I can't stand it.....Magnaflow is in!

[Mark42]

Looking at the Magnaflow cat back sitting in a box and not on my car. Tomorrow I'm going to install it. Weather forcast is for high 30's but I'm ready to weather the cold for the sake of performance. :mrgreen:

[WildBillyT]

Start putting penetrating oil on the bolts now :D

[Mark42]

I hope it comes apart easy. I see there is a band clamp where the I pipe connects to the cat instead of the traditional U bolt. Hopefully, that will come apart easy. Then the rest will be a snap.

[LTb1ow]

I hope it comes apart easy. I see there is a band clamp where the I pipe connects to the cat instead of the traditional U bolt. Hopefully, that will come apart easy. Then the rest will be a snap.

:rofl::rofl: Riiiightttt.


Well good luck Mark!

You gonna polish the new catback up? :mrgreen:

[MyFirstZ]

i have been spoiled by lifts i cant work on my back any more

[mc73nova]

i have been spoiled by lifts i cant work on my back any more

I dont think its spoiled, I think it just gets to a point where you just need a lift! We have had ours for 3 or 4 years now, its was the best money we spent as car owners.

[Wolfblitz]

Mmmmm, rusty flange bolts and cold weather......

[Firebird92]

knuckle bustin fun

[andy78TA]

I know your pain. I have a header back exhaust system waiting patiently in a box in my living room and my car is still in pieces. I have to wait until spring break though :( . Good luck tomorrow...well today

[crazyblazer87]

Hopefully, that will come apart easy. Then the rest will be a snap.

Famous last words.

[Jersey Mike]

Yeah, 12 year old bolts on a New Jersey car. Maybe you'll have better luck than I did. We broke 1 wrench and also managed to strip one of the I-pipe bolts; finally just cut the damn thing off and called it a day.

[GrandmasterCow]

what part nj u from mark ?

[Wolfblitz]

Cracked 2 sockets, and twisted a ratchet. Ended up just cutting and welding.

[Mark42]

Oh, now I know you guys are full of it! :mrgreen:

Jacked up the car, took a 15 mm to the I pipe connector, and it came right off. Went to back, unbolted the two metal hanger brackets from the frame, and exhaust is down and ready to cut in two to remove from under the car. Took all of 20 minutes.

I Knew you were making this out to be harder than it was just to bust my chops.

Have to get the kids ready to go to a Birthday party, but when I get back, I should be able to finish and have some pics to show.

You guys kill me.....

[Mark42]

It's in. Got to hand it to Magnaflow for making a good system. Bolts right in.

Took it for a drive. Sound is awesome. A little loud for me, but I've had louder, and I'll get used to it.

I didn't like the U bolt pipe clamp that they give for behind the cat. Those tend to crush the pipes and make removing difficult. So I removed the band clamp that was spot welded to the factory I pipe and re-used it.

The other thing is the kit expects you to reuse two rubber hangers. The problem there is the old hanger are stretched out, and the two new ones they give are not. So what happens is the old hangers get reused at the back of the system, and that gives the tail pipes a sligh downward tilt. Going to go pick up two new rubber hangers so the system sits level.

All in all, it's a good exhaust with nice sound. After a week or two of driving, the muffler should have the stainless sound packing compressed a little and it will have it's true sound.

From start to finish, about 2 hours.

[TheV6Guy]

oh man.haha. your makin me jelous mark!!haha

[WildBillyT]

It's in. Got to hand it to Magnaflow for making a good system. Bolts right in.

Took it for a drive. Sound is awesome. A little loud for me, but I've had louder, and I'll get used to it.

I didn't like the U bolt pipe clamp that they give for behind the cat. Those tend to crush the pipes and make removing difficult. So I removed the band clamp that was spot welded to the factory I pipe and re-used it.

The other thing is the kit expects you to reuse two rubber hangers. The problem there is the old hanger are stretched out, and the two new ones they give are not. So what happens is the old hangers get reused at the back of the system, and that gives the tail pipes a sligh downward tilt. Going to go pick up two new rubber hangers so the system sits level.

All in all, it's a good exhaust with nice sound. After a week or two of driving, the muffler should have the stainless sound packing compressed a little and it will have it's true sound.

From start to finish, about 2 hours.

Glad to hear the install went well! I wasn't joking about the penetrating oil. I've attacked way too many rusty fasteners that I use it on anything that is even mildly orange. Even if something isn't frozen you can still gall threads.

And in case you didn't do this- a dab of anti-sieze on the bolt threads of your system may help you down the road. If you didn't do it you may want to, just in case.

[Mark42]

Here are a few photos:

Before:

http://shareaproject.com/slideImages/9534.jpg

During:

http://shareaproject.com/slideImages/9539.jpg

After:

http://shareaproject.com/slideImages/9548.jpg

What a great system! Goes in easy, parts fit right, and when its fired up, oh boy, it sounds great! Put about half hour run time on it today, it still sounds nice. It is louder than I expected when accelerating, but I'll get used to that. Quiets out nice when cruising, but you can still hear it.

More details and hi-res photos of the install are here:

Magnaflow Install (http://shareaproject.com/pages/projectTut,p,558,00.html)

One thing I don't like about it is the length of the tail pipes. They just stick out too far, and don't look like something Pontiac would have done. Will probably end up cutting 2" off the ends of the tail pipes to bring them in a bit, and get shorter rubber hangers for the rear to raise the tail pipes about 1.5 ".

