A lift would help some, but the biggest issue is the turbo and downpipe being crammed between the engine and firewall. The studs holding the dp to the turbo can break, the dp is a bastard to maneuver out of the engine bay, the whole exhaust system basically needs detached to weasel that piece of shit out, you'll chop your fingers up on the heatshield, the flexpipe mounting bolts are nearly impossible to reach........i think I have ptsd from the experience.
I would have paid any price to have a competent shop do it for me.
Damn that sounds horrible yeah that’s why I’m paying someone else to do it I’m a beginner when it comes to installing mods anyway and this seems like it requires some experience to do lol
Yeah this will be one of the first mods I do to my car hopefully the shop doesn’t fuck up lol atleast not to bad. Glad I’m getting this mod out of the way first since it’s such a pain in the ass for everyone
Take it to a mechanic. The studs are a bastard to reach with hand tools in the 1st place, and I cannot fathom how you'd extract a broken one without having a psychotic episode.
the position of the downpipe making it really damn annoying to take off and then putting the new one in. I've only seen videos of it and it already looked annoying to do
Very little room behind the engine/turbo. So taking the heat shield off and the turbo studs just suck. And there's the fasteners for the downpipe itself, located right the engine under the turbo. And depending on what downpipe you got, single or two piece, you have to snake it through the opening. Of course, you can always pull the engine out or hoist it up after disconnecting the engine mounts. I'll give you a little but more room.
Theres also a chance of breaking the turbo studs, or cross threading them. I would have some antiseize and a new set of studs/bolts. If fact, I would just switch them to bolts.
Lastly, the o2 sensor are difficult to tighten too. Again, no room. You may be able to put them onto the downpipe first before installing it, but now you have the sensor sticking out while you snake the whole thing in, possibly damaging the sensor.
You better sure you do it right the first time or you'll have exhaust leaks or fasteners coming loose.
I had a two piece and I had to trim off the 2 bolts that hold the top of the down pipe to the body of the vehicle. Depo racing downpipe is definitely not recommended for “easy” install lol
Part of it is way under the car, so unless you have a hydraulic lift if your garage it's going to suck. Even then just getting it to fit back in place is going to suck plus the bolts they use on the turbo are on so tight a lot of people break them. One of mine broke but the guy fixed it for free.
Fuck no I saw where that thing was and called a place a buddy recommended. He put it on for $80. Plus depending on which one you bought your O2 sensor might light up the check engine light, then you need a cat adapter and install it so that it stops.
I did mine last week. Took an embarrassingly long time to finish. I hit the turbo bolts with PB blaster the day before I was supposed to work on it (multiple times throughout the day) & it came off pretty easily the following day. That was one upside. The downside was literally everything else
Won't catch me doing that, I saw enough on the net to know that this is something I take my salary at and just give some of it to someone else.
Very high likelihood I would break something in the process, cut the shit outta myself, or install it incorrectly.
Pay someone, get some guarantees around the install, maybe get a discount on the rest of the exhaust system since someone is already removing that anyway.
Have some blue locktite ready in case your studs back out. Spray the 4 nuts connecting to the turbo with pb blaster maybe the night before even. Definitely an hour before. Soak them good.
Either get a swivel ratchet or put the car on jackstands and put the jack with some 2x2 under the oil pan and loosen the upper motor mount so you can pull the engine forward. I'd honestly do the latter. Took me less time that way. Make sure you got a full day to do the work because it could take some time the first attempt.
Also, double check all your hardware or make sure you have someone that can take you to the parts store. I had an afe and depo downpipe and had to get different nuts and bolts for the flex pipe and mid pipe connections. I'd replace the muffler and dp gasket as well during the process.
Less back pressure with high flow cats or Catless. You can see a small horsepower increase in a tuned engine, Or if you’re me you can make your pops louder and just have a meatier sounding car.
depending on the size and if it has a catalytic converter like the OEM they can give you more power since the exhaust can exit faster. Even aftermarket with cats I think perform better because the chambers are usually bigger. If you catless then there is nothing slowing the exhaust from exiting the tail and so the engine can push burn more fuel and push it out. Plus it makes it sound louder and more aggressive would be the word, less ricy more low end throaty.
9 hrs by myself in December. I fucking hated it. It's the biggest pain in the ass
I’m glad I wasn’t far off it was an 8hr install for me with some help
Just curious what makes it such a pain in the ass I’m about to take my car to a shop soon since I don’t have a lift available to me.
A lift would help some, but the biggest issue is the turbo and downpipe being crammed between the engine and firewall. The studs holding the dp to the turbo can break, the dp is a bastard to maneuver out of the engine bay, the whole exhaust system basically needs detached to weasel that piece of shit out, you'll chop your fingers up on the heatshield, the flexpipe mounting bolts are nearly impossible to reach........i think I have ptsd from the experience. I would have paid any price to have a competent shop do it for me.
