Well, Ian and I checked under the car while it was on the lift after the OEM cats were removed, nothing seem to stand out and grab my attention on the heat shields. I did't watch the mechanic every second though, bottle line.....I DON'T HEAR ANY RATTLE ON MY HF CATS!!!!!! Maybe the '03 coupe is built a little different than other models or the newer batch of Crawford Cats were already premodified to avoid this problem. Over all, very satified with the results-can't wait for the smell to go away.

 

You still have a smell? Mine only smelled for 5-10min, is it normal for the cats to be taking so long to burn in? My Crawfords came already bent too.. Yes 03/04s and 350z's don't seem to have much of a problem, but I take GEE PASTA's word that the 05 is a little more difficult. How did they change your exhaust sound?

 

When I did order my headers and hi flow cat's from Crawfords. Mr. Doug Stewart said to me that for some reason the clearance problem on 2005 had changed. When I installed them I noticed they did clear everything but the clearance was very tight. I decided to make sure there was no problems with rubbing. I believe there could have been a change in the engine Mounts that changed the angle a bit. The effort put forth was well worth it.
The install was just flawless and the end results were well worth it. I think my arms just healed last week from the header install. Anybody installing a Crawford product will be rewarded with what I call a new driving experience. Now have a "Miller" and say thanks to Crawford products. Papa Pasta

 

I had mine installed today and damn it was a pita to get some of the bolts out of the cats, anyways I now know what you meant about the clearance issue, the passenger side was fine but the drivers side cat gets real close to the heat shield, but with it being dented in already there was a half inch gap which I made larger by hammering the heat shield more. Took it for a drive afterwards and no rattles at all

 

Congrats, any noticeable sound change? Would you mind posting a sound clip for us? It's between headers and exhaust for me now, but I want to get some feedback before I make up my mind.

 

I'll get my kid to record it for me again tomorrow, the only sound difference I felt changed was the tone is not as deep as it was before at idle which is a good thing. If I was you I would get both headers and exhaust..haha J/K

 

Really stupid question:

Why are the Crawfords and the Helix manufactured with a know clearance problem?

We should not have to bend any aftermarket part in order to have it fit and not cause a rattle. It should be built with acceptable tolerances already from the manufacturer.

 

Well the Crawfords are a lot larger than the stock cats and that is where the problem lies, unless they redesign them a bit smaller you are going to need to bend the heat shield. I would much rather have larger cats and just have to dent the shield a tad.

 

Here is the sound clip with the whole package installed.

http://home.comcast.net/~silver03evo8/paulsg.avi

 

any reason why i should buy crawford and not helix?

 

I can't give you an honest opinion about the Helix, but the Crawford cats are perfect in build. They are top quality. The welds are perfect (no gaps).

I love the sound and performance of my Crawfords.

 

Before you buy Helix, I would do a search here and on my350z. I remember a number of posts about fitment problems on the Helix. They were going to do a redesign. I do not know if the new cat is out yet.

It was my understanding the you just can't "bang in" the Helix cats to make them fit. You had to actually bend in the underside of the foot well.

 

I'm attempting to install my Crawford cats but running into some problems. The cats only came with bolts, no nuts. Am I to reuse the stock nuts? The nuts are stuck to 4 out of the 6 bolts. I couldn't find any lock nuts that fit at the local Lowe's hardware store. The Crawford bolts have a finer thread. Also, the O2 sensor is stuck. I tried using an adjustable wrench, but it started to strip the sensor. I think it might be 21mm, but my biggest box wrench is 19mm.

 

Never mind, got everything in. I bought new nuts and a oxygen sensor socket. The stock exhaust sound is a little deeper. Nice.

 

I'm about to order the Crawford CATS and install them myself. Any tips, did you use ramps or jackstands, or other? What's special about the oxygen sensor socket? Is it really needed?

Appreciate learning from your experience..

Thanks in advance.