CoopKill's Mistress Makeover Thread [Pic Heavy]

[CoopKill]

No gasket sealer, it has an o-ring, and 12mm bolt to hold it.

[Unlogic]

The finish in that engine bay is just amazing, never seen anything like it.

By the way this is what I had to do in order for my rear precat to line up with my stainless steel downpipe/exhaust:



I bought an extra exhaust flange and sandwiched it between two gaskets.

[DrGonzo]

The finish in that engine bay is just amazing, never seen anything like it.

By the way this is what I had to do in order for my rear precat to line up with my stainless steel downpipe/exhaust:



I bought an extra exhaust flange and sandwiched it between two gaskets.

What worries me is that it changes the angle of the front pre-cat mounting and the angle it connects to the rest of the exhaust. Bolting it all up may add stress and may cause cracks due to heat cycling and the stress of the angles.

[DK77]

Why are several people having this same problem just now? Is there a common denominator between all the people experiencing issues?

[n2nsanity]

What worries me is that it changes the angle of the front pre-cat mounting and the angle it connects to the rest of the exhaust. Bolting it all up may add stress and may cause cracks due to heat cycling and the stress of the angles.

I think if you put a flange in the rear, you should put a matching one up front. This should match angles and alleviate stress on the headers.
Even more helpful if you also have a section of flex pipe (preferably between the front and rear inlet) but also if you have it anywhere on the downpipe or at least somewhere near the cat.

Aftermarket stuff isn't fitting so great lately for a lot of people. My height issue is due to 3.5 being taller (easy fix). My subframe clearance issue and gap between front precat and downpipe is due to horrible fitment of that rear precat delete. It was advertised as needing "minor" adjustments. Very gray area here...

[CoopKill]

The finish in that engine bay is just amazing, never seen anything like it.

By the way this is what I had to do in order for my rear precat to line up with my stainless steel downpipe/exhaust:

I bought an extra exhaust flange and sandwiched it between two gaskets.

Where did you pick up the flange?

I will confirm, but I am 90% sure I would have zero issue if not for 2 factors. 1: The headers both being slightly biased toward the rear 3/8". 2: The poly mounts both biased toward the rear, and slightly angled the position of the engine forward.

As I mentioned the mounts are not new, but when reinstalled they were a bitch to align. Now that I think of it, I need to check the rear mount to see if I installed it backwards. That would throw things off...

[n2nsanity]

I had a hard time finding flanges locally or at least anyone that had them and would sell them. Summit has them pretty cheap. Can get them from anyone online, just hard to actually find in a store on a shelf.

*I ended up ordering a few of these
http://www.ebay.com/itm/230992786934
I needed the 1/2" size
Also need to track down some longer bolts. I think (m12 x 1.25 x 90) will fit the threads. I'll have to verify the size.

Most of them don't tell you the size and some are only 1/4" which won't be very helpful.

[sergechronos]

Where did you pick up the flange?

I will confirm, but I am 90% sure I would have zero issue if not for 2 factors. 1: The headers both being slightly biased toward the rear 3/8". 2: The poly mounts both biased toward the rear, and slightly angled the position of the engine forward.

As I mentioned the mounts are not new, but when reinstalled they were a bitch to align. Now that I think of it, I need to check the rear mount to see if I installed it backwards. That would throw things off...

My new Seattle polys proved to be a pain in the ass to get aligned properly. Made a couple of mistakes that took me a while to figure out. Also had to rearrange the chains a couple times on the hoist to position the motor properly. Basically ended up going through all the work of reinstalling the mounts 3 times.

[Unlogic]

What worries me is that it changes the angle of the front pre-cat mounting and the angle it connects to the rest of the exhaust. Bolting it all up may add stress and may cause cracks due to heat cycling and the stress of the angles.

My stainless steel downpipe/exhaust has two flex sections so the angles were no problem for me just the gap.

Why are several people having this same problem just now? Is there a common denominator between all the people experiencing issues?

I would say that the common denominator is low quality pre-cat eliminators from China or wherever they are made. I had no fitment issues what so ever with the stock front cats.

Where did you pick up the flange?

I got the flange from e-bay, here is a link: 2.5 INCH EXHAUST FLANGE DECAT 2 BOLT STAINLESS STEEL | eBay

[sergechronos]

Bill, for what it's worth, with my mounts I basically ended up with the transaxle mount not seating flat when I bolted it in and the bottom right bolt (the one I started with actually) was at an angle and threw everything else off from there. So, I'd say back everything out a couple turns and loosen it up then try retightening it back down. Driver side, trans side then the front and rear should be easily done from there.