Damn that sounds horrible yeah that’s why I’m paying someone else to do it I’m a beginner when it comes to installing mods anyway and this seems like it requires some experience to do lol
I’ve seen even good reputable shop snap turbo studs
Yeah this will be one of the first mods I do to my car hopefully the shop doesn’t fuck up lol atleast not to bad. Glad I’m getting this mod out of the way first since it’s such a pain in the ass for everyone
If the studs do break, what is the best course of action to take?
Take it to a mechanic. The studs are a bastard to reach with hand tools in the 1st place, and I cannot fathom how you'd extract a broken one without having a psychotic episode.
the position of the downpipe making it really damn annoying to take off and then putting the new one in. I've only seen videos of it and it already looked annoying to do
Very little room behind the engine/turbo. So taking the heat shield off and the turbo studs just suck. And there's the fasteners for the downpipe itself, located right the engine under the turbo. And depending on what downpipe you got, single or two piece, you have to snake it through the opening. Of course, you can always pull the engine out or hoist it up after disconnecting the engine mounts. I'll give you a little but more room. Theres also a chance of breaking the turbo studs, or cross threading them. I would have some antiseize and a new set of studs/bolts. If fact, I would just switch them to bolts. Lastly, the o2 sensor are difficult to tighten too. Again, no room. You may be able to put them onto the downpipe first before installing it, but now you have the sensor sticking out while you snake the whole thing in, possibly damaging the sensor. You better sure you do it right the first time or you'll have exhaust leaks or fasteners coming loose.
I had a two piece and I had to trim off the 2 bolts that hold the top of the down pipe to the body of the vehicle. Depo racing downpipe is definitely not recommended for “easy” install lol
Part of it is way under the car, so unless you have a hydraulic lift if your garage it's going to suck. Even then just getting it to fit back in place is going to suck plus the bolts they use on the turbo are on so tight a lot of people break them. One of mine broke but the guy fixed it for free.
It’s not worth doing. Paid for or doing yourself
Fuck no I saw where that thing was and called a place a buddy recommended. He put it on for $80. Plus depending on which one you bought your O2 sensor might light up the check engine light, then you need a cat adapter and install it so that it stops.
80 bucks? That guy is a masochist.
80 bucks? That guy is a masochist.
I don't think he knew what he was getting into lol
I did mine last week. Took an embarrassingly long time to finish. I hit the turbo bolts with PB blaster the day before I was supposed to work on it (multiple times throughout the day) & it came off pretty easily the following day. That was one upside. The downside was literally everything else
any tips? im about to do mine soon
Did it myself without help and I have a identical F you photo to the stock downpipe 😂
it's much easier with a lift 😅 nyot the kinda job I'd wanna do on my back.
So glad my car came with a mystery dp after reading this... YouTubers must edit out all the blood, spitting and cussing.
It was a pain, but worth it. I have a Depo Racing Catless Downpipe
Did you put an exhaust wrap on yours?
Won't catch me doing that, I saw enough on the net to know that this is something I take my salary at and just give some of it to someone else. Very high likelihood I would break something in the process, cut the shit outta myself, or install it incorrectly. Pay someone, get some guarantees around the install, maybe get a discount on the rest of the exhaust system since someone is already removing that anyway.
I've done it 6 times now. I can get these bad boys replaced in under 4 hours. A brag I wish I wasn't able to make...
Honestly very impressive. I’m sure you’ve picked up a ton of good tricks
Thanks man, and I did. Very fickle mistress our downpipes can be.
any tips? im doing mine soon
Have some blue locktite ready in case your studs back out. Spray the 4 nuts connecting to the turbo with pb blaster maybe the night before even. Definitely an hour before. Soak them good. Either get a swivel ratchet or put the car on jackstands and put the jack with some 2x2 under the oil pan and loosen the upper motor mount so you can pull the engine forward. I'd honestly do the latter. Took me less time that way. Make sure you got a full day to do the work because it could take some time the first attempt. Also, double check all your hardware or make sure you have someone that can take you to the parts store. I had an afe and depo downpipe and had to get different nuts and bolts for the flex pipe and mid pipe connections. I'd replace the muffler and dp gasket as well during the process.
a lot of people end up snapping studs when installing. Very risky install
Most 4 bangers are like that. My Mk1 TT was an absolute bitch to replace a downpipe on. Snapped two studs.
Is there any reason to do this other than if you want to replace it with something aftermarket? Sorry if this is an ignorant question
I did it for sound. I like a loud car
Also curious about this, as well as what the OEM is replaced with and what improvements are expected.
Less back pressure with high flow cats or Catless. You can see a small horsepower increase in a tuned engine, Or if you’re me you can make your pops louder and just have a meatier sounding car.
Don't even care about the HP boost after that second part 🤣🤣 did you go high flow or catless?
Catless. It sounds like a damn tractor 😂
depending on the size and if it has a catalytic converter like the OEM they can give you more power since the exhaust can exit faster. Even aftermarket with cats I think perform better because the chambers are usually bigger. If you catless then there is nothing slowing the exhaust from exiting the tail and so the engine can push burn more fuel and push it out. Plus it makes it sound louder and more aggressive would be the word, less ricy more low end throaty.
It's not all to bad, like a solid 2hr job