Hi, I just purchased a pair of TiTek test pipes and am planning on replacing my stock cats with them but am wondering if its possible to remove the stock cat pipes from under the car.. I've heard a few people say you have to take out the intake to reach one of the bolts holding the stock cat in place? I'd really prefer not to have to take that route but if that's my only option then I guess I'll have to suck it up. :P

By the way I have an 03 touring with aftermarket intake, everything else is stock..

Just wondering if someone who has replaced the cats with TP's could confirm this for me..

Thanks!

 

yeap, i've removed the cats before and you have to get 1 or 2 bolts from up top, no helping it. There's just not enough room underneath the car to access it... It's very easy to removed the intake tube.

 

Next time post stuff like this in the correct tech forum.

 

Moved...

 

To note here, only some bolts get removed from the top, not the cat it's self.

 

You will have to remove the intake. Upon removal of the intake, you will be able to reach one of the three bolts on the cat through the engine bay, the other two are to be removed under the engine bay.

http://autohow.tv/z/how-to-install-350z-hfc-test-pipes

 

Wow in that video he used like 5 extensions to get at that one bolt from inside his engine bay.. is that necessary? or will a normal socket wrench fit down there?

I'm debating weather I should do it myself or just go get someone to do it for me..

 

^ It's necessary to use a long extension. When doing my test pipes, I used a 1/2 drive socket with a 20 inch extension followed by a swivel joint.

 

spray pb blast and let sit for a minute...

 

Alright I'll definitely spray it with liquid wrench before removing any of the bolts. Will I be able to do this with the car on jack stands? Or am I going to need those little ramps to drive the car up on to give myself more room to work..?

 

how fat r u? lol...jacks give u plenty of room

 

The night before.

 

Either way you are on your back on a creeper. Its not fun.

 

+1 ^ not fun at all. however I did do it on two little duralast jack stands in a few hours. I really don't remember having to take out any intake parts to get to the bolts. I will say though that putting in the test pipes is much easier than taking out the stock cats. Just be patient and you shouldn't have any problems

 

Compared to doing test pipes, removing a simple intake should not even be a concern. Just yank it. I'm sure it's possible to snake a long enough extension past the intake and hardlines by the tower, but why would you bother?

 

You can definitely get at all the bolts from underneath the car. If you have 1/4 and 3/8 drive sockets, the right extensions and a set of box wrenches then there's really no need to remove the intake manifold. Just make sure you soak the hell out of those bolts with PB or liquid wrench first.

 

Good luck not breaking a quarter inch set...

 

I have test pipes on my car and from what I remember,

theres 2 bolts u can get from the bottom, but theres 1 that u NEED to get from the top. This is for both cats (6 bolts total). Simply get a bunch of extentions and connect them up. It REALLY helps to have a buddy at this step. Because lining everything up is gonna be hard with little control. that thing is gonna be so limp because of all the extensions.

And no you dont need to take off your intake because I did it without doing that. if anything you need a partner lol

 

I put Strup test pipes on my Z, and was able to do all of it from underneath... Later when I got my hands on Berk HFC's... same deal. All underneath. Used the hobby shop on base, so had it on a lift.

 

there's very little room, but all bolt can be removed from underneath..