So, I am removing the old down pipe. Couple issues....

First, I have all the bolts from the heat sheilds off, got the top one with no issues but how the hell do you get the bottom one out? Does it come out when you drop the down pipe out?

Speaking of the down pipe, I have removed the 13mm bolt that holds the exhaust flange clamp but I can't get the clamp to let loose......what am I doing wrong? That's my last item to unbolt.....bolt came off fine, clamp, not so much....

Finally, at the top of the down pipe...the three bolts...the top and the one toward the front came out bolt and nut. The nuts won't spin on them at all. The rear one, the nut only came off.....anyone else have this?

Answers ASAP would be great, I am at a standstill in my garage.....

 

Thanks for the replies.......I got it.....

 

The 3 studs on the exhaust side of the turbocharger are rather stupid. Now you know next time to put some liquid wrench on the nuts and studs.

 

The issue was the way the bolts came out.....two of three came all the way out.....bolt, nut, everything....

Luckly, since he has a set very similar to mine, I was able to get in touch with Mark. He helped me through the stuff and give me some recommendations of stuff to add to my "to do" list. One of which is I need to run by a muffler shop to have them add a brace to the pipe similar to the OEM one that connects to the bottom of the engine. I have no welding equipment and from the troubles he had, it's cheap insurance. I did do the double nutting. Since the new pipe is bigger so the lower heat shield will not go back on. So for the sake of safety I wrapped the primary part of the new pipe in heat wrap from JEGS.

I love the pipe and the new sound of the car under load. I did the torque arm inserts as well.

Word to the wise (I can laugh about this now, yesterday....not so much):

So....I'm on my test drive....at the end of the two mile road I'm on, I stop. Mysphit is smoking. Jalapeno induced dragon farts don't smoke this much. Holy ****, I'm on fire.......did I forgot to connect/cover/wrap something? Traffic stops all around me. I pull into a parking lot....jump out and open the hood. It's not an oil smell, and because there is soooooo much smoke, I can't tell where it's coming from but there is no flame. I shut the car off and let it cool down. Still smoking a little, I fire up and head back home. I get home and open the hood again. Less smoke this time but still smoke. I tear the heat shields off and nothing is undone, has come loose, on fire, etc. Just for grins I go back and pull the documentation for the heat wrap out of the garbage. Line 13:

PLEASE NOTE: Your wrap will smoke after installation, it will eventually stop. Smoke is a normal by product of the curing process; your wrap will NOT burst into flames. It is not advised to wash the wrap after installation.

OK, this should have been in GIANT LETTERS AT THE TOP OF THE INSTRUCTIONS, IN RED, AND MAYBE FLASHING!! WTF?? Holy crap!!! Knowing that up front would have been nice.......

DoS intake should be here in a couple days.......I'll chime in on that later as well....

The lesson??? RTFM!

 

 

I know this is wrong, but I am second guessing myself on something I did during the install. Between the stock DP and the flex joint there was a round disk with teeth on it that fit back on the DP before it was all clamped back together with the flex joint.......I put this part back on, but looking at other DIY's, nobody ever mentions that item and it's not even listed on real OEM......should I have left it off?????? What is it's purpose? Thanks

 

That disk you're talking about is a sealing flange/ring. It helps the seal but if you didn't reuse it I wouldn't worry about it that much. Just make sure the exhaust is fitting square on the downpipe and you should be OK.

 

That would be the piece......thanks for the reply.