Heheh.. It's cold as heck here.. (By cold here I mean 0-10 degree's F) -- I work in that weather on my car (in the garage).. But you may be somewhere , where it's like -40 or something nuts ..

And yes.. having an exhaust sitting uninstalled would drive me insane.. and there's no "whatifs" .. I'd be out there freezing my butt off installing it after a few days of looking at it

 

Yeah, it's really cold here. I don't like doing mods on the car when it's that cold. I've done it, but now I'm "older and wiser" and refuse to do that. I can wait.

 

Hey, it matters not to me when you do your mods.. --

 

yeah but he is in Minnesota, where it is -14 this morning, and i think last week sometime it was like -40.... alabama you just got a blast of cold.....

 

Actually in North Alabama where I am,.. it's been -1 to 28f for the majority of the month of January,.. but as I said earlier,.. he might live somewhere where it's -40.

Why is this even being discussed? lol.. I'm not a fan of working in 5 degree weather much less -40.. My garage is heated, so that changes things.. but I never said or meant to imply he should work in the cold. I only said if I had an exhaust sitting in front of me for days.. I would end up installing it. By saying that I didn't mean he should order his exhaust now and install it in the cold winter weather. He doesn't have a heated garage I assume (this one is only heated because it was the model home in this neighborhood and thus the garage was an office , which is why it's sheetrocked, painted, carpeted, has lights, etc.. So the heat has come in handy this winter for me. But I've probably turned it on 4-5 times in the last 8 years.

If I were him I'd wait till spring at least. I am in Birmingham,.. so even this being the coldest winter in 30 years,.. it is going to warm up sooner than later and is already 38 degree's which is not that cold in a garage that is closed.

He was very specific in that he's older and wiser now and refuses to work in the cold.

Back to Exhaust!

 

Exhaust arrived.. lugged it inside.. And just for reference here it is in Box next to me.. I'm 6 Ft. Tall (1.83m):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/111739693@N04/12355758214/
Box opened without touching anything:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/111739693@N04/12355147625/
Box with some packing removed: (decided to not take it off so it doesn't get nicked up while moving it around before installing).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/111739693@N04/12355324363/
The Tips (one of them anyway) : (Titanium Rolled Lip)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/111739693@N04/12355594094/

Very well protected.. as I already said MUCH larger than I expected from the picture that was shown.. But this is about what I expected when I ordered it.. An exhaust is large.. especially a dual exhaust.. I'm surprised they could pack it in this box, but it's not overly packed.. it fits well with a lot of room to move around.

 

I got mine last spring/summer and it was the Gemini True Dual with single layer tips. I ordered it when the CDN and USD were pretty close in 1:1 exchange. Love every minute of it and i have mine paired with invidia test pipes also. I have a clip on my page,

https://my350z.com/forum/nismo-350z/...smo-612-a.html

Have fun on the install, i did mine by myself and it wasn't bad at all, toughest part was mounting and dismounting the muffler portion of the exhausts.

 

Nice. This exhaust (besides the Nismo S Tune) easily has the best reputation (For the Under $1000 Cat Backs), and I've been digging around for a month now. It can arguably be considered "better" than the Nismo exhaust due to it being true Dual while retaining a slightly lighter weight than stock. It does give more HP than the S tune.. (but both are realistically giving just a few (2-3ish HP) maybe a few more if you are lucky. So I'm not worried one bit about the result.

Believe I'm going to bring it down to my shop this morning to see if he can do it for $50 or so.. That's worth it to me for the hassle honestly. It's not putting it on that's a possible issue, it's removing an exhaust that's 6 years old (even with low miles) that may cause an issue with a bolt or two. Plus I don't even have 4 jack stands.. so I'd spend $50 on tools likely .. buying PB Blaster, Jack stands, Breaker tool (if needed), and I'd need a socket or two to go with it.

