exhaust installed

["Nigel Heron" <nigel@psycode.com>]

i finished installing my TT 2" resonated aluminized system w/ a dynomax,
US 8v dual manifold and euro(non-cat) downpipe... what a job!!

The Techtonics exhaust tubing's quality and fit are truly amazing, way
better than the eurosport stuff i had on before.

removal:
I cut though my old eurosport with an air chisel, went though it like
butter but i couldn't even put a dent in the stock single downpipe, so i
had to drop the front swaybar. I didn't have the spring clamp removal
tool so i used a crowbar and pried off both clamps. Now that all that
stuff was out of the way i looked up to my manifold to see what looked
like a missing stud! ... well it wasn't missing, it was broken inside
the head! looked at the other studs to find that one was finger tight,
when i pulled on it out i noticed that some stupid botch head had cut
the stud short and only put in about 2-3 threads .. 'cause there was
another broken stud behind it!!! Mother F#$%^#%$er!! With the though of
removing heads and draining coolant, etc. i stopped for the night.   ...
i took the next day off work to tackle the botch, with a propane/oxygen
torch i heated the nuts and removed them, to heat the top ones i used a
mirror in one hand and the torch in the other. Once the manifold was off
i used 2 nuts to remove the studs. The broken studs were broken inside
the head with nothing sticking out, using a mirror and a magnifying
glass i punch pilot holes in the studs. Laying on my back I very
carefully drilled holes though the center of the studs and used
extractors to pull 'em out .. might sound easy but it's *really* not,
took over 6 hours! My whole back is bruised from rolling around on the
floor for so long... but thank God i didn't have to pull the head!!!

installation:
cleaned up the stud holes in the head w/ brake cleaner and compressed
air, installed the studs, all the gaskets, the manifold, the downpipe
and new O2 sensor. I changed the front motor mount since the techtonics
one i had in there was ripped in half. The center pipe was a real pain
to get in since the downpipe i bought was used and out of round, took a
bit of hammering and bending, finally went in after i lubed it up w/
anti-seize. The rest of the system took a couple minutes to do. I still
have to align the engine properly, the downpipe is pointing too far to
the left, so i can't align the rest of the exhaust.. i'll do that
tonight.

the first thing that came to mind when i fired it up is "Oh my God this
muffler sounds like a piece of s%^t!". It's very raspy, no bass at all,
i'm starting to get used to it but it's not ideal... sounds like a
friggin' honda, i think it'll get better once the system has settled in
though. Paully (the burnt kid) has the same system but his sounds
better, i guess it's 'cause he has a cat and a single outlet manifold.

the car is MUCH faster but i still can't keep up w/ my friend's digifant
golf! WTF! i'll swap my 17"s for 13"s and see if i can take him.

all in all, it took 2 days, a day's worth of pay and a sore back all
because of some botch head mechanic that didn't do his job right the
first time, for the horsepower gained i guess it was all worth it...

-nigel.



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