Finally the weekend is here!! Well only 61 miles on it and no sign of a CEL. I'll post up some pics soon.
But first alittle about the install.
Took alittle longer than I expect. I do tend to work slow, but precise. I like to sometimes just sit and look at the car or check out other things (drats... forgot to check my engine mount bolt!! DOH!!). Anyways...
The instructions were pretty good. I do tend to be picky about pictures in instructions and about instructions in general. These weren't too bad. They showed me what I needed to take out or put in. They are photocopies. But the pictures were clear enough to understand what they were showing. Would of been nice to have an online instruction guide with color photos like the TWMPerformance shift bushings. Those color pictures really helped out in seeing what was goin on. But again, I'm just being picky. These photocopied pictures were good enough.
As the instructions state... DO read them over before the install. This will let you know what you are getting into.
Now, the instructions tell you to jack up the car and put them on stands. My floor jack will not fit under the car. They fit under my Miata.. but not this car. So I opted to do this from my Rhino ramps instead. This posed no problems with the install what so ever for me. I'm not a big guy at all. So if you are lugging around alittle weight... well then, it would depend if you can move freely under the car.
First thing they ask you to do is take off the intercooler. Having taking off the ETS TMIC a couple times, this was very simple. I just made sure I put small plastic sandwich bags over the intercooler hoses to keep out any bugs or objects that might fall in during the install. They ask you to remove the hoses from the BOV. But instead, I took off the BOV from the intercooler and pushed it to the side. Easier for me that way since the hoses can be alittle tight.
Next they ask you to remove a wiring harness clips for the power steering line. I did not need to do this. The purpose for this was to beable to remove one of the rear intercooler mounting brackets. I tried my best to break loose one of the bolts on mounting bracket. But it's in such an odd place/angle.. I couldn't break it free. Removing this bracket makes it easier to remove the heat shields. And maybe better room to work on the downpipe bolts. But instead, I just loosened up the rear engine hook on the back of the head and rotated it down. Then you can easily remove the back thin silver heat shield mounted on the fire wall just behind the exhaust manifold. This comes off by simply unscrewing the big gray plastic thumb screws, then pulling the plate forward then up. This gives alot of extra room when working on the down pipe bolts. And it makes taking out the heat shields easy.
Taking out the O2 sensors is easy. Just follow the instructions. I used WD40 as my penetrating oil. Worked good enough for me. Hard part for me was trying to unplug the sensors. I wasn't familiar with them. So it took some time to figure it out. It's pretty simple. Just squeeze the release buttons and pull. They may feel they are on somewhat tight because of the o-ring seal. I used needle nose pliers to pop out the little plastic "zip tie" looking holders. I just squeezed them from the back side and pulled. After the wires were loose, I used my O2 socket I bought at Advanced Auto. Loosened up the O2 sensor alittle.. sprayed it with WD40. Tightened it back down. Then screwed it back out all the way. Worked like a charm.
Now the hard part. Removing the downpipe nuts from the turbo! After you take off the remaining heat shields, you are exposed to the downpipe nuts. As the instructions state... these are hard to take off! Factory locking style nuts are a pain!! hehe. And the tight spots you are working with sucks. They suggest you get a 14mm semi-deep socket. I didn't have one. But I wish I did. This will help out some with this step. I really didn't know why I needed it until I got to this step. Now I know!! Once you get past this step, you are basically home free!
After removing the remaining heat shields and downpipe nuts, you need to get under the car and remove the cross support brace and the tunnel support brace. I opted not to remove the tunnel support brace. I saw no need for this. It may make it easier for some. But it was no need for me. However the cross brace needs to come out in order to remove the Cat and the Downpipe. So first step was to remove the Cat. To me this was easy. I had presprayed the nuts and bolts with WD40 when I went under the car the first time to unplug the O2 sensors. I used an extension to do some of this. I think one was a 1 foot extension. I dunno if this is normal.. But on the rear side of the Cat.. one screw came out which is good. However, one screw/stud did not come out. Wish I took a pic to explain this. But it did make removing the Car alittle troublesome. Normally all the studs/screws would come out of the Cat and it would drop straight down after you popped the hangers loose. But with one stud stuck on the rear of the Cat, I had to push the Cat forward about 2 inches to clear the stud on the exhause pipe. With the downpipe loose, this was simple enough to make room for this.
Now another hard part for me was removing the downpipe from the tiny hole you have to work with. I removed the 2 springy o2 sensor wire holders. This helped me with clearance issues. You have to be really really careful when taking out the downpipe. You do not want to rip up the nice aluminum heat shield. This is very easy to poke a hole into. Some how I managed to rotate, twist, and maneuver the downpipe around or through the exhaust hangers and out from under the car. Good luck with this step. Some how I lucked out.....
Once that's removed, time to put in the shiny new Cork Sport Down Pipe!! It goes in soo very easy! No problems at all. I will suggest that before you ever bolt up the downpipe to the turbo. First install the Cat back into the car. You don't have to bolt anything up. Just make sure you get it up and in there. I needed to do this to get the stud that was stuck in the Cat to clear and fit back into the exhaust pipe. After you are sure that it all lines up.. then you can tighten down the DP. Another suggest too. Before you toss the Cat into the car. Temporary hook up the new DP and install the lower O2 sensor. They suggest you install the "O2" sensor extender. Then the O2 sensor into the extender. I installed the O2 sensor into the extender first. I did this because I didn't need to work under the car to fit the O2. After the O2 was in the extender, I screwed the unit into the DP.
Anyways, after the Cat was under the car and lined up. I tighten down the nuts on the DP to the turbo. Once again, read the instructions about the gasket and torque specs. I was unable to fit a torque wrench on the lower bolt due to the location (a socket will not fit here with new DP). However you can use an adapter for an open end wrench/socket to get the right torque specs on that lower bolt if needed. With downpipe tighten down. I made sure I had the included metallic "donut" on the end of the downpipe. This forms the seal between the downpipe and Cat. Follow instructions on the bolts and springs. Tighten down the Cat to the DP and exhause pipe. Bolt back up the Cross support brace.
Go back up and be sure you have the O2 sensor screwed in the top of the new DP. (And make sure you plugged both o2 sensors back in.) Make sure all your heat shields are back on the exhause manifold. Place back on the intercooler. Plug the car battery back in... Start the car. Check for leaks. And you are good to go!! That was me at 4 in the morning!!
So I hoped this helped out. Any questions. Just ask. So far so good. Mods on my car so far are.. Gram Light wheels. XEDE engine management. CPE CAI. ETS TMIC. AWR engine mount (70duro). TWM shift bushings. And now Cork Sport downpipe. I'm waiting on a test pipe to be finished. Then I will decide on perhaps a cat-back. I also have a SU BOV on order since Feb. But I am looking at the Forge one right now. I am hoping next month to get it dyno'd and tuned. I finally found a few shops that have Dyno's about an 1.5 hours away. So we'll see how she is then.
Now some pics... enjoy....
ah well.