When I come to him at 7am when he opens, I immediately go in.. and he is cool about letting me mess around with my own car on the rack.. I guess he trusts me not to "injure" myself etc (as it is a large company he's the Master Mech. for).. I'll probably (if I *want* to.. ) be helping him mount the new one in there.. He has an assistant or three.. so if I want to just watch or go somewhere else I can obviously.. But even I could have the old exhaust off and this Gemini on with HIS lifts and tools/impact etc.. in 30-40 minutes.. He's big into doing stuff to his own perf. cars as well,.. so me bringing in stuff like this is probably a bit more exciting than his normal stock/tuneup/repair factory cars with OEM parts he does all day.

I'm going to keep my Stock exhaust,.. but what does a Stock 350Z stock exhaust go for in good condition ? $100? I've seen them all over the board when looking them up,.. so tough to get an honest price .. but again I'm not selling it.

So Thanks for the good luck with install.. but I'm going to "wuss" out (or in my mind be smarter) about this and let this be the first thing I haven't done myself on the car so far considering it's so cheap and more practical than trying to do it myself when I don't have the stands, etc. (I have 2 very old, very generic stands..) I need to grab a bunch of (my recently deceased grandfathers) tools including his 10 ton Jack.. looks something like this:



And his "good" stands.. Love to get his air compressor he has built into his shop and all his impact guns/tools.. but I don't have the room

 

working on cars that you own/love...... shouldnt considered it a hassle.....

Also, unless u dont plan to mod the car anymore, you might as well go ahead and get the jack stands, a nice reliable jack, and a set of tools (ratchets, wrenches, sockets, etc). They dont have to be fancy (snap-ons) but need to be reliable. chances are, you will use them again and again.

 

It's not a "pain" for the most part. I've had this car 2 months and have worked on it far more than I've driven it time wise. This is literally the first thing I am having someone else do. I have tools over at my grandfathers shop.. that's the main reason I'm not buying tools as well,.. if there's a "well why don't you just go get them and do it.." It's quite a long ways away..

But the main reason is due to the probable hassle on the 6+ year old stock exhaust removal.. Just because I am willing to pay a guy $50 to take off an exhaust and put on a bolt on exhaust doesn't mean I love my car less or think it's all a hassle. It's just what seems most logical to me for this. Pick and choose.. and wrestling with rusted, stuck old bolts/nuts is not a "joy" to me.

And.. I 100% agree with you about: -- I'm just going to have to make a long trip and sort through one serious MESS of a shop and figure out what I need that I can fit in my incredibly small garage.

There's no guarantee it would be any issue.. but I've talked to enough people elsewhere who all have these cars as well.. and I've done a few exhaust installs as well to know what should be a 1-2 hour job can turn into a 4-8 hour pita with one bad bolt. Either way I slice it, it's just cheaper to put out $50 and have it done.. I'm very, very likely to be helping the guy anyways (out of choice) anyhow.

If you've read my posts (long and a lot of them I know).. you'd get an idea of how much I love this car and how much time I put into it in the very short time I've owned it.

If for some strange reason he can't do it today.. you better believe I'll be tackling it myself.. spending a tank of gas (It's 350-400 miles to my grandfathers shop -- there and back total).. $60-$80 and spraying the heck out of everything with some PB and hoping all the bolts break free on the old system.. If they all do/did I know it would be a joy from there.

I was looking at Impact/air compressors earlier -- And I'm wondering what the minimum size for a "shade tree" mechanic like myself would need to operate impact/air tools? I found a good 8 gallon compressor for about $200.. That's reasonable and big, but small enough to fit in my garage. Though not sure if I need something like a 20 Gal + for it to work. (Have to keep in mind this is sporadic use , not an automotive shop).. but I'm sure they need X amount of PSI sustained to run for X seconds at a time with proper torque.

Getting off topic,.. but let's keep it on by asking:

Even up under some jack stands.. think I could fit an impact ratchet under there to put some High torque/Quick power on the tight/rusted nuts the old exhaust is on with? Or just no way in hell?

Because plan B is going to get those tools.. and I might as well do it there.. and he has a proper HUGE compressor setup (When he finally changed over to using Impact tools) with air lines on spools in several locations that would run a few hundred feet if need be I'm sure.

