I worked 1/2 day, dropped off Madison with grandma and put on the exhaust at my Dad's place. I wanted to try out the Rhino ramps I got anyway. ($7!)/
I put the fronts on the ramps and used my Dad's huge Walker jack to lift it up in the air. Fortunately, everything came off pretty easy. I don't know how you guys do your hangers but I just disconnected the resonator and unbolted all the hangers vs trying to pry them off. I dropped the Y-back in one piece then dropped the front Y. the gaskets were okay but I had some copper gasket stuff so I put some of that on after cleaning the flanges. I forgot the instructions so I winged everything. I could tell which way the Y went as it was scrapped up on the ground side. I eventually figured out which pipes went to which by where the flanges went and how it was bent etc.. Slip fitting some was difficult as the pipes had to be bent to get them off and there's a bit of soot, exhaust junk that makes the clearances smaller. I had to put some pipes on the wire brush grinder machine to clean it up and I had to put a small wire brush on the inside pipes. I sprayed a bunch of WD40 on the slip fittings and got everything roughly test fit. After some convincing with a rubber mallet and some twisting to get the clearances right, it all went on fairly good.

I could see how a bad install could put some stress on various components. I tried to align everything so nothing had to be bent to fit or pre-stressed anything for clearances etc. Taking off the rubber hangers is 10x easier when they are still stuck on the stock exhaust pieces vs trying to pry them off on the car.

After satisfied with the fit, I clamped everything tight. Clamps are good quality and are wide.

Started it up while it was on the ramps and checked for leaks. Didn't hear/see any so I put the car down. After driving it back home, nothing rattles or hits any of the heatshields. I tried to be carefull when installing the two resonators to make sure they were clearing everthing while being properly aligned.

Upon start up it was pretty quiet. Louder than stock yeah but not nearly as bad as Dave makes it sound. IMHO. Just vroooommm. Idle is decently quiet. And reving while in netrual is okay. But I know what Dave is talking about when he mentions the resonance bass noise. On an auto, it's loud when accelerating from 1,000-2,500 or so. Having to constantly operate in that range doesn't help. It's louder than I'd like. But I "think" most cat-backs like this must feature this so some degree. I'm not sure why it has to be loud in this rpm as there's a huge muffler/resonator can built into the Y and 2 smaller can resonators after it. The sound at any other rpm is fine and about what I expected.

Performance. Can't really tell. It's certainly not SLOWER than before. I don't notice any loss of throttle response or low end torque. It "seems" peppier. It was hard to tell as the noise alters my perception and I had my daughter in the back. I'll probably try the brake torque test to see if the tires brake lose any easier. Yeah hardly scientific but....... whatever. haha

 

haha. This is what I get for not reading the instructions.


I think I installed the Y portion upside down. In the pic, the BORLA is on top. The instructions have the Y resonator blank on the bottom. I was noticing that if you install it upside down like I did, it tucks really tight. I don't think there's a flow problem. Each side should be indentical. I suppose worst case, I could drop it and flip it over. But since it doesn't rattle, I'm going to leave it. Unless someone knows more than I can chime in with any possible problems.

Dave, I'll keep an ear out for the sound. I plan on monitoring the mileage also

Drove it to work today. There is a tad bit more vibrations but I think it's from the resonance.

 

can't wait to hear it!

 

Nice man /props on DIY. I plan on either getting Borla or Stillen. Its kinda 50/50 right now. Although i do like the way Injen sounds as well. Im mainly looking for the deep sporty sound. Not the high performance raspy sound. But grats bro..

 

Jeff' have you installed the spacer yet??

 

Mine has the "Borla" on the bottom.

 

I know. One would think that they would have it so the BORLA name shows. But their pdf instructions have the "borla" on top.

 

Blah I take it back. After looking real close at their instructions, the BORLA seems to go on the bottom.

 

Good job on the DIY, despite the self-induced confusion. Like MP says, need some sound clips!

 

The guy I bought it from has a few:

 

Man, that sounds pretty good to me.
I've been thinking about to upgrade mine to Borla, I think I may have to do it.

 

Glad to see you finally got one and like it.

 

Yeah. Court has been a great seller too. All is well.

Did you ever dyno or come across a dyno sheet for our sedan Borlas?

 

cant wait to hear one in person

 

I still love the way mine sounds. It is different with the turbos and no cats. It is quieter than it was with the SC and cats at idle but has more rumble when I get on it.