2000MaximaSE

DAMN did it take forever. Mainly because zach has NOOOOOO tools at his house so we had to make 3 seperate trips to get tools. Also had to wait a while for WD-40 to soak in and the beat on the bolts till the came loose but alas we did it. We took out everything from the y pipe back and replaced the resonator with a custom pipe and gutted the cat. Whole thing took about 6 hours because we have no tools and suck but we got it done.
Results:
Sounds sweet, Kinda low rumble but not loud at all. My girlfriends v6 mustang is louder but its now definitly louder than stock. Above 3k rpm there is little to no difference in sound from the stock setup though.
The power gain is definitly there especially at partial throttle, its feels more effortless like partial throttle pulls like crazy and just keeps pulling up to 6k, im not even flooring it!! IT also seems smoother and more effortless crusing on the freeway for example. I definitly like this mod, and cant wait to see how it responds when i add a Y pipe. I would recommend doing it if you dont have emmission testing like here in az. Its like once every ten years or somthing. Its also easy to do especially if you have all the tools their and soak the bolts down before hand..

Adam

MrBurner

well...what can i say...my dad can't do anything around the house by himself so we don't have any tools...i've bought a few things that i have needed but i'm waiting until i move out (2 months) to buy some tools

well, we used 2 stock jacks...one on each side in the rear...we decided to take off the entire exhaust system from behind the cat back to the muffler...we ended up leavint he muffler on, but took the midpipe off because we switched out adams midpipe for my old midpipe w/ my stock resonator removed and replaced w/ straight pipe...after 30-45 minutes of spraying w/ wd40 and prying w/ all of our strength, adam finally got the bolts off of the b pipe so we could detach it from the cat...gutting the cat took 5-10 minutes and putting everying back took 15 minutes or so...this is a much easier 2 person job than it is for 1 person to do

we took the test drive and adams car seems very similar at low end, but it pulls a lot in the high end...we are going to do this to my car tomorrow so we will see how it affects the high end w/ a full catback and y pipe already installed

well...i'll see how this does on my car, but i would defenitely reccomend this to everyone that doesn't have to do emissions all the time...after we were all done, i was about 10 feet behind the car and adam started revving it and i could feel hot air blow by my leg from the muffler

Dave B

I hate to tell you this, but that chamber in the cat you've created is going to do a lot more harm than good. Exhaust needs to flow out of a uniform pipe to develop velocity. With no cat internals, the exhaust is allowed to pool in the cat shell, resonate, and then come out. The result is weak power up top. The only cars I've seen gain power without cats (using a straight pipe, not gutted cat) are turbos and SCs. NA cars don't flow enough air to make a difference. People still believe cats are restrictive. They aren't by a long shot. I give you two about a week until you both order RT cats because you're sick of the resonating and CEL lights.


Dave

SFMax20SE

Dave, agreed. The cats now adays are pretty good on flow. If you get a hi-flow cat, even better. On NA cars, there is little to no difference. On turbo or SCed cars, it will make a difference. But if you guys enjoy it... go out and kick some a$$!!! Find those type-s!!!

2000MaximaSE

Hmmm you make a pretty valid point. Ill see how i like it a week from now then decide whether to go with a pipe or an RT cat... Thanks for your input

Adam