 

i tried to sell my hr complete exhaust for 150, not a single bite.... i did end up selling the Y pipe alone for 75 though.

and you shouldnt need an impact, i did mine with just regular ratchet. if you do end up doing it yourself, the easiest way to do the muffler section is to take down the hanger brackets... dont just slide the old one out of the rubber pieces. put the hanger assembly on the new exhaust. slide under the car with the new muffler on your stomach, lift it in place and hold it with your knees, get a bolt or two for the hanger in on each side and you are good. you will need to remove a metal and plastic shield from each side (10mm bolts) to get to the hanger bolts

 

I'm not going to sell mine cause I may end up putting Stock back on for resale WAYYY down the road.. Stock always sells better in most cases. But appreciate the "real world" advice.. The Y-pipe is popular I've noticed. If I ever get desperate for cash.. I may list it..

Yeah, didn't say I needed Impact.. just it would be available to me,.. Was just asking given the spacing/position of those bolts in there is there room to put an impact gun in there , or is it too tight?

Thanks for the tips otherwise though!

 

you should be able to get one up there, but you will need a wobble joint also

 

Well,.. Exhaust is on!

......and,.. I ended up doing it myself,.. that keeps happening..

I went down to my Mechanic first thing,.. and he wasn't there! He was going to be there in an hour,.. BUT, they had 8 jobs in front of me and there was no way they could get to my car today at all. I was bummed out to say the least,..

So I went and grabbed 2 more jack stands, some PB Lube.. and drove home.

The removal of the stock exhaust went as easy as it possibly could have gone! I guess I got lucky to some degree,.. but instead of just wrenching the nuts by the Cats and Y pipe.. I decided instead to hold the Ratchet on them tightly and use a hammer to hit the wrench with hard quick knocks.. (Nothing hurting anything.. just I figured it gave me a shot to break the nuts first try..)... And it worked. Every single nut broke on the 2nd or 3rd hit .. Then I just Ratched them off. No stripping of the nuts,.. Once I got the Cat bolts and Y pipe bolts loose I wasn't worried about the bolts further towards the rear of the car.

I got the factory exhaust off in 20 minutes! Hardest part for me was getting it out of the hangers (I didn't unbolt the hangers.. ).

Then of course the Invidia Gemini Exhaust went on beautifully as expected.

Did notice one thing,.. either I was missing a set of Gaskets from Invidia.. OR,.. they mean for you to re-use the gaskets that go to the Cats. Either way I re-used one "set" of gaskets.

Checked for leaks,.. tight as it can be. In fact,.. my factory exhaust had a little "rasp/gurgle" when you let off the gas -- That is now gone.. it's 100% smooth, so there must have been some sort of small leak with the stock exhaust?

The Invidia Gemini catback took me about an Hour.. I was really taking my time with it.. And the tips took longer than I expected, but got them lined up to my liking.

Here's the car with exhaust on.. bolts "hand tight" and before I put the tips on.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/111739693@N04/12367738654/
A few views of the Exhaust.. mainly to show the Passenger side pipe going Under (or over.. however you want to say it) the sway bar.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/111739693@N04/12367469153/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/111739693@N04/12367458833/
Some random Pics of the Tips/Back of the exhaust:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/111739693@N04/12367461443/http://www.flickr.com/photos/111739693@N04/12367465023/http://www.flickr.com/photos/111739693@N04/12367454843/
I love it!

Sounds SO deep.. Under 2500 RPM it sounds the loudest.. maybe that will change as it "breaks in".. I don't know.

And,.. yes.. I want it louder. lol.. Don't get me wrong I love this , perfect sound -- But I need just a bit more ,.. so I wonder if I should go with HFC's or Test pipes.. (I just don't want the Light to come on..) And not sure which will keep the great sound but maybe open up the sound once you pass 2500 Rpm to 5500rpm (Very quiet in this range).

Also,.. my Gas mileage is going WAY down now. I have been shifting at 2100-2500 rpm.. There is NO way I can keep my driving like that now with this exhaust.. Oh dear :/

Believe it or not I noticed that it seemed to bump up power in the lower RPM range,.. not sure if that's normal for this exhaust? But I feel it down there, and it seemed to flatten out the power band a bit for me.. and I knew it would be strong up high due to the motor/exist power band.

