Fitting My Newly Decatted Manifold Today

TheDon · June 19, 2005

Well thanks to marcus for lending me his old manifold so i could send it away to have the pre cats replaced with pipes firstly.

I am about to start the long task of taking everything off and putting the new one on!

anyone got some hints and tips for me.

i will be marking the steering colum bit with tip-ex so that i re-align it properly etc.

but is there anything that i should look out for that may cause big problems.

cheers

BTW it cost me £65 all in to get the manifold converted by a specialist catalitic converter replacement company that specialise in Jap cars.

so if anyone else needs this then PM me and i will give you their number. they are near brands hatch

TheDon · June 19, 2005

damn lower exhaust bolts wont come off!!! aggghhhh. looks like someone else b4 me has had a go too because they are all chewed up.

the section where the precats go into the 3rd cat. am realy stuck now as i dont know what to do. plus there are also 2 bolts on there that are too big for a 13mm socket and too small for a 14mm socket!

what is going on with that!

wish i had never started this now

TheDon · June 19, 2005

ok one simple question if anyone can answer, i am trying to take out the spline for the steering rack and cant seem to get it to move. not sure how to do it, i have removed the pinch bolt at the top but do i need to remove the one at the bottom.

its the only thing stopping the manifold coming out now.

also i dont want to refit the heat sheilds, is this a bad idea?

MrADeveci · June 19, 2005

also i dont want to refit the heat sheilds, is this a bad idea?

I would have thought this would be a bad idea mate ........... they are there for a purpose.

legendswraith · June 19, 2005

also i dont want to refit the heat sheilds, is this a bad idea?

I would have thought this would be a bad idea mate ........... they are there for a purpose.

←

if you don't want to refit heatshields then wrap in the heat reflective tape have you thought the bolts may be imperial i know that they should all be metric but someone else might have put them on

Fargo · June 19, 2005

re the steering colum,, once you remove the bolts, knock the universal joint up (towards the cockpit) with a hammer to remove.

my manifold does not have the heatshields on anymore.. nor any heat proof tape..

TheDon · June 19, 2005

cheers fargo, just the info i needed. wanted to leave the heatsheild off so i can have some shinely stainless steel ones made up as the ones at the mo are fugly!

plus my new manifold is metalic matt black and not rust red as the old one was

Wosket · June 19, 2005

sounds like a job and a half! hows it going?

MrADeveci · June 19, 2005

:D

Fargo · June 19, 2005

the manifold should only take an hour to remove...

TheDon · June 19, 2005

in normal circumstances it would, i had a pig of a time!

all done now, will put pics up in two secs. also used the time to clean up the engine bay a bit. re-newed the bolts on the zorst system.

she started up fine first time and def sounded a little deeper. as soon as i get an O2 simulator im gonna say bye bye to the centre cat!

TheDon · June 19, 2005

here ya go, the new and the old, i found it amazing how much lighter the exhaust got without the precats in!

i like the colour too! its kinda sparlky as well LOL :)

much happier now knowing my precats are not gonna meltdown now!

TheDon · June 20, 2005

well i can definately feel the difference in not having the pre cats, firstly the exhaust note is a lot deeper and louder.

The revs do rise a bit quicker and it does feel good. waiting for the engine management to set itself to the settings its now recieving.

so far so good, not sure if i like the rasp that it has now but im sure i will grow to love it

GRiM · June 20, 2005

Time now to reset the ECU.

TheDon · June 21, 2005

good idea, had a brow pants moment yesterday too......

was taking the car down the M25 at fully legal speeds when all of a sudden the most horendous scraping noise came from the front of my car.

my first thought was "bye bye engine" as i thought the manifold had fallen off. when i pulled over i thanked the lord as it turned out to be the front of the undertray had popped out and hit the floor and turned under its self.

i had only put one central bolt holding it at the front as it was getting dark and forgot to fit the others. the air pressure had ripped it out!

thank *** i had a zip tie!