Ok, so update from yesterdays work.
So after some more 'Sparks and jobby' the cat was separated (nuts ground in half and then whacked off the studs).
Some may have read elsewhere that the cat overtemp sensor snapped off. TBH I'd done well to get it off the car with the wire still attached - the shroud was corroded into 2 before I started and it was just hanging by the single core;
Thanks to Ted for confirming the thread size for the hole (how on earth did you know that?!). I don't have an M18x1.5 bolt, so the sensor has stayed in as it is for now.
This bit on the old exhaust had added to the urgency of doing the job (already puttied over by me once and once off I could see the crack actually went about 2/3rds of the way round
)
If I'm honest though, that was nothing compared the fact I've had the replacement for over a year and now all of a sudden there are twin-loops coming out of the woodwork all over the place
, so before everyone's got them I wanted to get mine on!!!
And here it is in a bit more glory;
I bought it off JohnnyB on PUK
Don't know anything about the maker. Quick search on google turned up this as a possible? Not sure that's right though.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Speed-ra ... 4808420380
At this stage I realised I didn't have replacement nuts for the cat, as it's an M10x1.25 thread (standard is M10x1.5)
so was going to have to re-use the ones I'd managed to undo from the front and knock the rear studs out to use replacement stainless bolts/nuts that Sam had kindly sent me.
Old cat flanges cleaned up (exciting pics eh?)
Because I'd originally planned to replace the header at the same time, I'd bought a new crush ring for the back of the cat but not the front (the new header came with a gasket, but that wasn't suitable for use with the original header - see separate post) so I was going to have to re-use the original crush ring and hope for the best. It almost worked, just a couple of tiny blows on test (couldn't hear but could feel) so unfortunately I had to use Hermetite. I hate using that stuff, it's always an absolute last resort...
Gently cleaned up.
Fitted.
You can see in this pic, the exhaust had originally been for a UKDM cat but had been lengthened to fit a JDM cat.
Cat over-temp sensor crimped and attached to body ground
Some more exciting pics of the exhaust on the car (with Cat heat shields refitted).
It did fit at the back, but was snug under the bumper
Needed a small bit trimming to allow the loop to pass ok.
If the rear hanger is attached, the tailpipe sits against the bottom of the bumper. Because my trusty Maplin Gas Master hot cutter thingy was empty, I left it disconnected for now and it sits off nice and clear.
Whilst I was arsing about with the sensor grounding and cat heat shields, Lisa took the original back lights out and offered up both of the alternatives we've bought to see which we preferred;
Close run thing (the fully smoked does look great on a black car) but we decided to go for Project eX in the end (thanks Sha/JDM-BB4
)
So there it is, new back lights and copy Mugen twin-loop fitted;
The exhaust will lift about 10 - 20mm I reckon once the rear hanger's connected, but that is pretty low hanging - and the car's got to be lowered yet!
So after that, there was nothing for it but to take it out for a spin
First impressions?
It's very quiet at idle and around town, I possibly prefer the burble at the back of the OEM twin-pipe or the power flow twin-pipe on my UKDM?
What I wasn't expecting and I struggle to quite believe is the difference when you hit
It's so much more aggressive when that comes in, both in noise and feel!
Lisa always used to say she didn't really notice vtec come in on the car before
Her first words when I hit vtec with the new exhaust on were "Wow, I can really feel that. It makes me wet!"
