[FreedomPenguin]

My mustang ecoboost ford perf tune has played well with my catted downpipe (cvf) but I assume they are all about the same 200 cell cat

my3 inch downpipe, I continued into 3 inch piping into 2.5 inch split

I didn’t use the small pipe included to bottleneck my downpipe to exhaust

 

[JAKE]

Those welds are beautiful. Looks like a very nice quality piece.

 

[gatornek]

note: the 4 bolts for the transmission bracket had blue loctite

The OEM bolts had blue loctite from the factory? Does this make them more cumbersome to take off, or are you mentioning this to let me know that I should put some on during the reinstall?

but I assume they are all about the same 200 cell cat

I didn’t use the small pipe included to bottleneck my downpipe to exhaust

Apparently, this one is 300 CPI. Looking up the part number, it is however, the ONLY 'G-Sport by GESI' cat that is NON-EPA compliant. Hence the spacer bung.

The pinch down doesn't bother me much, as my Borla cat-back is 2.25. I do have a Y-pipe though, but I purchased this Borla resonator last year in anticipation of adding an aftermarket downpipe.
2015-2020 Ford Mustang EcoBoost Connecting Pipe Touring Part # 60560
I really want to avoid the 'loudness' unless I've got it WOT'd. The stock cat is the main restriction. This will give me a much more free flowing exhaust at my power levels.

Those welds are beautiful. Looks like a very nice quality piece.

I had their stock location IC, before I decided to upgrade to a racing IC, and their handywork has always impressed me.

 

[FreedomPenguin]

If you’re exhausr is 2.25 and it’s tapered to 2.25 after dp, with that 300 cell, you’ll be just fine w your tune with some extra downlow torque

mines more extreme and mines running just fine so I know you’ll be fine. Give it 30 mins or hour of driving for the trims to slightly richen a hair.

 

[gatornek]

A question for the knowledgeable people on this thread.

The O2 sensor bung after the turbo seems to be a couple of inches closer to the turbo, than stock. Will this have any effect on my AFR's?

View attachment 38414

 

[HeightsLife]

The OEM bolts had blue loctite from the factory? Does this make them more cumbersome to take off, or are you mentioning this to let me know that I should put some on during the reinstall?

The pinch down doesn't bother me much, as my Borla cat-back is 2.25. I do have a Y-pipe though, but I purchased this Borla resonator last year in anticipation of adding an aftermarket downpipe.
2015-2020 Ford Mustang EcoBoost Connecting Pipe Touring Part # 60560
I really want to avoid the 'loudness' unless I've got it WOT'd. The stock cat is the main restriction. This will give me a much more free flowing exhaust at my power levels.

the latter on the loctite. removal wasn't a problem..just a heads up for the re-install.

my aftermarket exhaust necks down also 2.25" at the DP/Y-pipe connection. the cost/benefit/effort to remove that 8" is a future conversation BUT for now i think you're gonna be very pleased like me, with the sound and performance gains. after starting, hearing the turbo whistle just that lil bit louder while it warms up hasn't gotten old and WOT i garauntee will make you smile everytime

 

[JAKE]

A question for the knowledgeable people on this thread.

The O2 sensor bung after the turbo seems to be a couple of inches closer to the turbo, than stock. Will this have any effect on my AFR's?

View attachment 38414

I don't remotely pretend to be knowledgeable at all, but it should be fine.

 

[HeightsLife]

The O2 sensor bung after the turbo seems to be a couple of inches closer to the turbo, than stock. Will this have any effect on my AFR's?

no direct knowledge-cant imagine the 'flavor' of the exhaust is gonna be any different to the sensor at that distance.

Because i have witnessed your attention to detail over the years i would allow 1 hour for the removal and 2 hours for the install and 5 hours for 'am i doing this right/is this best?' while you're doing it. (i say that with admiration, not any ill meaning)
another note from my experience : the bolts to hold DP to turbo= they have to travel couple inches on the stud. mine didn't hand tighten very far. i wasn't getting much travel with the ratchet on the underneath bolt, felt like 10 degrees. in other words, it was like hundred+ repetitions on the ratchet. top bolt was slightly less. that smaller hand power ratchet you mentioned earlier would really help with grunt work before getting down with the nitty gritty hand tighten.

