I just purchased a riss racing downpipe. Should the heat shields bolt up easily to the new pipe or am I going to have to cut, drill, etc? Thanks!

 

I have one. Heat shield bolts in place without modification.

 

Thanks. What would you say the difficulty level is on a scale between 1-10? I just put on the exhaust system and that was not a problem. Downpipe easier or harder? Thanks again!

 

When I installed my akra DP, the heatshield remove and reinstall took the longest of all.

 

what he said^^ plus I ended up leaving out a bolt or so because some of them are just a PITA. lol

 

Yup, the heat shield is the real pain. It's definitely possible to remove the lower heat shield without putting the bumper into service mode, but get ready for some skinned knuckles. It's a true test of patience. I want to take my downpipe off to inspect it for any cracks and heat wrap for a little winter project, but I'm putting my bumper into service mode this time. An extra hour spent putting the car into service mode is worth it to me for how frustrating this part of the car is.

Here's a vid showing how to do it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_BKvnEPJNQ

 

Thank you all again!

 

Can someone elaborate on this "service mode"

 

Watch the video I posted here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_BKvnEPJNQ

It pushed the bumper assembly out about two inches so you have extra room to work.

 

I would recommend replacing the turbo oil feed and return lines at the same time you are replacing the downpipe. They are parts garanteed to fail, and you just have to pull one more heat sheild off to replace them.

 

Are the clips on the wheel arches built into the wheel arch itself?

 

The heatshield is definitely the most frustrating part. A helpful tip for aligning the downpipe on the turbos studs, the two lower attachment studs are on brackets, you can loosen these brackets to give you a bit more wiggle room to get on the studs. I would loosen these first, then the v-band clamp, then you can take it off the Turbo easily.

 

No. The plastic fasteners slide into grooves on the inside of the wheel arch liner. The tang on the fastener slides into a hole in the metal of the body and stays put. I would recommend prying them loose. Also, buy some spare fasteners. They are cheap and often break when removing them.

 

I reinstalled my original cat this past weekend. I didn't put the bumper into service mode this time and I have plenty of scratches and skinned knuckles.