Is this a DIY project? Is there any tricks or special tools you need? Any help would be great! How long would they take?

 

you can do it with ramps/jack stands. youll need a regular and deep socket 14mm bit, a 20-22 in. extension and an elbow joint for the wrench. the total install is on average 3-4 hrs., but will be longer if you have no previous experience.

 

I would leave it to the shop... they have the lift, the proper tools, and proper experience

 

3-4 hours???? Huh? I pulled both of my cats, welded in O2 sensor bungs, and reinstalled in a little more than an hour.

 

i meant 3-4 hrs. with no previous experience and using ramps and jackstands.

 

20 - 22 in. extension? You mean for the socket! I'm sure I don't have one of those. May have to get the shop to do it. Also don't you need an O2 sensor wrench....22mm? Don't have one of these either. That makes it hard for a DIY. Can we use something other than an O2 wrench?

Thanks,
Dan

 

Where on the pipe did you add the bungs? I am assuming that you placed them right after the header flange but, at what position on the "clock" are they?

 

for the O2 sensor you can use a 7/8" open end wrench, and you can also buy a 20" extension at the store...they sell those nowadays...

i did the install in just under two hours with my friend. it is much easier with a buddy, as they can help line up the socket down below.

you need: 14mm deep socket, 20" extension, 7/8" wrench, universal joint.

Good luck

 

Shoot!! I just bought a 17" extension at the store last week thinking that would be plenty long enough. Maybe I can stick a 6" extention onto the end and have a 23" extension!

I'll hopefully be tackling this install too this Saturday in my garage on ramps.

-Chrismcagle

 

You're correct on the location. They're at the 2 o'clock Drivers side and 10 o'clock passenger side.

 

Well, I was going to install the cats myself, then decided to take it to the shop to do, but after finding out that weekends are not good for doing the install at the shop, it looks like I'm back to installing them myself again.

Picked up a 20" extemsion (1/2' connector) at Pep Boys for $14.99. I have the universal joint and wrench, but discovered that all my metric sockets are 3/8" connector type so it looks like I'll be heading back to the store to get the 14mm deep socket.

One thing that I noticed which may or may not be a problem doint the install myself is that some of the bolts on the stock cats are welded to the connector whereas the High Flow cats just have holes for the bolts to go through. It might make tightening them down a bit of a problem since you need to hold the bolt as you tighten the nut or vice versa. I'll be giving it a shot today when I get home from work. I am planning to take photos and do an install website like I did for the KINETIX Plenum, but time will be the determining factor in that idea. We'll see.

-Chris

 

that would be very nice and appreciated.

 

its actually easier with the bolts than with the factory hardware. With the factory hardware, 2 of the bolts are on top, and one on bottom. Especially on the drivers side, the top are a pain.

With aftermarket cats, you can use an open end wrench on the top, and tighten from the bottom.

I've done 2 sets of RT cats and swapped out mine for hollow cats. Swapped the stock ones back in today in about 45 minutes. I don't use extensions, I use a 1/4" ratchet, with a 3" extension and a deep socket, and a 3/8" ratchet with a 5" extension and a deep socket. I used the 1/4" for the ones above, and the 3/8" for the bolts that are on the bottom. Its kinda hard to break them loose with a 1/4" drive, but its possible.

 

2-3 hours for a first timer probably isn't far off.

 

Just a head's up for those with limited time or limited resources - CrawfordZ in Nashville does the headers & cats install for $300 total labor. I like doing most of my own installs, but after reading several links on header installation (& only having 1 day a week I can work on the Z with no lift & no Z "buddies") I'm gonna let loose of the cash & have them do the Crawford header & cat install this Fri. I'll post how it goes.........

 

$300 is a steal! If I get headers, thats where I'm going. It will be worth the drive.

 

2003Z - Those headers would REALLY open up the tail end on that supercharger - sweet! That's my ultimate goal - Stillen! Gonna wait til next year though - heck, my Z is only 8 weeks old. Gonna let it mature a little (and wait til the checkbook matures as well - ha). I thought $300 was a steal as well......

 

Well, here is my answer to the original question of this thread.

I got the cats installed, finally.... at about 2:00 AM this morning.

It was definitely not something that I would have done myself, had I known what a beeeotch it was going to be. I started at about 7:30 PM and brought out the camera and started to document the install so that I could make an install instruction page... then after about the 2nd hour I abandoned that idea and just plowed ahead without any further documentation so unfortunately I won't be making an install page.

I got the old cats off and then got the new cats and mounting hardware layed out and that's when I noticed there were some missing parts. 2 bolts, 2 nuts, and 4 washers to be exact. So off I went to Home Depot at 9:45 PM in my wife's truck in the hopes that I would make it there in time to get what I needed. Sadly, they close at 9:00. So around I drove trying to find somewhere open to buy the parts I needed, but around 10:15 I gave up and went back home.

After some digging around in my "stuff" box in the garage I was able to find some nuts and bolts that did not quite match, but were good enough to temporarily hold the pipes together and continued with the install.

By about 12:30 AM that $120.00 that Performance Nissan quoted me for the install started to look really good, but I kept going since now I really couldn't go anywhere in the car until I was done. I continued.

I did what had been recommended to me by a few people and got everything lined up and hand tightened first, then went back and tightened everything down.

The 4 bolts at the top of the cats were the bane of my existence. I hate those bolts. I hate them with all of my being! They suck!!

I got one whole side done, then moved over to the other side. You'd think that after knowing what you are doing things would be easier. Not the case here. The left side sucked just as much as the right side.

I left the frankenstien bolts I scavenged to connect the Y pipe to the passenger side cat. Soft metal... stripped bolt... lots of cussing Good old Vise grips to the recue, luckily the bolt was not on as tight as it could have been so I was able to get it undone and replaced with another bolt.

Finally, at around 2:00 AM this morning I tightened the last bolt and breathed a sigh of relief.

Started her up, and drove her around the block. Didn't really notice too much on the power side, but I was/am extremely tired. Tthere was a strange sound like a tin pan filled with gravel sifting around when slowing down to a stop though. Perhaps that's normal? Also, after getting back home and parking, it smelled like a bad night at Taco Bell in the garage. Hopefully, that will go away soon.

Compared to this, the plenum was a piece of cake!

The install would be the same for any manufacturer's cats so I don't mean to sound like I am coming down on KINETIX at all, but I must admit that I am a little irritated about the missing bolts. Having all the necessary parts would have made my evening a little easier (and definitely not quite as long).

I am positive that once I wake up more (only got about 2 hours of sleep) I will notice a difference, but right now I just need some sleep. Too bad I still have 8 more hours of work.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

-Chris]

 

WOW what an experiance!!! I got mine done on a lift. It took us about an hour and a half.. We took our time as the cats were hot as hell and just the fact it was a nice day and we didnt feel like rushing.. Plus the one bolt that was on top would not come off.. My friend who has smaller hands was completely off the ground hanging from the wrench that was attached to the bolt.. I was LMAO then got pissed thinking he was hanging from my "G" So I had to show him what real arm torque was LOL... After that it was cake.. I too was missing 2 nuts and 2 bolts but lucky for me we found the same exact ones laying around..

Good post.. Was good for a nice post lunch laugh LOL. Liked the part about the 4 bolts on top and the stripped nut!!! Soo true but I am sorry to hear it happened.. As far as performance you will notice the car just feels lighter. More on its toes...

Good luck and hope everything went well!!!

 

Where did you guys get your Crawford Cats from and how much were they?