m735is

I'm having trouble with my replacement exhaust. My 96 LX needs exhaust from the cat back. I usually go with Bosal replacements. They list two middle pipes, one for CA emissions and one for the rest of the country.
How do I know for sure which system I have on the car? Pre converter? A section of mesh flex pipe?

The car is NY now and I'm not the original owner.

TheMuffinMan

iTrader: (1)

Have you CarFax'd it ever? 99.9 % chance if the car is in NY it was not a California car. To my knowledge there wasn't a difference between the two exhausts anyways. But I wouldn't order the CA one.

m735is

I looked up on Hondaautomotive parts using my VIN thinking that would tell me which I have. It also shows two versions. The CA exhaust does have a pre cat, so I I'll just look at mine and see if has one.

TheMuffinMan

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, they all will give you the option for both

Targa250R

The difference behind the cat is in the length of the B-pipe and the style of flanges between the B-pipe and the muffler. CA emission cars use a shorter B-pipe and a flat flange for the muffler, where non-CA cars use a longer B-pipe and a bell flange for the muffler.

m735is

Fantastic, the original muffler is LONG gone. The one I pulled out from underneath was a welded pipe rig job (no flanges left).

Targa250R

The only way you'll be able to tell then is to look at the sections in front of the converter. California cars have a pre-cat in the A-pipe and use a stub pipe in between the A-pipe and the main cat that is about the same length as the cat itself. Non-CA cars use a normal non-catted A-pipe and a very short stub pipe.

California:


Non-California:


BTW, you may want to try a Walker B-pipe if you can find one. It's a little lower quality, but I've found that the Bosal B-pipes for '94-97 Accords have a lot of resonance and tend to buzz around 2200-2500 RPM while the Walkers don't. Only the '94-97 Accords seem to have this issue as I haven't seen it with '90-93 or '98-02 models. The Bosal mufflers are great though, and Bosal always stands behind the lifetime warranty on the mufflers without question.

m735is

Perfect description.
Thanks for the heads up on the "B" pipe.

I've used Bosal for years for that very reason, I take it back to Autozone and get a new one-no questions. I went through about 4 mufflers on my Civic, due to miles driven, not crappy quality. I'm on my third for my old BMW. I painted this one before I installed it, just because it's huge and a PITA to install. Four years and still looks new.

Thanks for the responses.