Exhaust Installation

[Alex_r33s2gts25t]

Hey guys, i just got my exhaust for my car, a 3" turbo back Xforce sstem for my R33 GTST... its supposed to be a direct bolt on.... i phoned a couple exhaust places one quote $160 and another guy said he cant give me aquote because alot of the time they arnt direct bolt ons nd things dont line up so he gve me an hrly rate 70 bux/hr (which makes me kindah iffy)....

i was thinking of having a crck at it myslf... how hard can it be?? Any one with ny experience on this have ny advice/tips/info on what i need to do??? Are there any tutorials?

also anyone have any experience with the xforce system? Does it bolt right in??

[Angus Smart]

x force systems fit up nicely! my friends shop does them all the time and not had any problems!

you should be able to get it done in a few hours.

if you dont mind me asking how much did you pay for the system and is it stainless or mild? pm me if you like

cheers

[nuclear_skyline]

The only problem you most likely will encounter is having extremely tight nuts and studs on the turbo.... Easy solution, buy a can of wd40, spray all the nuts and leave it for 30min, spray agin and leave for 30 min. That should free them up nicely....

Putting the down pipe on is the hardest part, as its the hardest to get to, but its still quite easy... Take your time, and you'll enjoy the reward of doing it yourself.

[Alex_r33s2gts25t]

Hey guys thanx for the replies, i think ill have a crack at it later today or tomorrow lol...

i emailed x-force to ask the recommended retail price and they told me 950 for the mild steel system... so when i shopped around croydon racing developments quoted me 1250 for system and installation, and i found the system elsewhere online 799 for the mild steel.... and with continued searching one came up on ebay a guy in sydney that sells exhaust systems... $680 bux it cost me... i picked it up to save on shipping, if anyone wants the sellers name lemme know nd ill find his ebay details.

So last question... when i join the sections up should i be sealing them?? with exhaust cement/gasket goo?? Or is it fine to just bolt everything together?

[QWK32]

the kit should have come with gaskets. they are the same shape as the flanges. thats all you need to use to join them up.

Edited July 11, 2008 by QWK32

[bluey33]

You can use exhaust cement for peace of mind.

As nuclear said the dump pipe off the turbo will be the hardest part.

I pulled one off yesterday and the bolts were 1/2".

Plenty of WD40 and patience helps.

Edited July 11, 2008 by bluey33

[Alex_r33s2gts25t]

Ok... whos idea was it to install this thing on my own?!?!?!?!!? lol just kidding.... its not exactly hard.... just a pain in the ASS....

so i went to supercheap... bought 2 ramps and some exhaust sealer... (it was about 2:30 pm when i started lol) pulled out the cat and pipes all the way to the rear... and managed 2 install everything from the cat back... 2 problems... the *@^@#^* silencer wouldnt come out of the freakin muffler... took us like an hour to get the retarded thing out had to push a big chunk of wood through the other end and hammer the shit out of it till it poped out...

second problem... the sensor wont go back into the cat!!! It pops in but not far enough that i can screw it in... i think when they made the holes they left a small amount of metal at the base which stops it goin all the way through... gunna try to drill it out tomorrow... any other ideas???

i ran out of daylight... will tackle front pipe and the cat sensor tomorrow... the rest went together alright...

[RBwhatever]

Ok... whos idea was it to install this thing on my own?!?!?!?!!? lol just kidding.... its not exactly hard.... just a pain in the ASS....

so i went to supercheap... bought 2 ramps and some exhaust sealer... (it was about 2:30 pm when i started lol) pulled out the cat and pipes all the way to the rear... and managed 2 install everything from the cat back... 2 problems... the *@^@#^* silencer wouldnt come out of the freakin muffler... took us like an hour to get the retarded thing out had to push a big chunk of wood through the other end and hammer the shit out of it till it poped out...

second problem... the sensor wont go back into the cat!!! It pops in but not far enough that i can screw it in... i think when they made the holes they left a small amount of metal at the base which stops it goin all the way through... gunna try to drill it out tomorrow... any other ideas???

i ran out of daylight... will tackle front pipe and the cat sensor tomorrow... the rest went together alright...

Yeah your right, the temp sensor for the cat doesn't fit. You've just got to drill out the hole so it accepts it, no biggie really....unless you don't have a drill and drill bits.

Weird that the silencer got stuck.

All I can say is that the dump/front pipe is the hardest to fit. Getting to the nuts around the turbo is the hardest but not impossible. Take the heat shield off the turbo to get to the ones around the top.

Here's mine back in the day

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/Xf...st-t144283.html

[Alex_r33s2gts25t]

ok so anyone that's thinking of installing your own turbo back exhaust that doesnt really know what they're in for: DONT DO IT....

cat back fine go ahead and knock yourself out... but that dump pipe is a **** to get off. I nearly gave up... not worth the hassle... oh and i didnt have a drill that can widen a hole in stainless steel cat... i dont think many people would lol... yeah the guys at the chop shop had to do that for me... even they didnt know if they could lol... he sharpened his drill bit on a grinder and we got lucky.

