Running straight header hurt engine? (not a ricer question)

[Mindless]

I put my header on today. Got it on and proceed to take some measurements so I could get a pipe bent to elminate the cat. I just bought a welder so I was just going to get the pipe bent to the proper length and weld the flanges on and drill and install a new O2 sensor bung in the custom pipe.

Long story short.....the asshole at the muffler shop neglected to tell me when I called on tuesday that his exhaust tech wasn't working on saturday. Now normally this wouldn't be a problem because I could just bolt the stock shit back up. Well, while installing my header we couldn't get the bolts out that are holding the main cat in place (big surpise) but I told my buddy not to worry about it and we would worry about it later. So we cut the cat off right before the rear most flange.

So now I have two dilemmas:

1. I can't get the damn rear cat bolts / flange off the existing exhaust piping and
2. I have no O2 sensor hooked up because the middle exhaust pipe is no longer there

I have 2 questions:

1. Short of using a fucking plasma cutter is there anyway to get the rear cat bolts / flange off? Among other things, we tried a sawzaw and the bolts were just eating blades left and right.

2. If I drive it without the O2 sensor hooked up will it fuck my engine up? Or will the ECU sensing that there is no signal coming from the O2 sensor go into some sort of "safe mode"? Like a predetermined A/F setting to keep everything safe. Obviously the only place I'd be driving to would be the muffler shop to get this shit fixed.


<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Bring on the flames</span>

[Liszt]

The o2 sensors shouldn't throw a ses (service engine soon light) unless there is no connection. But, you will prob. be pulled over if you're on the street for producing more than 95 db of exhaust noise w/o the cat. Also, it will not smog. Try some wd-40 on the cat nuts or a impact wrench, like a big ass pipe wrench, that should turn anything.

L

[Livn2sk8]

Good Luck!

[peanotation]

man, that cat is a pain in the ass. i tried putting my HFC on today, and i used half a can of PB blaster. that thing is not coming off.

[JiP]

This gona be long..

First off driving without the o2 sensor in the stream is gona make the car go insane, will defntly go into some sort of "safe mode" and run real rich I'd think if it runs at all.

Driving without pipes (believe me from experience) is massivly loud, I mean any more then 1% throttle and you sound louder then the loudest harley zooming down your street. When I fabbed up my "Jip Made" exhaust I was too lazy to weld and well.. my pipe came loose from about where the center cat end would be...not a nice sound.

Getting exhaust bolts off, you could try a blow torch, get the nut red hot and quickly try to give it a turn, and just keep doing that till it comes off, doesnt always work and not easy to do on exhaust parts while ur laying on ur back under the car. I took an angle grinder and just cut the bolts right off. This pulls the pipes apart and keeps their stock flanges intact. On the CAT side is left the stud, which you'll never get out so cut the stud flush with the surface of the flange and then get a drill and drill it out. If you ever put the stock pipes back on you can just use nut n bolt from homedepot to fasten them back together.

Thats what you SHOULD have done instead of cutting the pipe itself off. Now to put it back you have to do what I just said to get the flange, and weld it back together..extra work..

I didnt bother with mandrel bent pipe to eliminate the first cat mainly cause eventualy I'm gona change exhaust systems when I turbo anyway so its not worth the money. I just grabbed a press bent pipe from autozone and welded the flanges on it, you have to extend the end of it a little bit so you'll need some scrap pipe.

I have pics on mywebsite.. but i dont know the link to my website..sorry

[Mindless]

LMAO...yeah JiP I added the link to your website on my comp at work. Yeah I know we should have grinded them off in the first place. I don't know what the hell we were thinking.

Update:

Got the rear cat bolts / flange off. Fabbed a temp pipe. Basically my car sounds like complete ass at the moment. My welding skills aren't very good at the moment so there are leaks all around the flange. The O2 sensor is back in place.

So as much as this aggravates me I'll just have to roll like this until tuesday when I can get the car to a shop.

[krazienluv10]

least you got the bolts off... did u use wd-40? i usually spray a shit load n hour before i work on the car...

[Mindless]

http://jipownz.topcities.com/ ('http://jipownz.topcities.com/')

^ JiP's site

Well, took the car to Meineke and am having a 2.5" custom job done. They won't eliminate the cat, which really didn't surprise me, but they are taking the resonators off which is good. My 1st O2 sensor is broke so I'm going to have to roll without it for a week.

