Ok, went and took it to a performance shop tonight at 8:30 pm. the rear pipe flange and cat flange lined up good but the front flange was over TWO 2!!!! inches off from lining up with the manifold.. took 2 ppl to work on it including me and we had to pry the pipe over so the holes would line up over the bolts. took almost an hour just lining them up but we finally managed to line everything using a few wacks with the mallet. The end result- way faster revs, nice DEEP growl, Very noticable increase of power low end, and no bees in a can. I can only hear a faint hiss but its nothing too annoying to try and fix yet. Installation completed at midnight but the install was about 2 hours. I dont know if I just had one of those "bad pipes" but cattman welded the 2-1 section too narrow resulting in us forcing the pipes apart in order to line up.

 

That sucks but hopefully it will not have any problems in the future.


But it sounds like you are enjoying it anyway...

 

I hope there would not be any problems like warping or bolts stripping due to the extra stress that we did while bending the pipe. Does anyone had the same fittment problems as I did?

 

not good to hear

 

Mine went on perfectly. My luck I guess. But you have to remember that these are hand made and each piece will vary. Now I am not saying that 2 inches is acceptable, but it is just something that will happen.

Lovejoy

 

My pipe was about 1.5 inches off. It took some prying but I was able to get it on and I have had no problems.

 

HAND MADE?

 

Yes. The only thing that is not done by hand are the mandrel bends. All the welding is done by hand. There is no machine that will make a y pipe for you....that I know of.

Lovejoy

 

Yes. The only thing that is not done by hand are the mandrel bends. All the welding is done by hand. There is no machine that will make a y pipe for you....that I know of.

Lovejoy

 

mine was off too

 

I just finished installing my over priced, ceramic coated Stillen y-pipe with out problems. I actually can't believe it! My luck generaly stinks. It sounds like you ended up with the cattman pipe I was supposed to get!lol!

 

Yes, lots of people have problems with the fitment with these pipes. For the high price, this is completely unacceptable. Handmade or not, there should never be a 1.5"-2" variance with the pipes lining up. Stillen's is handmade too and you don't hear about fitment problems.

It amazes me how people accept the fact that they must bang on their new Cattman pipe to get it to fit.


Dave

 

so "if" (crossing fingers) my pipe becomes damaged in the future like cracking or warping, will it be covered in the warrentee since it was a defect in workmanship?

 

A few people here have had problems with him owning up to defects in his work. I don't have any first hand experience with this, but I know of plenty of people that he wouldn't warranty their Y-pipes due to cracking. He'll probably claim that the pipe was damaged due to your installation and not the fitment problem.

 

but it takes fittment problems in order for it to be damaged from installation.

 

Another Problem. I just looked under the car and found out that one of the bolts snapped off! it was one of the ones in the front so that means only 2 bolts are holding it up there. Will it be ok if theres only 2 bolts?? Im am very concerned of it right now considering the amount of stress we put on it while installing.. please tell me it would be ok

 

why don't u just return it 2 Cattman & get a new one? I've never heard of so many problems! maybe yours is a lemon?

 

its not the pipe im worried about right now. I am worried about the bolts which one of them is ripped off.

 

You probably want to fix the bolt... It may not be a problem now but it may cause an exhaust leak. Like Ohboiya said, call/email Cattman and see if he will replace the pipe.

As to the quality of the pipe... Cattman's pipe is 1 piece. The current Stillen pipe is 2 pieces which gives you much more flexiblity when installing it.

 

how can I fix the bolt? Do I need to buy another exhaust manifold or do I somehow drill or twist off the broken bolt and thread a new one? the bolt had about a half inch left that is still on the manifold.

 

My cattman ss pipe did not fit right either. It was too long and was about 2 inches off also. Dont have it anymore.

 

apparently cattman is too concerned with using 304 stainless steel and TIG welding. maybe he should concentrate more on the quality of the product, being the most expensive and all. also, he should stop badmouthing his competitors and concentrate on his own problems instead!

 

The place you sent me to told me yours needed to be forced in too.. FYI..

 

mine was off a little bit, but not much. fit ok overall, a little bit of putt-putt at low RPMs, but I'm very pleased overall