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I know others have done it but my hands and/or tools just weren't up to the job. I felt like I learned a lot more about my car having pulled off the bumpers.
Man, I wish I had found your post before my ordeal, that would have saved me a bunch of time.
+1... DIY the project to save some $ for the JP stands. Money well spent as it will allow you to tackle additional DIY projects in the future... saving you even more $$. Plus if it's just the cans... that's fairly easy. If you're doing the exhaust manifold as well then consider swapping plugs n coils at the same time if they are due for service. That last plug on the passenger side is so much easier to replace with the EM off.
Car only has 5000 miles, it is a 997.2 so I have a Sharkwerks center pipe I am installing also.
Anyone know what size Half Moon wrench I need? I think I am going to order the wrenches and Jack-points and do this myself in a few weeks when I get everything.
Car only has 5000 miles, it is a 997.2 so I have a Sharkwerks center pipe I am installing also.
Anyone know what size Half Moon wrench I need? I think I am going to order the wrenches and Jack-points and do this myself in a few weeks when I get everything.
I am sure I'll get a lot of flak for this.
But if I'll have to do it again I'd take the bumper and the heat-shields off (again).
It's really easy and you'll have so much more space to operate in.
Car only has 5000 miles, it is a 997.2 so I have a Sharkwerks center pipe I am installing also.
Anyone know what size Half Moon wrench I need? I think I am going to order the wrenches and Jack-points and do this myself in a few weeks when I get everything.
The halfmoon size is 13mm. If ordering, I'd buy the non-ratcheting ones to break it loose and the ratcheting to remove it easier. Two nice tools to have
__________________
Dan Kennedy
SharkWerks: www.sharkwerks.com
Northern California's Porsche Performance, & authorized Evolution Motorsports, TechArt, HRE and Tubi, Cargraphic dealer and installation center
Phone: 510-651-0300
Email: dan@sharkwerks.com
There is NO WAY to remove the muffler without removing the bumper cover and the heat shield on the 997.2. Actually it is a 7 minutes job only !! The Porsche 997.2 was designed by Germans and made by Germans. The design is very good and makes the job easy.
This is what I had to do to replace my spark plugs on my 997.2 year 2009 :
- Remove pumper cover: had to remove About 10 bolts very easy to locate and to access then disconnect license plate light. (7 min total)
- Remove left and right heat shields : 5 bolts each (2 min each side)
- Remove aluminium bumper: 2 x 16mm bolts (2 min)
- Remove 4 bolts holding muffter, then remove the 2 center muffler bolts. Actually the center muffler bolt will like brake away. (6 min)
- Remove 1st oxygen sensor (2 min)
- Remove spark plug heat shield (4min). It is very very tight there
- Remove coils (3 min)
- Remove plugs (3 min).
I have wasted nearly an hour to figure out how to remove the mufflers without removing the bumper cover. On the 997.2 model there is NO WAY to do this job with out removing the heat shield. Two of the bolts of the muffler are behind the heat shield.
However the entire job is VERY easy and amazing to do.
When I had my Tubi exhaust installed I absolutely insisted that my Indy did not remove the bumper cover. I've wrecked enough cars at a young age to have learned that things never get put back together as they were from new.
Yeh. Plenty of us have removed mufflers on a 997.2 without removing the rear bumper. Myself included. Wheels have to come off obviously.
The brackets that are between the muffler and cats can be bent a little.
I'd worry more about dropping the bumper and scratching it up than spending an extra hour doing the work.
Does the bumper come off without it falling off so to speak?
I removed my rear bumper by myself in 4:18. It will not just fall off. Once all the fasteners are removed you will need to pull it out of the side rear fenders and detach the license plate light harness. It weighs something around 6 lbs. and is easily maneuverable.
Removing the heat shields takes another three minutes.
Putting it all back on might take fifteen.
The minimal time spent doing this was worth it to me to gain better access.
Car only has 5000 miles, it is a 997.2 so I have a Sharkwerks center pipe I am installing also.
Anyone know what size Half Moon wrench I need? I think I am going to order the wrenches and Jack-points and do this myself in a few weeks when I get everything.
I can get the passenger side bolts just fine with two normal open-ended crescent wrenches (13mm). The more difficult one on the cat-side top can be held by placing the handle straight up in the gap between the muffler and the heat shield. Here is a photo I took a while back when switching mufflers. It is taken looking almost straight up.
My hands are relatively thin, it could be that guys with large hands might have problems doing this.... I don't know.
This past 3-day weekend, I changed my plugs... dropping the side-mufflers to do so, of course. Did it without removing the rear bumper, though having the PSE mufflers made that even more of a challenge.
The only nut/bolt that was hard to access was the top-most nut on the cat which is also one of the bolts that holds the side-muffler bracket. I eventually purchased the this wrench (see image) which made it a SNAP!
Yes it can be done without removing the bumper. BUT WHY?
I mean with all the extra contorting you have to do, weird angles... what is the benefit or not removing the rear bumper?
It takes like what? 10 minutes to remove? How long does it take to jack up the car to remove the rear wheels? That itself offsets the time.
If you are doing this for a living and have access to lift... knock yourself out and do it without removing the bumper.
I am not getting paid to put an exhaust. I like working on the car. I like taking my time. I like to see what is underneath to have a good look to make sure everything is nice and clean and the way it should be. And since I don't have child size hands, I don't have to worry about small tight holes.
Yes it can be done without removing the bumper. BUT WHY?
I mean with all the extra contorting you have to do, weird angles... what is the benefit or not removing the rear bumper?
It takes like what? 10 minutes to remove? How long does it take to jack up the car to remove the rear wheels? That itself offsets the time.
If you are doing this for a living and have access to lift... knock yourself out and do it without removing the bumper.
I am not getting paid to put an exhaust. I like working on the car. I like taking my time. I like to see what is underneath to have a good look to make sure everything is nice and clean and the way it should be. And since I don't have child size hands, I don't have to worry about small tight holes.
I agree. I failed to mention that I decided to remove the bumper to reinstall everything. 10 minutes is about right, to include removing the heat shields
05-08-2013, 01:43 PM
