actually, the Carsound never went in at all this weekend. After 2 muffler shops told me that flanging it was a "job they didn't want to get involved with", a 3rd told me that once they had flanged it, the overall length would be too long to fit. (this was actually a concern of mine also) I'm assuming I was sent the wrong one.



I had to do something. The stock cat was rattling like a bastard. So, I had this unit made up. It's a no-name brand "performance" cat.



In lieu of a ball and socket junction, they just flared the end of the pipe



It doesn't rotate so well, but at least it doesn't leak. This posed another problem. Now I couldn't use the stock Honda junction hardware. The stopper bolt left too much distance between the 2 flanges and the spring was too long. I got some new stainless hardware and cut my own springs. Works well I guess.



Overall guys, I'm not recommending these "universal" cats. Mine's done pretty well IMHO and it still seems like a ghetto install, at least compared to the OEM unit. I may still give the test pipe a try and see how it sounds with the my new Apex'i World Sport. At least now I've got a legal cat that's easy to swap in and out for emissions test.

Thanks to everyone who chimed in with some recommendations for the Carsound last week. If anyone wants to tackle the project themselves, I'll happily sell it to you. It's new, I paid $95, make me an offer.

Nate - iamn8@hotmail.com

 

Just my 2 cents, the install looks great. The spring actually wasn't too long. The bolts were too short and the spring is in the wrong place. The spring is used to keep tension on the joint to compress it. You now have the springs trying to push the joint apart.

Tom

 

most performance cats don't do **** anyways. they'll work for a week or so and then they start to smell like egg farts. the best bet is to stick to test pipes or gut the cat.