quick question about installing my J-pipe

hotrodf1 said:
hehe. Hope so. . . .

Been thinking about a magnaflow muffler a little. Heard a few here and there and they seem to have a nice tone, without having the huge by huge exhaust tip that I don't care for.

the stock muffler doesn't sound bad (although it supposedly has had a RX-8 muffler put on there by the dealer when the stocker went bad) but I wouldn't mind a little more sound.

i'd like to take a look at your project when you get er goin. we'll have to meet up sometime.

I ordered some Magnaflow goodies for when I get the car running. Unfortunately there aren't many good options for P5s bigger than 2.25" so I am going custom.

It would be cool to meet up. I'd love to see the Camaro as well. I still dream of what it would be like to own a '69 Z28.......or Yenko 427!! (glare) Might as well dream big right?
 
bradicus18 said:
I ordered some Magnaflow goodies for when I get the car running. Unfortunately there aren't many good options for P5s bigger than 2.25" so I am going custom.

It would be cool to meet up. I'd love to see the Camaro as well. I still dream of what it would be like to own a '69 Z28.......or Yenko 427!! (glare) Might as well dream big right?

Yup, dreamin is free so what the heck.

Let me know when you get it goin and we'll meet up somewhere.

and this summer you'll have to stop by sonic fri / sat nights. there's usually a bunch of people roaming around as im sure you already know. always fun to catch a "race." i usually drive the camaro. MSP wouldn't be fast enough for all that . . .
 
hotrodf1 said:
thanks for the info!

no problem.

you'll also want to go to Home Depot or Lowe's to pick up some grade 8+ bolts, nuts and washers. i have a GTSPEC ladder bar on my car and i used two 1/2" washers on each bolt to give it some more space. works fine.
 
ChopstickHero said:
no problem.

you'll also want to go to Home Depot or Lowe's to pick up some grade 8+ bolts, nuts and washers. i have a GTSPEC ladder bar on my car and i used two 1/2" washers on each bolt to give it some more space. works fine.

I'm assuming you are talking about the bolts that hold that brace type deal on the car (ladder bar? - hmmm, not the kind of ladder bar I'm used to!)

What size would those bolts be? Metric I guess. Why did you replace the bolts? Just for a stronger bolt?
 
hotrodf1 said:
I'm assuming you are talking about the bolts that hold that brace type deal on the car (ladder bar? - hmmm, not the kind of ladder bar I'm used to!)

What size would those bolts be? Metric I guess. Why did you replace the bolts? Just for a stronger bolt?

Hmmm, I don't know why he posted that. The GTSpec Ladder bar is suspension/frame support brace. I believe it replaces the cross member. He may be talking about the j-pipe needing more clearance from the cross member, so he had to use washers btween the ladder/cross member and the frame/subframe. You do not absolutely have to remove the cross member to install the exhaust, you can snake it out of there. Removing the cross member makes it a lot easier though. Some J/Midpipes do not clear very well.
 
dirtysouth_msp said:
Hmmm, I don't know why he posted that. The GTSpec Ladder bar is suspension/frame support brace. I believe it replaces the cross member. He may be talking about the j-pipe needing more clearance from the cross member, so he had to use washers btween the ladder/cross member and the frame/subframe. You do not absolutely have to remove the cross member to install the exhaust, you can snake it out of there. Removing the cross member makes it a lot easier though. Some J/Midpipes do not clear very well.


Bingo.

Put the pipe in last night. now I understand about the washers- the pipe was only 1/8" or so away from that crossmember. Just barely had enough lying around to get it done - but sometimes I can still hear the pipe hitting so I guess I'll have to get longer bolts and more washers. I sure wish SLS would send instructions telling about the little stuff you have to do - even better, just send the damn washers and sell people a total solution. That's what I would do. Also, why not send gaskets that would work instead of making everyone scrounge for them and perhaps special order them. I bought all kinds of gaskets and it cost me $7. Surely they could send $3 worth of gaskets with the pipe.

Couldn't use the donut style gasket between the pipe and the catback. It wouldn't seal at all to the much larger SLS pipe. I ended up buying a bunch of different gaskets from O-Reilly that I thought "might" work and whatayaknow one of em fit perfect. It was the flat flange style gasket, fiber material, covered with a sort of perforated aluminum type stuff. Maybe I can find the Felpro number. It worked great.

At the front, I reused the stock gasket - it never came free from the S- pipe, so I just left it there. No leaks, no problems. Car sounds healthier now for sure. I was surprised how much different it sounds.

ALso put the SLS front mount in. Car definetely vibrates more now, which is expected I guess, but I miss the smoothness a little.
 
hotrodf1 said:
Bingo.

Put the pipe in last night. now I understand about the washers- the pipe was only 1/8" or so away from that crossmember. Just barely had enough lying around to get it done - but sometimes I can still hear the pipe hitting so I guess I'll have to get longer bolts and more washers. I sure wish SLS would send instructions telling about the little stuff you have to do - even better, just send the damn washers and sell people a total solution. That's what I would do. Also, why not send gaskets that would work instead of making everyone scrounge for them and perhaps special order them. I bought all kinds of gaskets and it cost me $7. Surely they could send $3 worth of gaskets with the pipe.

Couldn't use the donut style gasket between the pipe and the catback. It wouldn't seal at all to the much larger SLS pipe. I ended up buying a bunch of different gaskets from O-Reilly that I thought "might" work and whatayaknow one of em fit perfect. It was the flat flange style gasket, fiber material, covered with a sort of perforated aluminum type stuff. Maybe I can find the Felpro number. It worked great.

At the front, I reused the stock gasket - it never came free from the S- pipe, so I just left it there. No leaks, no problems. Car sounds healthier now for sure. I was surprised how much different it sounds.

ALso put the SLS front mount in. Car definetely vibrates more now, which is expected I guess, but I miss the smoothness a little.
great, glad to hear it worked out for you. yeah, sorry about being somewhat ambiguous with my terms. stock crossmember was replaced with GTSPEC ladder bar (serves same purpose). you don't really need to buy extended bolts. just use some washers to create a little more room between the mid-pipe and crossmember. i bought 1/2" washers from Home Depot and they fit perfectly. I used 2 on each cross member bolt. I torqued them down too. there is enough thread on there without the need to use longer bolts.

i also used the same gasket, i think it's a necessity or else you will get leaks.
 
ChopstickHero said:
great, glad to hear it worked out for you. yeah, sorry about being somewhat ambiguous with my terms. stock crossmember was replaced with GTSPEC ladder bar (serves same purpose). you don't really need to buy extended bolts. just use some washers to create a little more room between the mid-pipe and crossmember. i bought 1/2" washers from Home Depot and they fit perfectly. I used 2 on each cross member bolt. I torqued them down too. there is enough thread on there without the need to use longer bolts.

i also used the same gasket, i think it's a necessity or else you will get leaks.


Hey - no prob. It clicked for me when I saw what was going on - and that's worth something.

Thanks for the info everyone--
 
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