It Smokes some.. it SMELLS.. so it needs some breaking in. And , I've read that they get just a touch louder and richer sounding after some breaking in (This true?)

Thanks for the recommendations guys,.. this IS the perfect exhaust,.. It's definitely sexy, retains the VQ sound, is louder.. and it's SUPER SUPER Deep .. way deeper than I thought. I just installed this incredible sound system and now I'm driving with the windows down and Head Unit/Radio turned off lol.

 

congrats, and yes it will smoke for a couple days until the oil from the mandrel machine burns off, and if there is a sticker on the resonator like mine had that will burn off too. i reused the cat gaskets when i did mine, the tone will change some as carbon builds up in it... i was the same way about wanting it louder, get the motordyne art pipes and pair with it and i think you will be happy. below is a clip from when i had that combo

 

Thanks.

Not worried about the smoke or smell.. I expected it.

And Yeah I considered removing the sticker,.. but figured it'd be fine either way - not sure why they put it on there to be honest.

And yeah.. Louder! lol.. This gives me a good taste and I LOVE IT.. and it's going to cost me cause I simply cannot control my foot now with this sound.. (I'm not speeding, but getting to the speed limit and what gear I'm in (for noise) is MUCH different now.. )

So Carbon build up is why they get louder over time? Hrmm.. I wonder what would accelerate that process? Seafoam? Nah.. that gets rid of carbon.. but maybe that lets it settle in the exhaust? hrmm. I'm sure how much louder it gets isn't substantial regardless.

Other people are telling me to get "Berks" -- You say ART pipes ($526) -- yeesh! The Berk Test pipes seem to run about $200.. If they are pretty good.. I'd much rather go that route for price.

Also,.. Since I had no issues on this exhaust install.. Are installing Test pipes Easier or harder than the catback install?

Any good test pipes $200 or less (like berks) and will they set off the O2 sensor on my cluster? If I can grab something for $200 or less.. I'll be putting them on next week. If ART pipes are all that will work then it'l be a while before I can afford that.

 

the resonators on the art pipes will give you a little deeper tone, imagine blowing over a bottle with diff levels of fluid in it, and will not make your exhaust raspy. the test pipes are quite a bit harder, you have to get to a bolt from the engine by with a LONG extension, and those bolts are alot harder to break free since they get alot hotter and the build up of whatever that scaly/rust crap is

i went with kinetix hfc at first and wish i would have done the art to begin with.....

 

My 350z has 65k on it, was not able to just unbolt easily. I work in a shop, so I just torched up the bolts for a few seconds and unbolted it off. The sad part was all the rust on my oem exhaust system. I put an Invidia N1.

 

Hrmm.. The prices are killing me.

Test pipes are cheaper by far (Aside from the ART's) -- I sort of intuitively think High Flow Cats are what I'm after here.. Berk HFC's seem about right,.. but they are $450-$550 .. I need something closer to the $200 range.

I realize Test pipes besides provoking the CEL on some.. can cause Rasp and screw the sound completely..

So what I need is a HFC or Test pipe that is like $200, but doesn't rasp,.. or screw the beautiful sound I have going so far with the Gemini CBE...

Is there anything out there to put on in that price range that sounds good?

I see the Berk test pipes in the range.. but they probably sound like crap ?

I simply can't afford the ART's, or even the Berk HFC's unless I could find them for like $300 or so..

Let me know if there's a hidden gem out there in my budget range that would work/sound good.. and preferably not hit the CEL if possible.

If not, I guess I'll just have to save my pennies and wait 6 months or so.

 

Are you saying your 350's Stock Catback wouldn't unbolt without the torch? Or your Cats to headers?

I figure since the car stayed in Georgia it's whole life (no salt roads, no salt air).. and only had 26k (27k now).. That must be why my exhaust came off so easily. That is bound to transfer to the rest of the system.

I do realize the torque will go higher and heat issues due to it getting closer to the heat source (engine).

You guys said NO SHOP for the Cat back.. feel the same about HFC/Test pipes?