Well, I had a good run...for a while I did'nt want a Y-pipe just cuz everyone else had them, then everyone started getting in on this GD, so I finally bit the bullet and coughed up 160 for the warpspeed...

Is there anything I should know to do this at home? I have ramps, an electric impact gun, torch and an assortment of sockets so what I've been told is that I could do it easily, but I wanna know whether my impact gun would fit and not be blocked by the bulky stock pipe? Tips or tricks would be appreciated, and I assume they come with gaskets? Ive heard of horror stories where the header stud got ripped off...how often has this happened and what should I do if this does happen?

 

sounds like you're set. soak all of the bolts in advance, maybe overnight with pb blaster or the like. usually the converter bolts are the worst, may take most of your time. Don't use the impact on the manifold studs, take your time with these using a rachet, extension and socket, work them back and forth spraying some. 6 nuts on manifolds (3 ea), 2 bolts on a bracket right under the engine, and the 2 nuts in the converter.
as to when or if the manifold studs will come out..who knows?

 

Don't use the impact gun on the manifold? Why not...I heard that its better than a ratchet so it doesnt rip the stud off...huh, anyone else?

 

I wouldn't do any work on my car myself for the fact of if something ****s up or whatever, I can be like ay, fix my **** *****.

 

Yea but a shop has no respect for your car, theyre trying to get sh*t done with the lease amount of resourses in the least amount of time to maximize profit...when I work on my car, I try to avoid these types of situations, whereas a shop would just jump right into trying to get the bolts off even if they break one

 

Do your own work.
It sounds like you have the tools to get it done.
I would help to have a friend there to help you hold things, but it is not necessary.
the stock pipe is just heavy.
I would probably not recommend using the impact wrench on the bolts, but I would strongly suggest putting some anti-sieze on the bolts of some kind a couple of hours before you do this.

Obviously, you won't really want to drive the car before you do this, because all these parts will be way too hot.

Good luck.

You will love the power gain from this. It is totally awesome!

 

I just put mine on a couple weeks ago the bolts on the Cat needed to be heated with the torch but all of the other bolts just came off with a little bit of PB Blaster. It does help to have someone else there just to get the pipe down but an extra jack stand to support it would work.

 

...and if something gets screwed up when your mechanic isn't around, what do you do then? What have you learned after taking your car to a shop other than how to open your pocketbook?

 

You need a ten inch extension to get to the header bolts.

 

You clearly have more money than brains.

 

ha ha.

@thread starter:
the jack stand idea was a good one suggested.
This just keeps you from having to hold that heavy pipe up while you are carefully undoing the O2 sensors and other bolts.

 

Be prepared to have a nice smile on your face when you merge onto the highway .

 

yea, thats what i usually do is use a jack stand to hold it up. The one thing that scares me is that when the bolts break....it happened when i was installing my catback by myself. I couldn't fit my impact gun on the nut so i had to use my wrench and the bolt twisted right off with the nut...then I was like "oh shi......." you know...luckly i didnt need it but now the studs are broken on the stock catback......and having it happen on the headers is not going to be cool. Do you think I should heat up the bolts then try to get them off, or should they come off easily with minor effort?

 

Before you do any work get under the car and look at the bolts where the cat and Y pipe meet... if they are very very corroded get some WD 40 or PJ Blast or something on them cuz they are going to be a pain in your **** when you try to take them out.

I went through that experience, it wasnt fun... actually I had to drive my car to my shop and torch the bolts off.

 

Those arent gunna be a problem, im worries about the header bolts/studs

 

The header ones were nothing compared to the cat ones...