[LTb1ow]

Nice work Mark!

[Mark42]

Nice work Mark!

Thanks! That was a lot easier than I thought. Even with swapping the OEM band clamp onto the Magnaflow I pipe only took a few minutes.

It does sound great. Makes the V6 growl instead of scream.

[FlyingDutchman]

Looks awesome! Magnaflow was a good choice :nod:

[Mike]

nice work.....will look great tucked up to the bumper a little higher too...

ever think of investing in a higher quality jack? you seem to be getting into some decent projects and might want to upgrade some of your equipment as well

[andy78TA]

Congrats on the install, I hope mine goes as well next week. I already cut the old exhaust off months ago though and have new headers to hook everything on to. Im sure I'll still hit some glitch ha

[deadtrend1]

...

I Knew you were making this out to be harder than it was just to bust my chops.

....

You guys kill me.....

no, they weren't busting your chops really. A lot of times pre soaking everything like Bill said makes removal a lot easier.

I used oil, heat, impacts, breaker bars, until i snap bolts get fed up and cut it.

[deadtrend1]

nice work.....will look great tucked up to the bumper a little higher too...

ever think of investing in a higher quality jack? you seem to be getting into some decent projects and might want to upgrade some of your equipment as well

:werd:

Congrats. Magnaflow was about the easiest catback I ever delt with. Doesn't take much effort to install them anymore.

[Mark42]

nice work.....will look great tucked up to the bumper a little higher too...



Raised the tail pipes a little, as best as I could with the existing hangers. Bought two new rubber hangers today. Plan to put the new hangers in the front lowering the front about 3/4", then put the shorter Magnaflow hangers in the rear, which will raise the tips some more. That should get it level and as close to the body as you want a hot pipe.

Also plan to cut off about 2.5 - 3" of the tail pipes. I want it to have more of a "tucked in" look. That would be more factory looking, and no so "look at me" sticking out.



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v437/mark42/1998%20Firebird/HPIM6566.jpg (http://http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v437/mark42/1998%20Firebird/HPIM6565.jpg)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v437/mark42/1998%20Firebird/HPIM6568.jpg

Thinking of cutting it off, baloney slice style, right where that water drip mark is on the drivers side pipe below.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v437/mark42/1998%20Firebird/HPIM6569.jpg

.....
ever think of investing in a higher quality jack? you seem to be getting into some decent projects and might want to upgrade some of your equipment as well

Yeah, my jack is old, and has started leaking out the pump piston seal. It has served me many years, but it might be time for a new one.

[BonzoHansen]

That will look good cut off.

[JL8Jeff]

Slash cut the rear tips and it will look good. I personally don't like the 3" tailpipes on these cars since they don't really add any extra power, they just look too big. And my Random Tech cat-back has the 3" tailpipes as well but has the slash cut tips and they tuck further under so it's not quite as noticable but they still look too big.

[Mark42]

Cut the pipes short today. Took a full 4" off the end. Kept the same slash cut angle they had.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v437/mark42/1998%20Firebird/HPIM6576.jpg?t=1267908306

Also made a pair of fiberglass packed resonators to slip in the pipes because the exhaust was just too loud for me, especially at cruising speeds.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v437/mark42/1998%20Firebird/HPIM6584.jpg?t=1267908639

All put together. Really pleased how the tips just peek out a little, and the rubber hanger were switched around like I mentioned earlier, so the tips are higher.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v437/mark42/1998%20Firebird/HPIM6588.jpg?t=1267908806

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v437/mark42/1998%20Firebird/HPIM6590.jpg?t=1267909152

And from a distance, down hill so you can see it from a lower perspective.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v437/mark42/1998%20Firebird/HPIM6591.jpg?t=1267908872

So I fire it up, and at first was annoyed that the resonators did nothing, but to my surprise, when I went for a drive, the volume is lower in the cabin at cruising speeds, but at low speeds, the same low growl is there. So I ended up with the best of both worlds. And when winding up the motor, it doesn't have the rasp it was getting before. So I'm happy. :mrgreen:

[sweetbmxrider]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v437/mark42/1998%20Firebird/HPIM6588.jpg?t=1267908806

Mark, how do you keep such a youthful complexion?

[Jersey Mike]

Mark-
I'm looking for ways to make my magnaflow louder :lol: but the work and car look very clean. Glad you're happy with the final result

[Mark42]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v437/mark42/1998%20Firebird/HPIM6588.jpg?t=1267908806

Mark, how do you keep such a youthful complexion?


LOL! Its in the genes. :mrgreen:

Mark-
I'm looking for ways to make my magnaflow louder :lol: but the work and car look very clean. Glad you're happy with the final result

Louder.... oh thats a tough one with this exhaust design. How about replacing the muffler with a Y pipe? That should crank up the volume a bit.

[maroman88]

looks nice...

i had a magnaflow on my LT1 and it sounded good and fit ok.... went with the loud mouth 1 on my LS1 TA and never looked back tho.... for the vette i went with a knock off borla system by OBX and it sounds good but fits like freaking CRAP!

[Blacdout96]

sssssoooooo much better having 4in. taken off, I hate tips that stick otu farther then necessary. how did you brace the home made glass packs in your pipes, did you use resin, or is there steel shim to hold them in place?

EDIT: read your article on how you did it, nice job, original though building that

[NjbadSS]

Looks much better with the tips cut back, as I read the thread, I thought to myself...Those stick out a tad bit to far. Nice job!