[JiP]

I supose I should bookmark my site cause I didnt even know the link lol.

its all screwy i had to move it there of a friends server that shutdown..but deal with it!

Anyway how much they chargin you for the 2.5" is it full exhaust from header to muffler?

As for resonators..you know I was thinking of using 2.5" resonators, they are just straight through pipes with packing around the sides. Summit sells some like 2' and 3' long resonators that I was gona use in place of my 2.5" steel pipes just to quiet down the exhaust sound. I dont need the car sounding like a mustang, preferably no exhaust sound would be the best!

[Mindless]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JiP)</div><div class='quotemain'>I supose I should bookmark my site cause I didnt even know the link lol.

its all screwy i had to move it there of a friends server that shutdown..but deal with it!

Anyway how much they chargin you for the 2.5" is it full exhaust from header to muffler?

As for resonators..you know I was thinking of using 2.5" resonators, they are just straight through pipes with packing around the sides. Â*Summit sells some like 2' and 3' long resonators that I was gona use in place of my 2.5" steel pipes just to quiet down the exhaust sound. Â*I dont need the car sounding like a mustang, preferably no exhaust sound would be the best!</div>

I got a full system done from header to muffler in 2.5" piping. It cost $329 (which I don't have). At idle it sounds almost like a V6. At WOT it sounds like a honda :cry:. Oh well, I guess that's the kind of stuff you get when screwing around with your car. Anyway, I pulled over and got down to take a peek and I don't think they put a "cat" back on. It's either a really really small cat or a short resonator. My upstream O2 sensor was broken so I ordered another one today from www.rockauto.com for $63 shipped. I've got to take it back and get the new O2 sensor installed, probably next week. So currently my car is running like ass because I have no upstream O2 sensor. There's also a clicking coming from the engine bay @ WOT. I can barely here it, but it's there. At idle I can't hear it all. I don't know if it's making that "clicking" noise because of an exhaust leak or because of my lack of the O2 sensor.

On a side note, I've got to raise my car back up AGAIN. Which means I have to buy new springs AGAIN. The header is like 2 1/2" off the ground. I bottomed it out once on the way home and it rubs the gravel when I pull into my driveway.

Wasn't worth it IMHO. If I'd known that I'd be dropping $300 on my car today I would have never fucked with that header and would have bought wheels instead. Live and learn I guess. :cry:

[xSILENTx]

No matter what you do with a 4cyl it will always sound rice. Even though everyone will tell how deep there exhuast is. I tried alot of different setups and it always seemed to sound the same. BUt the best sounded setup i had was headers no cat one 20"resonator and a muffler(not a can muffler).

Yea sell those headers and buy my rims lol i need to get rid of them.

[JiP]

My pipes are low growl but sound more like a harely idling. 2.5" pipes from Autozone with no real flex section thats where the deep sound comes from. My flex section isnt a flexable steel tube that was $7 from Strauss, its fairly thin metal and is loud.

All of my exhaust "tone" comes from around my firewall (from the "flex" tube), not my muffler. Hell most of my exhaust escapes bout midstream because im too lazy to weld the pipes 360* around only 1 side is welded its like half a circle =D

But i dont want a loud exhaust, however im also not gona do to much work because its just gona be torn up for a new design when I turbo anyway. Maybe I'll just buy one off ebay at that point.

[Mindless]

I didn't want a loud exhaust just a louder exhaust. Unfortunately I got a LOUD exhaust.

I'm probably just going to put the exhaust manifold back on and get a pipe bent from the manifold to my exhaust piping. The header just sits way too low and I really don't feel like changing my suspension again.

[brandon]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(xSILENTx)</div><div class='quotemain'>No matter what you do with a 4cyl it will always sound rice. Even though everyone will tell how deep there exhuast is. </div>

I beg to differ...

2.5" turbo back with just a resonator in place of the cat, Apex-i N1 muffler and it's barely heard (if at all) at idle, and has a nice low toned growl when the throttle's opened up.

Obviously it doesn't sound like American muscle, but who wants their import to sound like that anyway??