How hard is exhaust to install?

[iminhell1]

I just don't believe it's a problem with my abilities or knowledge. Not ruling it out though.
It's taken my 2 days to put exhaust on my car; roughly 12 hours total.
Now mind you I'm working on the ground with the car up on jackstands. So I don't have the most room for myself to move around. But the exhaust doesn't need much room to contort into place. The limited space is only hinders me.

So I bought the 1320 downpipes and used Berk mids.
The 1320 DP's don't fit. Unless you're willing to spend time modifying them to fit (flatten the pipes) I don't recommend them to anyone.
But once in they test fit very well*.
Pro tip For ANY downpipes, find pound in studs, bolts will only make things more complicated/impossible.
* I don't know if it's my used Berk mids or the downpipes, but the front DP to mid flange just wouldn't line up. There was a 1/8" gap the I just couldn't get to tighten up. And this is on the top bolt which is almost impossible to get to.
So I removed the DP's thinking they where the problem and put the stock back in. While the fitment issue is still there it's not as severe, maybe 1/16" now. So I'll attribute that to the mids I guess, but only the front pipe.


I really want to pound some studs in the DP's and have another go at them but I'm so beyond disappointed, distraught and sore that I just don't have the ambition to do it on the ground.


So has anyone else had fitment issues like this?



Note to exhaust builders, fuck your flanges. V-band or slip clamp, they work well and don't cause problems with not being able to access a bolt.

[ShocknAwe]

Those DPs don't fit well. Also, the berk mids should mate up perfectly. You need to rotate the DP on the turbo flange to line it up better. Take the DP mounting bracket off for more room.

Any specific questions im happy to help.

[iminhell1]

I left the DP's loose (1320 and stock) putting the exhaust on. Let them find a home while I fought with the mids. It just didn't matter. There is something goofy with the mids, and now that I have some heat into them and the paint has burned off,,, I'm pretty sure someone 'adjusted' this set (cut the flanges off the resonators and rewelded them to fit whatever they had).

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by iminhell1

I left the DP's loose (1320 and stock) putting the exhaust on. Let them find a home while I fought with the mids. It just didn't matter. There is something goofy with the mids, and now that I have some heat into them and the paint has burned off,,, I'm pretty sure someone 'adjusted' this set (cut the flanges off the resonators and rewelded them to fit whatever they had).

Ah. Bummer.

Also, I highly recommend using bolts and nuts and not pound in studs on the DP mid connection. Reason? Easier to replace the gaskets when they burn up. Had to do mine a couple weeks ago. Would have been a bigger job if I had to drop the mids because of studs on my DPs.