Cux350z

iTrader: (162)

well after buying some xerd testpipes from another member i finally decided to install them.

a few...no bolts. so off to the hardware store. I buy 10 ss 10x20mm size bolts, 10 ss lock washers, 10 ss washers, 10 ss 10mm nuts. total cost ~40 bucks. damn

get back, put the car up on jacks and let the cats cool off. its a nice day out, like 60 degrees.

few hours later.....

i get under the car, attempt to bust the bolts on the passengar side. ive heard they were tighter than driver side, so i decided to do them first and get the hard side done and then itd be smooth sailing.

well armed with NO air tools, impact wrench or helper....i get nowhere. damn those nuts were on tight. not even wd40 worked.

i get out from underneath......and call a friend. he comes over 30 min later and we head to advance auto parts. i buy 20" of 3/8 inch and 10" of 1/2 extensions, a 1/2 to 3/8 adapter, and some PB (nut buster?). cost 33 bucks.

so thats 73 in parts, plus the cost of the pipes (which was less btw).

get back and try with a 1/2" wrench on the pas side, no luck. switch to drivers side and viola! easy as pie. get all the nuts off and finally jiggle the damn catpipe out. now for the o2 senesor. well the cat pipe has its shielding or wahtever its called. hammer + me equals enough room to get a crescent wrench on the 02 sensor. it came off easy.

im happy at this point...

reinstallled the new pipe, which went in real easy, torqued everything down. well it got dark out. so im left with one test pipe and one cat pipe. we decided to crank it up for the hell of it. no cel(tho it didnt run long) little louder, very raspy at 3k.

so its nighttime, and the car is still on jacks. i have to register by 930 tomorrow (10 the latest but a late fee of 5 bucks) for a local autox event. i want to get up early tomorrow to work on the car, i may actually work on it at the event (register at 830, race at 12ish work event at 3ish) so id def have time to do it.

is there anything that can go wrong with just on test pipe on?

for anyone wondering about bolts:

youll need 10 for the cat pipes, 2 at each end for each pipe and 2 to brace the pipes (if applicable)(two of the oem bolts remain intact to the headers). sizes of 10mm(diameter)x20mm(long) work.

one more question, will i need to get more bolts to install my y pipe where it connects to the straight pipe? or can i use the ones that are already on there.

Cux350z

iTrader: (162)

whew. got up at 7am this morning and installed the other pipe and was done and had the car on the ground by 830.

knight_white99

iTrader: (5)

So was it worth it? Could you feel any change in power? Any dyno runs? Any CEL yet? (I'm trying to decide if this install is worth the trouble).