Well, So far so good. I did what your buddy did and lifted up the front X-Pipe with a jack and tightened the front cat bolts as close to even as possible with the shape of the flange. Then I loosely put on the rest of the bolts and the exhaust. Then I kept the jack on the X-Pipe by the cross member and tightened up the 4 bolts right behind there aligning those flanges as best I could as well. Then finally tightened up the last 4 bolts before the canisters and made sure the tips were centered. Then, I let down the jack on the x-pipe and it stayed put and did not come down on the cross member.... Thank goodness. So, my only conclusion is that if you can try to loosen your bolts again and start by aligning the cat bolts first and go from there you MIGHT be able to gain some clearance.

I was worried when I saw it but I have a good 1/2 in of clearance at that point so I don't think I will have any trouble. **crosses fingers**

Did you drive it yet?

Yes, drove it for about 20 minutes, no rattling or rubbing. Love the sound.

Awesome man!

Im glad it worked out for you. It does sound amazing thats for sure. I'm still convinced that the flanges are jacked due to a mistake somewhere. A mistake that should be taken care of.

That's a one piece flange... it's not like they installed one backwards or something. It clearly was cut and produced for some purpose. What that is, and whether it was a mistake, I do not know, but I wouldn't label this as a "screw up." Maybe they had an issue with one of their jigs when they swapped from one flange type to another, who knows until they trace the source of the fitment issue.

I had one of the first batch of ARK exhausts and this new one is different (flange that is pictured in several posts) and this is also the first I heard of any complaints with the exhaust. If ARK would post in this thread then we would be getting somewhere.

Yea, I'd like to hear from Ark as well besides them just posting a phone number to call. I realize I got mine to work, but it is curious as to why the flange they used on some of the newer ones, or at least for one batch of them appears to be different than it was when they first built it. Very interesting.

I will say one thing though... this thing sounds amazing. Virtually zero drone at all at highway speeds or at low RPM. But when you step on it, man it comes to life. Definitely happy I chose this exhaust, just hope I don't have any issues with it rubbing. Drove it again today with no issues.

JBone, does yours rub all the time or only when you go over bumps or turns? Just curious.

I took some pictures today and here is the result:

http://www.the370z.com/members/bulle...0-exhaust7.jpg

You can see the gap above the cross member for the exhaust. If the pipes are in the right position, I just can't see how the flanges can make that much of a difference. Anyway, here is a few more pics of the fitment. Everything is lining up near perfect and I am extremely pleased.

http://www.the370z.com/members/bulle...9-exhaust6.jpg


http://www.the370z.com/members/bulle...6-exhaust3.jpg


http://www.the370z.com/members/bulle...7-exhaust4.jpg

It would rub whenever when i went over bumps and it would vibrate against the cross member when sitting still. It doesn't vibrate now because i put washers in between the cross member and the body of the car to keep it from constantly vibrating.

That was the only way I could think of to keep it from rubbing, which i think is better than taking the cross member off all together like ARK originally told me to do when i brought it to there attention.

Next time I go to the dealership for an oil change I'll see if they can get it aligned right.

Hey Bullet, just wait til it gets broken in.

Still no true response from ARK.

Ok yea, mine doesn't rub at all so I guess I got lucky.

And yea Tony, I'm sure it is going to just get smoother. Sooooo nice!

Ya it really does sound sweet!

As for Jbonez. This is the first time this has happened. We want to have him reinstall this unit. The 370z units were readjusted after each batch (not that there was any major issues). We inspected all clearances to where it came close.

I need him to realign his midpipe so that it will clear.

If its truly the bends of the midpipe itself, we will switch it out asap

Alex