wheels and calipers as well.

 

Fantastic pictures Dan, as I would expect. Your car sounded great before. Is it the same now, or better still? I'm anxious to hear your impressions on the suspension mods as you get them installed. Thanks for the share!

 

Thanks Wayne! I think there is a little more intake sound, and there's definitely a little more "something" when on the throttle but I can't put my finger on it exactly, it just sounds really nice from the driver's seat with the top down. I've still never heard it from outside of the car!

Suspension may be a few months because the OEM isn't terrible by any means, and I do like the ability to have the comfortable ride when there's a little lady in the passenger seat.

Good Times

 

Went out early to drive Little Tujunga Canyon Rd. On the way north not a single car in either direction, couple of bicycles. On the way back just a couple cars coming the opposite way. I love LA at 8am before traffic!

 

Nice!

Are those HREs 19s or 20s, if you dont mind me asking

 

19's, just the stock size and width, but offset is more aggressive.

 

They look great!

Thanks for the info

 

Thanks....they look bigger than 19's in this one

 

very nice, hre flowform?

 

Changed oil, filter and wiper blades.