I'm looking to do the one-ball mod on my MCS and I had heard that there was some place that makes a pre-bent exhaust pipe to reconnect your stock exhaust once you cut off the resonator on the passenger side. If there is such a product out there I'd really appreciate the link to it. I'd much rather buy that piece and weld it on myself than pay a muffler shop to do it for me. I did try to search for it on here but apparently I wasn't using the right keywords. Thanks again to anyone who can help me out.

 

Not sure it's worth the trouble...we have a shop in Vegas that does it for 40 bucks.

 

Here's one source.
http://www.fasttoy.com/fb18.html

Pretty sure there are others.
Jim

 

I'm told by my awesome mechanic that, on the coupe, you can literally cut out the existing bend from the straight section to the resonator and flip that over - then cut the pipe going into the muffler to mate and weld it back up. That's how he does it. No new pipe needed.

It's hairier on the cabrio (it has extra bends and braces to clear).

 

Here's the one you heard about:
http://www.myminiparts.com/proddetai...prod=MRE&cat=7
No welding required; it clamps on.

 

It is not as easy as cutting the pipe and flipping it over because the pipe from cat to resonator is 2.25 inches and the resonator to the muffler is 2.5 inches in diameter. I got mine from Minspeed AKA MyMiniParts. I decided to go this route because I can always take it out and sell it should I decide to go full aftermarket cat-back someday to get louder sound level. The sound is just perfect, not to loud and no droning, and more burble. Going one-ball will reduce backpressure from 2.5 to 1.75 psi per GTT test result in the UK. Actually 2.5 psi is pretty good for stock system. Most aftermarket cat back exhausts are in the 1.25 psi.

 

I see what you're talking about after looking at the pricing on that. I've heard that most places will do it for less than a hundred bucks, but I thought "hey I'll save some money and just buy the part and do it myself" I guess I thought wrong Thanks everyone for your replies though and I guess I'm off to my muffler shop!

 

Just to clarify... I think what my guy does is cut the pieces such that the 2.25 pipe slips inside the 2.5 pipe a bit - then welds it.

 

I just did this with the MyMini Pipe and it went in perfectly. I looked around here in NOVA and couldnt get a quote for less than 3 hours of labor. Took me about 1 hour since i had to drop the exhaust a bit to hacksaw off the pipes.

GL,
Rhali

 

I had mine done for $40 bucks at the local muffler shop. That even included the double bend needed.

 

Before you buy a DIY piece take your car over to a muffler shop and get an estimate. I got mine done for $60, a lot cheaper than the $100 price for a DIY pipe section.

 

The shop I went to was glad to do it on the spot for $50.
It took less than 20 mins. Easy work for them.

 

So would it be worth it to remove the resonators on my cat-back and my header? Would it be significantly quieter? Thanks.

 

Well he must use some extra pipe for the transition from 2.25 to 2.5, and I still don't understand how you could just flip it over since there's a kink at the location in question..

I bought the $100 clamp-on piece and sold it a year later for $55. Like another in this thread, I couldn't find any place local that could do both mandrel bends and SS piping. The piece was the cheapest way to go.

 

I don't know how I can explain it any better. No extra pipe required on coupes as I understand it. Ask Grassroots Garage if you're really curious.

 

does any one have a picture of before and after?

 

There are some photos on my blog post here. Wish I had taken a couple more from different angles.

 

Here is a good pic/write-up
http://reviews.carreview.com/blog/20...haust-upgrade/

 

After just finishing the one-ball mod using the Minspeed clamp-on pipe, I would only recommend doing it if you already have the tools

The metal-cutting blade on my recip. saw was too short to cut the pipe cleanly, and the replacement blades I got were too long to cut it safely. I tried to find a tailpipe/exhaust cutter, but no one had one locally. I ended up using a #2 pipe cutter, which worked perfectly.

For anyone doing it yourself, here's the easy way:

• Raise both sides of the rear on jack stands.
• Use the new pipe to measure where to cut. The new pipe goes outside the existing exhaust pipe at both ends, so be sure to leave at least 2" of overlap in the old pipe.
• Remove the battery shield. The nuts are 10mm nylon, so go easy on them.
• Remove the 4 10mm bolts holding the muffler and resonator to the brackets. The two outside nuts are a tight squeeze with the wheels on, so I'd suggest doing them first.
• Lower the back of the exhaust slowly until you have enough clearance to make a clean cut on the mark nearest the cat. You should find something to support the resonator and muffer at this height. I used a pair of jack stands.
• Cut the straight pipe from the cat using whatever tools you have, and remove the entire rear of the exhaust.
• Get out from under the car, and make the cut between the resonator and muffler someplace comfortable
• Attach the new piece to the pipe coming from the cat, but don't tighten the clamp yet.
• Put the muffler back in place using the 10mm bolts, but only tighten them enough to secure the muffler.
• Attach the back end of the new pipe to the muffler. With the right amount of wiggling and prayer, you can get the exhaust tips lined up in the middle, something the factory never seems to be able to do
• Tighten the nuts on the clamps using an 11mm socket (IIRC).
• Tighten the two 10mm bolts holding the muffler.
• Reattach the battery shield.
• Lower the car, take it for a test spin with the windows down, and enjoy the new sounds

I left out the steps that involved either swearing or drinking, but feel free to add those in where necessary

 

Any actual statistics on power increase with the one-ball? I would be interested if anyone dyno'd before and after with CAI and 15% pully already in place...

 

My guess would be somewhere between 0 and 3 HP gain. You get a little weight reduction, and a little backpressure reduction, but I didn't feel any observable change. My butt dyno does have a lot of insulation, though

It definitely sounds about 20 HP faster at WOT