Alright, time for an update (sorry it turned into such a long one and congrats to those who make it all the way through - plus I have a question all the way at the bottom if you just want to skip straight there and bypass all this jibberish) - some of you know that I had the Stillen G3's and Berk HFC's in my possession a few weeks ago. The Stillen's went in on March 26th. I didn't bother documenting much of it because that has been done quite well on this forum - thanks to Snakes709, DIGITONIUM, and AK370Z for the most excellent write-ups that helped get me through everything. The tip about the Carbide Dremel tool was also very helpful - cut through the stuff like butter. I wish I had taken a little more time on the driver side - lost my patience there at one point and put a small scratch on the lower pipe but overall I am very pleased with how things went. I really have to admire the work that went into designing these intakes - how they fit is just amazing and I can't help but wonder how many trial runs they must have made to get it just right.
As for the Berk's, I had been struggling with these for quite some time - I wasn't really sure I could do the work myself (thanks to M.Bonanni for the excellent DIY write-up by the way). I ordered numerous 1/2" extenstions and breaker bars in an attempt to convince myself that I was going to do it. I contacted a tuner in St. Petersburg (who will be doing my UpRev tune) about installing the cats and he gave me a fair quote. I also found a muffler shop here in Bradenton and stopped by there last Friday morning thinking the work would get done. Once the car was on the lift, the guy seemed to get skeptical himself and said the car would need to stay overnight and then require about 4 to 5 hours of work which would be a minimum of $200 but "hopefully" not more than $300 total to install. I brought the car home that morning quite depressed.
I had tried numerous times to loosen the top bolt on the passenger side - this to me is the easiest bolt to get to. On Saturday morning I tried again to loosen it with no luck. Instead I thought to try the nut underneath it and that one came out quite easily using my extensions and a 2 foot breaker bar. So, I grabbed my PB Blaster, built a long makeshift tube out of straws and fished it down to the rusty looking bolt. I gave it several hits with PB Blaster and let it sit in between dowsings as well as tapping it from time to time in hopes that the PB Blaster was working its way in there. One final battle and I had it loose - man I was
now.
That one left nut underneath on the passenger side and the removal phase would be half way done - 30 minutes later and I was feeling good. Next I moved on to the driver side bolt - at first it came loose and then it sheared in half so I knew it wouldn't be giving me anymore headaches. The bottom front bolt on the driver side is a royal pain to setup but it came free once everything was in place. The last nut on the driver side from underneath was a piece of cake. The 4 bolts connecting them to the mid-pipe were easy because I had already worked those before when I installed my HKS exhaust. At last, I had them all loose and just a few minutes later the stock cats were off. I did my best Wile E. Coyote immitation by jumping up and down on them as I pulverized them into the ground (just kidding, they are stored away in the Berk box
).
The new cats went in fairly easily - these used bolts with a 16mm head and a 14mm nut. Tightening all of those was a bit of a challenge but didn't take nearly as long as removing the old ones. I reconnected to the mid-pipe, put the cat brace back in place, and re-installed the O2 sensors underneath. Did some last minute polishing on the Stillen intake tubes and everything was back in place.
It was early Sunday morning before I could fire her up for the first time and it was in the low 60's. I honestly can't remember seeing exhaust come out of the car like that before but there were no warning lights on the dash - I guess the combination of the cold outside air, the new HFC's, and possibly higher exit exhaust temps made it look different. Cleaned up the garage a bit by putting away all the loose tools, gave her a quick bath, and it was off for a test run.
WOW! The combination of the Stillen G3's, Berk HFC's, and HKS Hi-Power exhaust are really something fun to experience. The sound alone is worth it but you throw in the improved performance and it's a win-win. Took her out yesterday evening with the wife to see Source Code (highly recommend it) and the car was turning heads everywhere we went - the sound draws them in and the looks hold their attention.
I really am surprised that I was able to get the HFC's installed myself - being quoted 4 to 5 hours by a "professional" with a lift and then me doing the work myself in the same amount of time with a jack and stands is still settling in with me. Unbelievable! Thanks to wheee! for pushing me on the install and recommending the components - if he hadn't continued to tell me I could do it then I seriously doubt I would've kept at it.
I do have one question for anyone who manages to read all the way through this - I believe this is normal but thought I would ask anyway - during acceleration now at around 4k to 5k rpm I start to hear a high pitched scream - is that the intakes or the HFC's or something else? I'm pretty sure it wasn't there when I just had the intakes on for a week. And, no, its not my wife in the passenger seat.
Next up: Osiris UpRev tune (hopefully will have before and after Dyno's to post up)