As for the dump... chewed through my socket wrench adapter, and 2 13mm heads and 1 of the neighbours set lol i was scared we were gunna snap the bolts or thred them... had to call in reinforcements, a friends brother in law that had a massive socket wrench... the plate that holds the heat shield up was a bastard to get around i dunno how we did it to be honest... just wd40 the shit out of everything nd pray for the best...

And then theres the silencer that thought it was welded inside the muffler tip... i showed it... had to jam a large bit of wood through the other end of the muffler and hammer the shit out of it... it took forever to get out...

apart from those three things and an almost dislocated shoulder and stiff neck, 2 half days of work, and working by moonlight, everything else went peachy

but seriously... dont do it... bewareeeee.. BEWAREEEEEE

my neck hurts

[RBwhatever]

Wow, i can't believe you had so much drama.

And as for the guys at the workshop that weren't sure whether they could drill stainless.......what the heck??? what kind of workshop was that? I did it with a standard high speed steel drill bit and a half dead battery on the cordless.

Are you happy with the results of the performance increase? If yes then that sir is the joy of modifying. Do it yourself and you'll enjoy the results more. Not to mention you learn a lot about your car, so if something goes wrong you have a pretty good idea whats gone wrong because you know your car better than anyone else.

Nonetheless, the general rule you should folllow is, if you haven't done it before and your going to do it yourself, excpect it to take twice as long, allow for the unexpected.

Also depends on your mechanical competancy as well too I suppose.

Also, get yourself some good tools, there's nothing worse than using cheap crap that breaks on you. I've done it before and got the job done with cheap tools, but they only last for that one job and half of another. After that its shot.

I and many others haven't had as much drama as you have, but every car if different so I can sympathise for your troubles.

Happy modding

[Alex_r33s2gts25t]

lol it was cool to learn seein how i had no idea.... but i think the sense of relief, outweighed the sense of achievement after it was done...

Performance increase yes... she idles smoother and does everything smoother coming on acceleration, even accelerates noticeably quicker... but loud as hell... we went to an enclosed car park to test it nd i did a drive by past a friend under 60km/hr nd he said he could feel the ground shaking not to mention the enourmous roar defening everyone in a 5km radius... lol... ok so slight exageration but u get the idea

and yes i need better tools lol... the $20 ratchet set from supercheap wont cut it lol!

[ITZTRU]

yeah i can't beleive you had that much trouble either man...god knows, i'm not the most competant when it comes to mechanics either...but it sure didn't take us that long...the time it took you to install ur system was about as long as it took for me to do my intercooler on my own...but oh well, you got it done, that's the main thing

[zebra]

As for the dump... chewed through my socket wrench adapter, and 2 13mm heads and 1 of the neighbours set lol i was scared we were gunna snap the bolts or thred them... had to call in reinforcements, a friends brother in law that had a massive socket wrench... the plate that holds the heat shield up was a bastard to get around i dunno how we did it to be honest... just wd40 the shit out of everything nd pray for the best...

The Bolt on the back of the turbo are 1/2" not 13mm which probly explains why it was such a prick to get off and also why you chewed out the sockets.

Just Nit Picking Here

[Angus Smart]

Oh glad its finally on! and the price was pretty good, i do have access to these exhaust's and would probably sell for around the same price. and around 250 more for stainless..

as for the install, good its finally on! but a hoist is defiantly the way to go with any exhaust, and a good set of tools is always good too!

[bluey33]

The right tools do help, your not wrong there.

I guess i got lucky i managed to get mine off and on within an hour. (front/dump & cat)

[coakman]

lol it was cool to learn seein how i had no idea.... but i think the sense of relief, outweighed the sense of achievement after it was done...

Performance increase yes... she idles smoother and does everything smoother coming on acceleration, even accelerates noticeably quicker... but loud as hell... we went to an enclosed car park to test it nd i did a drive by past a friend under 60km/hr nd he said he could feel the ground shaking not to mention the enourmous roar defening everyone in a 5km radius... lol... ok so slight exageration but u get the idea

and yes i need better tools lol... the $20 ratchet set from supercheap wont cut it lol!

Watch out for that excessive noise!

I recently had a full system fitted by CRD and the bastard is as loud as your description.

Idle is acceptable, but try even gentle acceleration on the road and the thing spits, rumbles, and roars. Pedestrians and cars within fifty meters of me turn to see what all the commotion is, and every friggin' boy racer (and non-boy racers who suddenly become converted) wanna race the gruesome beastie rumbling away at the lights next to them.

Shit. Even babys in prams are checking me out...

I think I just disabled sleeper mode...

Thankfully, the exhaust came with a silencer (kind of like a funnel) which you just bolt in the rear to restrict some of the airflow, and therefore reduce most of the noise. Works like a charm, and you only lose a few kW. You should see if you can locate something similar, or you may even wish to consider a Varex Muffler.

Edited July 15, 2008 by coakman