Alright, i drove it for 20 miles this morning. Heres what i think:

They definitely sound great. I get a lot of drone around 2.7K rpm. That is when the car is under load not in neutral. The drone is, however, mostly felt inside the car. Outside, you cant hear it as much. Also, when the rpm fall after accelerating and it hits around 1.6, there is significant vibration noises.
Im going to try getting thicker bolts and tightening them more to see if that gets rid of it. The stock header bolts were so rusted and crappy, that i had to use the new bolts that came with the pipes up there. I found some smaller bolts laying around and used them on the y-pipe. im almost certain that is where the loud vibration sound is coming from (vibration of the smaller bolts). I really hope it is the vibration because that is a LOT of rasp for my taste if it isn't the small bolts.

As for power, the car definitely revs smoother and faster. I can also feel a slight difference at WOT. The car picks up quicker and seems to have increased throttle response. that isn't as true for low rpm. I haven't decided whats going on there yet.

And yes, the car is running lean. I don't think its enough to be worried about.
At a cold start, there is a lot of white smoke that is emitted. After the car warms up that goes away. The smell doesn't. When stopped at a light or such, the smell reaches the car if the windows are down. I personally love the smell

CEL: 20 miles so far and no CEL. It is bound to come on though. i mean if i was a CEL and i smelled that smell the whole time id come on too. Tonight, Im going up to baltimore and i have to drive a total of around 100 miles so ill let you know about CEL.

Installation notes:
The driver side top bolt was a pain. At one point i thought i was going give up It was so rusted and so tight that we had to use a huge breaker bar. The best way to reach it, i found out, is to use a 3/8" drive extension (the body thickness is thin enough to reach around the steering shaft) and a short 14mm socket. I used a 1/2-3/4 converter on the breaker bar and used PLENTY of extensions to easily reach the bolt. I took the driver side intake out and went in from there. The bolt is directly under there and that is the best place to reach it from. Its best to have someone under the car to position the socket and hold it in place. Then give the breaker bar power and it comes loose. Oh and i bathed it with penetrative liquid wrench. The other bolts weren't that bad. They are relatively easier to reach. Be patient with that bolt. And for everybody that helped me through it, i thank you.


I will post up vids as soon as i get a chance to take some. it should be sometime this week.

 

youre a tease!!!

 

Heres an update about the CEL:
120 miles and no CEL.

 

thnkx keep the updates coming. so the rasp is pretty bad huh? stock exhaust?

 

will do. the "rasp" shouldnt be bad. there is something wrong with my ypipe that i have yet to figure out what it is. The flexible part is vibrating like a bi*** and maybe somewhere the pipe is hitting the body. im not really sure whats going on. i might even have a leak somewhere. i cant check until this weekend. As for rasp from the pipes, the exhaust note is amazing. I love it. its not raspy. And yes i do have stock exhaust. If i can fix the vibration ill take the video.

 

Alright: heres some more updates:
almost 250 miles now and no CEL
Car is sputtering. a lot. i think its because of the leak. Im taking it to AAM either tomorrow or monday to see what the problem is

 

alright. did a few test runs after tightening up the bolts today. the car is sputtering like hell. im losing SO much power: cant keep WOT at all. Half throttle chokes. Im taking my car to AAM this monday. maybe getting the y-pipe + 3" single. hopefully they can fix it.

 

Let us know what the problem was.

 

oh no.. hopefully its nothing big.. im putting my aam test pipes on tonight.

 

good luck. it should be fine. I highly recommend using the copper OEM gaskets instead of the aluminum ones supplied by AAM. the aluminum ones (the perforated ones) dont seem to be a good fit. at least they werent on mine

will do

 

To anyone who has been following this, I went to AAM today and got the tps fixed.
Here is what happened:

There were leaks all over the place. between the headers and the pipes, and the ypipe and the pipes. Those leaks got fixed.
The car runs so much smoother now.There is no more sputtering. It revs even faster.
The sound is incredible. Its a lot deeper and throatier. I LOVE IT! anyone who is looking to get these, GET THEM!
CEL came on 10 miles after AAM (450 miles since original install). lol. Oh well whatever.
The vibration sound that i was getting was because of the ypipe. The flex joint on the y pipe is broken somehow. there is something thats loose in it but...
WHO CARES! while i was there i ordered the y-pipe and 3" Ti single exhaust. Thats going in this weekend. Ill have a before and after sound clip that i will take when i have time.

AAM is a great place, and everyone is so cool there. Anyone who is looking to get their parts, do it. Especially if you're local.

Thanks Clint for such an awesome deal, and Jason for such great work with the car.

Vids will come by this weekend.

 

VIDEOS: (Sorry the camera sucks. Ill try getting a better one tomorrow)
ONLY WITH TEST PIPES, rest of exhaust coming soon.

Cold Start Rev up to 3k
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Warmed up, Neutral, Rev
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Inside Fly Bye (Its raining really hard outside, so i didnt want to go too fast)
<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WbqK2uteO4k"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WbqK2uteO4k" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

 

Im working on finding a camera

 

is there anyway to get rid of the cel light when a test pipe is installed?

 

people have been working on it for a while but i dont think any one has had that much sucess with it. mine turned off after 750 miles? lol its not lit anymore for some reason.

by the way, tomorrow im installing the new exhaust system and i will have videos for anyone interested.

 

Here s the dyno results
https://my350z.com/forum/vq35hr/345668-07-hr-aam-test-pipes-dyno-vids.html