So I finished up the exhaust install and took some pics as promised.

Couple things....

Pros:

1. Great Sound
2. Great Look
3. Easy Install


Cons:

1. The exhaust has a burnt toast smell coming from it and its making me sick (smoke was coming out of it for a bit...not alot but it was coming out, that has now stopped).... this is just a breaking in smell.

2. The fitment is ok but it hangs really low and now my catalytic converter is rubbing against my Neuspeed lower tie bar. It rattles at takeoff and startup\shutdown. The GReddy did not do this.

3. That small section of pipe I was asking about earlier goes in front of the cat and bolts up to the main pipe. im not sure why the need for this as Apex'i could have just lengthened the mainpipe and did away with it altogether. This piece was also not perfectly straight so when i lined it up there was a bit of a gap. After tightening up the bolts however, the gap was sealed...but im thinking this is why my cat is now hanging lower.

on to the pics


Get your tools ready.

PB blaster
WD-40

14 mm deep and shallow sockets for 1\2 inch and 3\4 inch drive sizes
U-Joint adapters for both drive sizes as well
14 mm wrench
some flathead screwdrivers
1\2 inch drive breaker bar





Put the car on jackstands and spray your bolts down with pb blaster

you will use the WD-40 to lube the rubber hangers to ease removal and installation




after getting it up on jacks and going under the whip, i did not feel comfortable with this situation. a 3,000lb vehicle hovering over me supported by 4 jackstands did not go over well with me. I am used to working with vehicles on lifts\pits. So i called up a buddy and he told me to come down to the shop and use the pit. in this case i grabbed my 1\2 inch impact gun and impact sockets.....making my job much easier.

a pic before she goes....




we took off the 3 bolts attaching the mainpipe to the cat first and then the 2 bolts from the mainpipe the the secondary pipe. You will need to put a 14mm on the nuts behind the bolts to prevent them from just spinning freely. (same goes for install)
Remove the mainpipe.







Do the same for the secondary pipe to the muffler....remove secondary pipe and remove muffler

here is me and the good ol' greddy after removal




install in reverse order....







Here is where the small section goes (and where the only fitment issue was)




Whats the point????



simple as that




as you can see, the muffler itself does not hang too low but the piping itself rather.

sorry i do not have more pics of the fitment issues but as i said i am tired and did not really notice it until the ratlling started after leaving the shop.



BTW the impact gun made my life easier but some of you might not have access to air tools, so i recommend using the breaker bar.

i guess thats it....

no power gains\losses noticed
much quieter than the GReddy
but it does sound great!!

anybody have any recommendations on how to rid myself of the cat\tie bar rattle?

i prolly coulda done better...but the fumes have me a terrible headache and im pissed off about the clearance issues and my restaurant experience afterward.

cheers
-chris


Modified by Beach Accord at 2:04 PM 12/17/2004

 

nice exhaust and nice tools.

 

Where's the sound clips?

 

nice man. i have the WS II and mine hung down low. my lude has a race drop on it so i had to get it custom fitted at a muffler shop.

 

looks great dont know why you changed though, i thought you had stock exhaust before, but you changed an aftermarket for another simliar aftermarket?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EkNineSpooner &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">looks great dont know why you changed though, i thought you had stock exhaust before, but you changed an aftermarket for another simliar aftermarket?</TD></TR></TABLE>

i wanted something quieter but not stock and plus i got a great deal on it ($270)

 

i have the same exhaust, love the sound too. to help with the ground clearance, i used some of those band/hose clamps around the rubber hangers and tightened them until they raised the exhaust a little. mabye that will help you with your cat clearance. (the clamps that come with intakes)

 

you know....i will prbably just stick a sock sized kevlar burn proof fire glove under the pipe to rest on top of the tie bar to eliminate the noise....

 

Just to let you know and for all the other 6th gen. Accord coupe owners out there, there are 6 ways to put in that small piece in after the cat. I finally figured out which was the best way and now the cat doesn't hang low. Try it!

And that small piece is probably the piece that Apexi includes just for the coupe exhaust kit that the sedan exhaust kit doesn't have. That's my theory.

Anyway if you figured it out, great. But if not, just a little heads up to watch out for that small piece.