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| It is finished! |
Sooo... for some time now fellow PCA member Andy has been after me to upgrade the exhaust on my 911. I'd wanted to do so as well - I'm into the weight savings, a more mellifluous exhaust note, and better drivability when combined with a Steve Wong chip. So a few months back I placed an ad in the Pelican Parts classified and was contacted by a member there who was selling an M&K one-in two-out muffler and a Fabspeed cat delete... a deal was struck and a box arrived...
So today was the date determined for the installation at Andy's garage. Being a take-charge sort, Andy did most of the actual work while I turned the odd wrench.
First order of business was to remove the stock parts. This mostly went reasonably smoothly - we only needed to use the zip-disc cutter on one recalcitrant rusty bolt.
Tools used: impact wrench, wrenches, socket and ratchet, Kroil, one rye + Diet Coke.
Here's a shot of the underneath with the cat and muffler off. Looks like I have a small oil leak on the left side :-(
We also took off the left rear wheel which eased the task enormously.
Tools used: socket, breaker bar.
The stock catalytic converter (top).
Fabspeed cat delete pipe (bottom).
The weight savings of the aftermarket parts we used turned out to be substantial - over 20 lbs.! Here's how it broke down - stock muffler = 21 lbs.; M&K = 10 lbs. Stock cat = 18 lbs.; Fabspeed cat delete = 9 lbs. Stock heat shield = 2 lbs. Total weight savings 22 lbs.!
Of course, installing a two-out system required some cutting of the stock sheetmetal to accommodate the right-side exit. Dale handled the taping and template-making chores...
...but steadfastly refused to do the actual cutting, despite having brought the air-powered body cutter tool and being the ONLY ONE OF US WHO HAD EVER EVEN USED IT. So I ended up hacking away at the rear valance while the others cringed and hid their eyes...
Tools used: pencil, painters tape, body cutter, one Heiniken each.
Honestly, this bit was about the worst of the disassembly - it's inside the engine bay - a hot air hose. Some bastard had attached the jubilee clip in such a way that it was practically impossible to get a screwdriver on it! Andy ended up constructing an elaborate Meccano-like arrangement of socket extensions and after much cursing (my favourite one of Andy's was "c*ck and balls!!") it finally came free.
Tools used: standard screwdriver bit, ratchet, three elbow extensions.
Andy then had to cut some brackets off the heater pipe to allow clearance for the muffler to fit.
Tools used: angle grinder.
He also had to faff about a bit bending a bracket under there.
Tools used: comedy-sized 18" crescent wrench (!)
Turned out it wasn't quite enough so I had to gently "clearance" the pipe a bit to allow room for the M&K. A few love taps was all it took.
Tools used: 20-lb sledgehammer (!!)
Andy had to make a few spacers for the muffler bracket as well. He just cut them out of some scrap steel with the grinder and drilled some holes in 'em.
Tools used: grinder, drill press.
Here's the result with the "new exit". Looks not bad for an amateur job I reckon :-)
Then hey presto! it was all back together and time to fire up. I loved the boys' reaction to the glorious wall of noise. (If you don't have flash you can see it on YouTube
here)
But honestly, while it sounds wonderful, it might be a bit
too loud (I know, I can't believe I'm saying it either). I'm going to email M&K for one of their "stoppers" to block off one of the exit stubs and see if that helps.
And today, the Steve Wong chip just arrived in the mail :-)
