I copied this from the other thread, wanted to give it its own thread. I used keywords in the title to make it easier to search for, i sugges people start doing the same. that way we dont get ten threads on the same topic.

a how to: its easy.

Youll need a 10mm, 12mm, 14mm socket. Also, i used a 12mm deep. Extensions up to 12 inches may be needed, theyll makes it 10x easier.
(i say may be needed, i used them but didnt know if they were required or not)

My method of removal was to unbolt the mid pipe and remove the hangers from the car. Thus, allowing the entire exhaust to come out in one piece. I dont know if there is any other way.

Start by lifting the rear up, both sides as high has it can go. Be sure to lock the front tires from moving and test to make sure the jacks will hold.

Slide in with your 14mm (thats what my bolts were, cant remember what oem ones were) and un dolt the y pipe from the mid pipe. Its two bolts. May need some wd-40 or nut buster. Since my bolts were newer and not torqued from the factory they were easy to get off. You may encounter nuts and studs here.

Next, get your 12mm deep socket out with about 6 inch extension.

Youll see that the midpipe is held on with a hanger and rubber piece in the middle on the driver's side. Unbolt that hanger, 1 bolt, and let the pipe drop down and rest onto the cross brace.

Then, with a 12mm standard socket, youll see that the passenger side of the muffler has a hanger that holds it. The bolt will be parallel with the ground. Undo it and put it aside.

Next, start on the drivers side of the muffler. Youll see the next hanger/rubber piece. Itll have three bolts, 12mm in size. Two of the bolts are obstructed by a plastic piece. To remove the plastic, take off the 10mm bolt holding it in place, as well as one of those bumper snap ins plugs. Now move the piece out of the way(no need to fully remove it) and unbolt the three bolts. As you go to drop the canister, put your toolbox under it for support. Be sure to have all your necessary tools out.

Youll now notice a ground wire holding the muffler to the chassies. It takes a 10mm socket. Unbolt it and drop it down. I didnt reuse it, didnt bother unbolting the midpipe from the muffler.

Now onto the passenger side. Youll have to REMOVE a piece of plastic/aluminum? this time. Itll have two 10mm bolts holding it in. Itll take some twisting/jimmying to get out. Once out, remove the three bolts from the hanger and the exhaust is now fully unbolted and ready to be taken off.

Remove the toolbox and take the exhasut out from the car.

for the Reinstall........

Transfer all the rubber and hangers pieces back to the new exhaust. Be sure theyre on the right way andfor the correct side. I put the new exhaust on piece by piece, much easier.

Start with the mid pipe. Slide it under the car careful now to drag it. Use the lift, move body, lift method, slow, but it minimizes scratch potential.

Using the first hanger, rebolt the midpipe in but dont torque it down all the way, make it tight, but not full torque. Youll have to prop the weight of the pipe up while your under there, not too bad, be sure to use the cross brace for this.

Once the hanger is in, line up the midpipe to the y pipe and thread the new bolts/gasket in with a 14mm wrench and a standard socket. Again, dont tighten all the way. Youll want the exhaust to be able to move so the other parts can be put on with ease and then torque them all down evenly.

Now that the mid pipe is hung, start on the driver side canister.

Start by bolting the three bolts of the hanger. Then, once the canister is hanging, line it up with the midpipe and thread the 2 bolts and gasket into it and the midpipe. Tighten it down, but not all the way! Itll take some manuevering to get the faces to line up. Once the faces are parallel, tigheten it down a bit more. Do make sure to check that your not stressing the rubber on the hanger too much, asjust as need to make it perpindicular to the ground. It may require sliding the hanger in or out a bit.

Then, do the same for the other canister. It has two hangers. My suggestion is to do the three bolt hanger, then the two bolts into the mid pipe, very loose, and then the one bolt hanger.

Once all bolts are in, you can start to torque them down. I suggest getting the exhaust to line up and torqued and then to torque the hangers down. If done right, you should have any leaks. Dont overtorque the hangers, it didnt take alot to break them loose, therefore you shouldnt overtorque as it may strip.

Then replace your plastics/aluminum pieces and double check that all bolts are torqued. As for the exhaust bolts, torque them pretty well, but dont strip them out. I like to use a wrench and wratchet and couter turn them. With the tight spaces under the car its hard to apply full torque.

That should be it, have fun. Should take you about an hour to an hour and a half to do the install and cleanup. The oem exhaust is heavy too! It helps to have a friend to pass you tools or pieces and support the exhaust, but theres only room for one under the car.

review:


startup is awesome, deep and rumbles well
idle has a deep rumble, sounds good
1k-2.5k, gets loud, not too raspy, tolerable
2.5k- 3.5k, raspy, vibrates and loud, painful on the ears
3.5k and on is awesome, gets quiet inside and just pulls to redline.

considerations:

i have plenum spacer and cai
as well as test pipes and jic y pipe, im in need of headers. This is probably the loudest exhaust setup for the z minus headers.

powerloss? my butt cant tell

pics and sound clips to follow......

 

good write up.. ill be needing this very soon.