Well finally I bought a y pipe. Bought a mandrel bent, aluminized warpspeed pipe. Now my question is, how hard is it to install and should I wrap it in header wrap? I shouldn't need to take it somewhere to have the bolts loosened, because I can get access to air power tools. It's sad that I've been here for a year and a half and just now bought one.

 

don't wrap it in headerwrap seriosly it will jsut speed up the corosion since all the moist will be trapped in it. The install is okay as long as you can break the damn bolts loose so I suggest spraying them a day before and during the install with some PB blaster or WD40

 

1996, almost a decade of rust...

All the bolts broke off in the exhaust manifold on my car and it took 4 mechanics over 2 hours using torches, air tools, lift, you name it.

It hurt to watch them do it. Kind of like seeing another dude get kicked in the junk.

 

Seriously man ScarfaceTHX is not kidding. It took me many hours to remove those freakin cat bolts. I ended up drilling them out completely and putting in new ones.

If I could do it over I would take it into a shop and make them do it.

 

it's not too hard if u have the right tools and patience. no header wrap is not necessary.

 

Ditto, my bolts were so rusted that we actually destroyed my stock y-pipe to get it off. I think we cut it into 5 or 6 pieces. But we got the new one on and it's all groovy

 

I took my header wrap off before I installed my pipe. Header wrap will do a better job on a intake pipe.

 

You should do this yourself.
Other than the bolts being a little rusted, you should not have really any problems putting the y-pipe in yourself.
Glad to see you finally got on board. ha ha

 

thanks for all the replies

Bump, anyone else?

 

If I could do it, anyone could. Just be sure to liberally apply PB Blaster/Liquid Wrench before you start torquing. And don't be afraid to muscle it, especially the bolts that attach the Y to the headers. And wear eye protection. If you wear contacts, wear your glasses when you're working on your car. I'm sure your undercarriage will be as bad as mine was considering we're both in the midwest. Oh and be sure to have all the tools you'll need before you start.

~THT

 

I'd pay someone to do it. I did it myself using my friend's shop. I had full use of all his air tools and lift and it was still a hard install. Fortunately my bolts were not rusted. I'm in CA????

 

My car spent the first two years of it's life in CA then the next six in IA, enduring harsh winters. All my bolts were rusted beyond recognition but I found that steady application of muscle eventually got 'em off. I replaced my entire exhaust system from the headers back in about two and a half hours and I thought that took me a long time. Y-pipe alone should be no problem. My advice though would be to take your car to a muffler shop and have them cut the bolts between your Y-pipe and cat then put new bolts in (insist on stainless steel bolts/nuts). They shouldn't charge any more than $20. Then, go home and do the rest yourself...just a matter of eight (three on each end of the "Y" and two bolting the pipe to the crossmember, I think) bolts to do and you're done. I'd save the extra cash for something like an ECU upgrade, tires, etc. Hell, take your girl out for a nice night. lol

~THT

 

DIY job, no headwrap, and it's best if you have access to a lift and of course PB plaster.

 

did you guys ever hear of the hackswap if you can't get the bolts loose just hacksaw thru it. Unless it's the header bolts then it's a different story.

 

I got my Budget Y-pipe installed 10 days ago. It took them a little more than an hour to do it on a hoist and the shop does a lot of custome exhaust work. My car is clean with no rust underneath.


I was thinking about putting exhaust wrap on the flexible section not the rest of the Y-pipe. I phoned a race shop and they advised me not to do it as it can trap moisture and cause damage to the flex section. He suggested I phone the manufacturer. Budget said exactly the same thing - don't wrap the flex section and why bother with the rest. The wrap is usually used for wrapping headers on race cars.

 

Listen dude all you need is a 1/2 inch drive 14mm and 12mm and like others said spray with lube and extentions, definatley swivals and then possibly a breaker bar for those cat bolts