 

[gatornek]

no direct knowledge-cant imagine the 'flavor' of the exhaust is gonna be any different to the sensor at that distance.

Because i have witnessed your attention to detail over the years i would allow 1 hour for the removal and 2 hours for the install and 5 hours for 'am i doing this right/is this best?' while you're doing it. (i say that with admiration, not any ill meaning)
another note from my experience : the bolts to hold DP to turbo= they have to travel couple inches on the stud. mine didn't hand tighten very far. i wasn't getting much travel with the ratchet on the underneath bolt, felt like 10 degrees. in other words, it was like hundred+ repetitions on the ratchet. top bolt was slightly less. that smaller hand power ratchet you mentioned earlier would really help with grunt work before getting down with the nitty gritty hand tighten.

I've generally operated on this site, thanks to the wealth of information from gracious individuals, that no question is a stupid question. Being a novice leaves me with the handicap of not knowing 'tricks and shortcuts' when they present themselves in the moment. My only recourse has been to think about possible obstacles well beforehand and present them here, to those with experience. For instance, the level of detailed feedback I've received from you on this install, has left me teetering on the side of doing it myself. I feel I know exactly what to expect now. Thanks Bud!

 

[FreedomPenguin]

Took me an hour using a lift, second set of hands. Was worth it though. It definitely let the exhaust breathe more, my exhaust volume (being 200 cell though and full 3 inch piping til the split, she a monster for what it is. Yours should get noticeably louder and deeper

 

[HeightsLife]

I've generally operated on this site, thanks to the wealth of information from gracious individuals, that no question is a stupid question. Being a novice leaves me with the handicap of not knowing 'tricks and shortcuts' when they present themselves in the moment. My only recourse has been to think about possible obstacles well beforehand and present them here, to those with experience. For instance, the level of detailed feedback I've received from you on this install, has left me teetering on the side of doing it myself. I feel I know exactly what to expect now. Thanks Bud!

i share your sentiment for this forum and its users. Along with some instructional YT installation videos, once seemingly daunting projects can become manageable and worthwhile.
the removal is straightforward-yeah, it took me 4 minutes just to remove the first sensor from the harness, an ominous start. but that's because i operate with an over abundance of caution because i don't like breaking stuff and paying/waiting to replace it. you can have the stock pipe off in 30-45 minutes. if the 02 sensors don't put up a fight you can have new pipe prepped and ready in 20-30 minutes. and with all the R&D and care MAP puts into their products i really hope/believe installation/fitment will be smooth and straightforward..and completed within an hour (especially with a second set of hands and that handheld power ratchet. (maybe you'll have better luck hand threading your bolts down the turbo studs before snugging but just a reminder..moving a bolt 1/4mm each time for a total distance of ~2" is fricking tedious and disheartening but ultimately again, worthwhile.

 

[gatornek]

So I'm pretty much set to install this myself with my brother in law offering me a second set of hands when necessary, at his home garage. So I'm going to do be doing this on stands.

In preparation, although the directions here have been spot on, I've also been watching many youtube vids on the install process. Personally, I like the vids done by average Joe's rather than the produced vids from a vendor or manufacturer. They always seem to gloss over the steps and make it much easier than it actually is. With actual people, you can see the difficulties that they run into.

Which brings me to this vid, and this gentleman, who had a HELL OF A TIME with the top bolt on the turbo outlet. In all the produced vids, the nuts come off with a regular ratchet with not so much force, suggesting to me that the nuts were already loose.

Here is the vid. He starts with it at the 3:00 minute mark and fusses with it all the way to the 8:35 mark, where you can finally see that the bolt came off with the nut.

At first, he tried leveraging the nut by extending it with a closed wrench.

He tries that for a while, but with only getting it to budge oh so slightly. At some point he gives up and breaks out his impact socket.

He's even able to succesfully get the lower nut off from this angle with the impact in just a few seconds. But this top bolt has become problematic.

To me, it seems like the nut is completely cross threaded.

And here you can see the end result. The bolt comes out from the turbo before the nut comes off from the bolt.

