Or should I take it somewhere to get it done? Also, considering that the catback is 3in, i am not understanding how it "bolts on" to the factory piping since the factory is samller. do i need to buy something to make it fit? thanks.

-chris

 

depends...if its just bolting on flanges then you can do it. if its just muffler then it requires welding so go get it done.

 

If you do your brakes at home, I'm sure you can do an exhaust job at home; unless you need to do some welding. If you do at home, it's a good idea to have an impact wrench.

 

no, it is a catback, so it should bolt up, but I am just having a hard time understanding how a 3inch catback fits on a factory system that is smaller pipe.

 

it'll fit, once u get under the car ull see how much extra space around the factory there is, one question, why did u go 3 inch? planning to go boost, or was it a good deal?

 

ahhh, gotcha. that makes sense. i feel better about the install now. my har only has 20k miles no it, you really think i need to get an impact gun for this? they should be to rusted on there. i can use all factory screews/washers/nuts right?

btw, yes, i did get for a good price.

 

either an impact gun or lots of penetrting lube and a breaker bar, u should be able to use all factory bolts nuts and gaskets, presuming they didnt break during the install and are in good working order.

 

just use some liquid wrench on the bolts on the rear off the cat. that should lossen them up so they wont break. you will have to use a breaker bar to be able to get the leverage to lossen it up.
the flanges make sure that diffirent size pipes match up.

 

thanks guys. it may be hard to use a breaker bar in such small spacers, but then again I never really looked under the car to look to see how easy it would be. as far as the gaskets... i never really thought about them. when you changed out your exhaust, where you able to keep the factory ones, or did they stick to the flanges?

i appreciate all the help!

-chris

 

you will be able to use a breaker bar. if i could when i did my y-pipe..you will have no problems.
as far as gaskets....my y-pipe came with a new one for where it meets the front of the cat. so im thinking you will need one for the rear. you may just be able to use the old one though

 

Have any of you tried to put a catback on a max???? Well I have,

Unless you can get your car 4 ft off the ground, you probably will not be able to get the rear section off or back on. It is practically impossible to get the right angle. You have to have the rear section pretty much at a 90 degree angle to clear the rear support at the axle.

If you have a lift or a sitch you can park over, then any tools will work, if not, take it to a gas station and tip the guy 20 bucks, he prolly wont charge you anything else.

 

Liquid Wrench works fine on the bolts, but I still broke one doing it... as for the jacking... you could try using 3 1/4 ton jack stands and jacking it up at the rear axle... that'll give ya enough clearance...

 

Tried that too...

I had my car so high it was teatering like a magitian on a broom-stick. Scary time, and I still couldnt get the right angle.

 

Haha... alright then, just get someone to hook ya up with a lift....

 

eh, I guess I will just have it done. By your comments, it looks like it may have been a PITA... now i can't say that no one other then myself has "touched" or worked on my car. damn, i wish i had a lift and air tools. thanks guys.

-chris

 

I honestly don't think you will need to use power tools. I disassembled my whole exhaust without issue (until two rusted bolts broke). It is the part of getting the exhaust up in the back.

If you have some kind of shipping dock area arounf your town or somewhere that you can back your car up onto a loading dock and stand under the backend then you could do it in 10 minites, it isnt hard at all. You just need to get an angle on that rear end.

 

or a high curb that you could get the car onto and do the same thing...

 

Btw, DBLRR, do ya know of any good places around here to use a lift and air tools for cheap?

 

but i can't do by jacking the rear end up in the air at all? how much would it be to get this thing installed at a shop? thanks.

 

Most local mechanics I'd think are around 60-70 bucks labor per hour. A cat-back should take a whopping 30 mins depending how how easy/hard it is to get your bolts off (but they should have air tools, and a torch, if necessary) and whether they mess up the grounding wire (like I did). So I'm guessing 30-40 bucks + taxes? Just get the yellow pages and call around to get some price quotes....

 

As for jacking up the rear end... like I said before, you could try using bigger jack stands (3 1/4 ton and up) and jack it up at the axle... although DBLRR said it didn't work, I've seen it work... so you might give that a shot... he had a great idea by getting your car up on a loading bay/high curb and then jacking it up even more from there to get the clearance ya need.

Apart from that, the only way might be to take apart some of your suspension and wiggle the muffler out of the tunnel somehow, I've heard of people doing that before, but personally I think its too much effort...

 

I couldn't get any shop to install mine for under $70. You'd be lucky to get it done for $35, but call around or check the regional section, maybe there's a local installer which does these things cheap?

 

3" is too big for our engines, kiss your bottom end grunt goodbye.

Your car is going to a great highway racer though.....

 

Hey, I went thru this just this weekend, on my wifes car, a 2000 Max SE with 40k miles. I bought her a Greddy EVO Catback.

I ended up taking it to Mieneke Muffler and paid them $105 to finish the install. Yeah, I got screwed, but I was tired of screwing with it.

So heres my story,

Put the car of Jack stands, removed the old stock muffler, it was broken off at the flange where the b-pipe meets the muffler pipe. So I proceeeded in trying to get the new Greddy muffler in place and the post that said it was impossible was right, I even removed the back wheel, still no go. So not to be beat, I dropped the translink, I think it is called, it is basically the rear wheel support bar, it is held up by 6 big as$ bolts, so I loosened the bolts about 3/4 to 1 inch, then I had to removed the lower strut bolt, I think the strut was holding it. Finally, I managed to sqeeze it in, problem is the size of the flange, not enought room without getting the muffler directly under the car, would need to be raised about 3-4 feet high.

So I proceeded to the Cat converter, and there I was stopped in my tracked, the bolts appeared to be welded on, yeap, looke like the nut was welded to the cat flange, A river of Super Wrench would not have helped, it was a 14mm socket and it would not even go on but for 1/4 inch.

So the guys at the muffler shop said I would never had gotten it off. They used a torch and cut it off.

So good luck, I need to do the same to my 2000 Max, but I need to save my $$$ for that one.

Don Strawsburg

 

yea 3" is way way to big .. unless your boosted..
just dont race of the stop.. cause they'll take you off the line.. no more low end

 

hmmm, that helps a lot. thank you! i guess i will just have it installed. its not the money, i just want anyone to do a hack job on it. i guess i will just suck it up.

thanks for all the help guys.

 

well, maybe i am mistaken, or was told the wrong information. it is a greddy evo catback. same exhaust as the above poster. i am picking it up tomorrow night, i will measure it when i get it home.

but then again... getting a turbo/SC wouldn't be out of the question either... especially if i get a sponsor. we will see!

 

The piping in the Evo is 2.5".

 

oh ok, cool. whats factory piping size? do you know?

 

Ya know... that's a good question... I'm guessing its somewhere around 2"-2.25"...

Anyone?