deviant1

i bought a RS*R cat back exhaust system and, well, it fits like crap and didnt come with all the gaskets and bolts i need. but anywho, i cannot get the A-pipe it came with to connect to the cat. when i hold the stock A-pipe up to the RS*R A-pipe, the holes line up but when i put it up to the cat, the bolts will not go in. if 2 bolts go thru then one is off. should i just drill one hole to make it bigger so the bolt goes thru? and can i re-use the bolts with the springs on them? any help is appreciated. TIA

deviant1

ttt....please help, trying to finish the install tomorrow

SpoonFedHatch

do whatever it takes to get the bolts to fit in (ie DRILL, be an engineer)......you MUST have those springs in there though, without them, the exhaust will have no "play" and when your exhaust moves, the bolts are vulnerable to snap inhalf or just rattle themselves out ( i know from first hand experience)

ciRcuitJerk

take off the cat from the header and bolt up the cat to the pipe...that way you can see why its not going in

all stock

agent87

Agreed. I helped install a friend's RSR just last night and there were no fitment issues. We did remove the cat and then disconnected it from the old exhaust off the car. Then we connected it to the RSR piping and put it back in. You have to reuse your old nuts here but you'll be using the supplied gasket. The RSR only comes with replacement nuts and bolts for the other two flanges. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

deviant1

i had to drill the three holes out and make them bigger because the A-pipe wouldn't bolt to the cat. once that bolted up everything fit ok. my kit didnt even come with the proper gaskets. the cat gasket didnt even fit the stock cat or line up with the holes on the RSR A-pipe. it didn't even come with a new dough-nut gasket for the b-pipe. the only gaskets that fit were the two oval ones they gave me. i had to go down to midas and buy a dough-nut gasket and cat gasket. i think the dough-nut gasket may be too big because i have some water or condensation leaking from it.

Here's my topic about my questions if no one saw my other post:
i just finished installing a RS*R cat-back exhaust on my 96 hatch. my questions are, the A-pipe does not have a shield around the pipe like my stock A-pipe did so will the heat cause any problems in that area? like with wires or combustable materials? fuel lines? 2nd question is if it is normal for condensation/water to leak from the dough-nut gasket/joint that is inbetween the A-pipe and the long section of pipe that runs under the car back to the muffler area that has the resonator on it? will this water leaking out from there do anything harmful? will it rust out the gasket or pipes and create an exhaust leak?

agent87

The exhaust I installed was an RSR for a 92-95 civic so it may have been different. The exhaust we removed was an OEM style replacement made by Bosal and it had the donut gasket you're referring to. However, the RSR I put in had no such gaskets and didn't need one; it only had the thin-paper-sanwiched-between-metallic-mesh gaskets. But I'm curious so I want to find out why you had fitment issues and I didn't...

I'm going to assume that your RSR came in 3 pieces too and supposedly looks like this:

CAT ---> supplied 3 hole gasket ---> A PIPE ---> supplied 2 hole gasket ---> B PIPE ---> supplied 2 hole gasket ---> MUFFLER SECTION.

Did your RSR come with those gaskets? You're saying that you purchased a donut gasket... Could it be that you might not have needed it? That may explain the leak/condensation/fitment issues. Do you have an aftermarket catalytic converter? Hope all's working out.

deviant1

my rsr came in 4 pieces - muffler, S looking pipe, resonator pipe (b-pipe), and downpipe (a-pipe). it came with two oval thin metal gaskets for the two ends of the S-pipe and one metal gasket for the cat which did not even come close to fitting on the bolts on the cat. my kit came with the exact same gaskets as yours. maybe i used a 2 hole gasket in the wrong place. but you are supposed to have gaskets at each break in piping correct?

heres a pic of the system i have:


the pipe with the resonator has a bulged out part right after the gasket so i assume you are supposed to have a donut gasket for that. maybe not. maybe just one of those flat metal ones. but then what is the point of having the A-pipe stick out after the flange? that part is made for a donut gasket isnt it? but if the kit didnt come with one, then maybe you dont need one.

i really dont know. and i thought these RSR exhausts were supposed to be quiet? mine sounds just as loud as my old setup: 2 inch custom piping with a resonator attached to a HKS hiper muffler (coffee can style) with a silencer.maybe that stupid donut gasket i have is too big and is letting air out making it louder? hmmmm. i dont know man. please help me out. i want it to be quiet!!

hondalawnmower

where are you from? maybe someone near you can help you out.

deviant1

the thing is already on. i just want to know if i should have used that donut gasket. i biught it from midas. maybe i didnt get the right gasket kit for my car.

OCA227

I love that rsr exaust

agent87

Sorry man, the exhaust I installed was only in 3 pieces and the exhaust it replaced only had 2 pieces. None of the pipes had the protruding portions that would require using a donut gasket. It sounds like you did as you were supposed to and used the supplied gaskets where you should have and donut gaskets where needed so it's strange that you had those issues. How many parts did your old exhaust come in? Have you had a chance to compare your old donut gasket to the Midas one?


[Modified by agent87, 11:12 PM 4/7/2003]

deviant1

the donut gasket from midas is larger then the stock one, height wise and width (diameter). the stock donut gasket does not fit on the protruding section that sticks out after the flange on the A-pipe. i wonder if a buy a new OEM gasket and maybe grind down the inside to enlarge the diameter, if it would fit and seal up nicely....

agent87

Hmm... it's possible. It all seems really weird to me. Nevertheless, good luck. If you find out the solutions to your problems, let us know.