After watching this vid, I went out to my car, popped the trunk, and applied my 10 inch ratchet with a 15mm deep socket to the top nut. I gave it a good push to see if I could get it to budge (strictly for testing purposes) without going "full strength of everything I got" on it. No budging. It's clear to me that the nut is on there really good. As it should be, I suppose.
So my questions to the people on this thread are:

1) Would it behoove me to get a 18 or 24 inch breaker bar?

2) Should I start hitting both bolts with PB blaster from a few nights before, on a nightly basis? Should that help? I know @HeightsLife recommended me letting the nuts soak in PB blaster after they come off and before I put them back on.

3) Where did this guy go wrong? Was the bolt absolutely cross threaded from the beginning and this was ultimately inevitable? Or did he do the damage, by using the impact? Like it shows, the impact made the lower bolt easy pickings.

4) Finally, he didn't show it in the vid, but how did he fix this? Did he have to go to the hardware store and find the same bolt and nut combo?

 

[77Highboy]

I would spray the nuts with PB Blaster a few times a day for a few days before you plan to do the job. That's what I did and didn't have any issues with the nuts being stuck to the studs, I also changed the downpipe pretty early on in my car's life too though. If you're worried about pulling a stud out/breaking one/etc., you can buy new studs and nuts. I did this when I upgraded my turbo cause my new one didn't come with studs and I couldn't get the stock ones out of the stock turbo.

 

[HeightsLife]

i hit with PB the day of install .. i don't know how/if flammable the various lubricants are so i avoid using them and then driving .. just precautionary. Breaker bar..maybe..again the precaution in me doesn't like it for this application..idk..bc maybe that's how things get cross-threaded. same with impact gun. i think the 'breaker bar' attached to that python bicep ive seen in one of your photos will suffice. Bc you said your using stands (like me) and not the lift, lemme replay my install in my head and recall any other pointers. brb

 

[FreedomPenguin]

I had zero issues removing the nuts and everything, but mine is summer only car with like 20k miles when I did it. so no rust, I used regular wrenches and a breaker

 

[JAKE]

Just a thought, and maybe I'm way off base, but would it benefit you to loosen the bolts when the turbo is warm? After a short drive somewhere? I'm not talking glowing red, just a little heat in the housing. The idea being similar to using a torch to loosen stubborn, rusted bolts.

 

[FreedomPenguin]

Just a thought, and maybe I'm way off base, but would it benefit you to loosen the bolts when the turbo is warm? After a short drive somewhere? I'm not talking glowing red, just a little heat in the housing. The idea being similar to using a torch to loosen stubborn, rusted bolts.

that's how mine was, I drove it to the lift, tossed it up on lift, about 15 minutes later was tearing out the downpipes, maybe the heat helped as well.

 

[gatornek]

Haha. The "pythons" are looking a little slack since I've avoided my public gym almost this entire past year. Still doing push ups and pull ups, and running though!

I guess the name of the game is patience. I'll start with just my ratchet and upgrade to an 18 inch breaker bar if necessary. I'll work it slow and easy and not try to force anything. Since I gotta drive to my brother in law's, the car will be warm by then. I'll try for an immediate loosening of the bolts, maybe before I even put it up on stands. But I'll wait for cool down before actually working on removing the pipe. I'm going to start tonight and douse it in PB Blaster every night (so it just sits overnight) until garage day.

If you're worried about pulling a stud out/breaking one/etc., you can buy new studs and nuts.

Can you tell me where the best spot would be for this in the extreme case that this happens? Do you think my local Lowe's or Home Depot would have this? How would I get the specs? Thanks!

 

[gatornek]

FYI. Also wanted to let you guys know that I "cheated" in terms of the O2 sensors. I just ended up buying two new sensors. I got them for $70 total on RockAuto. For one, if it saves me a bit of aggravation on the install, then great! For two, I do plan on putting the stock downpipe back on if I ever gotta sell this car, so that would be another round of grief and aggravation that I'd avoid.

 

[77Highboy]

What I used was the Dorman 03131 exhaust flange hardware kit. It's under $10 on Amazon and comes with 4 studs and nuts so you'll even have 2 spares.