Kooks Headers, 3 inch cats, 2 1/2 inch duals w/Electric Cutouts....Run away dialup!

J

OCCUPY LoD :)
Hey guys...not trying to be redundant and not trying to show off my exhaust more, just trying to STOP stealing Drillers threads and figured this may be easier to find if it has its own thread.

After installing the Kooks mid lengths that I picked up from Jeremi, I finally had the opportunity to install the E-Cutouts I purchased in August. Check it.......

3 inch "cats" and out the 3 inch e-cutouts, "Y'd" into 2 1/2 inch true duals all the way back with MagnaFlow mufflers for the quiet sound ALL the time, and with a flip of the switch I got LOUD out the cutouts when I "need" it.

Progression....with TONS of pics....(note the times of the pics...not too shabby, plus I left to go to the parts store at 5 to get the manifold gaskets because I didn't think I'd get the K-member out that damn fast!)









Notice the stupid EGR tube.....go go gadget SawsAll. Hi Mr. EGR Delete, how are you?! haha, I wanted to use it, but whatever....screw those tree huggers!





"Plenty" of steering shaft clearance. NOTE: when removing K member, I removed the top bolt and collapsed the steering shaft into itself rather than removing the splined side of the knuckle. This made installing the headers SUPER easy on that side....pretty much fell into place(if the car was on its roof).




All the passenger side studs came out completely with the nuts attached so they soaked in PB Blaster for a bit so I could re-use them. Had to install bolts in the upper rear holes because I wouldn't have been able to install the nuts due to clearance from the primarys.





Had to extend both of the O2 sensor harnesses due to different angles of the sensors......screw soldering :p


New powersteering pump and high pressure line.....


No more clunky when I hard accel........stupid mount! NOTE: the bottom bracket is installed backwards...another bump in the road to installing the K member.



Off to the exhaust shop.........






17 years old and a master......he was born in his dads exhaust shop, lol! I caught this picture while he was in the middle of making exhaust noises while opening/closing the cutouts, LMAO!


Here is his brother Johnny...my SMOG hook up :p




Don't stare...you'll go blind!



Gotta love trade work.....I had/have 4 complete OBD2 Mustang stock H-pipes. I traded 2 of the OBD2 cats(they get 80 each) and my old manifold w/cat(65) and the pass cat(55) to them, and only paid 100 bucks cash for my setup. How ya like me now?!? Oh yeah...the 2 1/2 inch cats I got from Jeremi....they traded me straight across for the 3 inch cats, haha.




Installed the J hangers in the middle drive shaft safety "loop" for easy removal.




Complete....almost....








Now I say "almost" because it was still WAY to raspy/loud through the tails(as I kinda expected, lol). I convinced Josh that installing an H pipe will help performance and it will equalize the tone of the exhaust giving it a less "poppy" sound due to the fact that I could almost hear each cylinder firing. Installed the H and it helped the tone, but it was still too loud.


Came back and we installed some resonator tips.....still too loud!


I dealt with it for the next day and I attempted to find a single dual in/out magnaflow to go right after the Y pipes. Found one that would fit and had them order it. It was about 2 inches too long and is the smallest possible actual muffler so without completely re-doing the exhaust we just opted to install the muffs in the back. I don't think it looks too back....kinda tuner-like, but I'm going to paint them black, and also black out the center of the resonator tips because that chrome looks poopy.




Alright you MFR's(pronounced M...F...eR's, not calling you bad names, just being silly ;).....I stayed up an extra hour to post this, lol! I'm running low on Pepsi so I'm going to bed! Enjoy and thanks for letting me into your "home" and I hope I don't piss anyone off posting INFORMATIVE pictures of my car and hopefully this helps someone along the way....some how!
 

Mad1stGen

Booster
I'm glad you put them to good use ... I thought I was gonna have to buy them back LOL

Looks good ! Probably still too loud LOL !
 

maxmk8

New member
I loved the way those cut-out sound when you open em up!! And still less drone than with the bullet POS mufflers.
 

46callaway

New member
Max you gotta be kidding, sure there might be less drone with the cutouts versus Bullets but you guys make it seem like drone is the worst noise possible. On my 95 LSC with the cutouts open the whole cabin would vibrate which is much worse than any drone in my opinion. J, your exhaust setup is truly bad ass now. I like the pics comparing the stock manifolds to the Kooks midlengths.
 

maxmk8

New member
Serge check with Jesse. I am not the only one who thinks that. Right around 2k rpms and easy on the throttle bullets drone.
 

J

OCCUPY LoD :)
Lol Stone! Sorry....if I'm going to do something I do it right.

Serge...Max is right, at the usual drone rpm, the cutouts don't drone at all. You hear them outside the car, but no in cabin drone type noise. There is absolutely NO noise with the Magnaflows...they are super quiet until WOT and they perform very well. Thanks for the compliments Serge :)

Jeremi....give me a break, lol, I had to put some spacers on my coils, fix my sway bar, install subframe connectors JUST so I could install the headers, haha. You're never getting them back now! :p
 

D Day

New member
I also live in California, do you think your gonna pass smog with that setup? BTW, nice setup! I've always had to go to "Test Only" facilities when I smog my cars. If your hookup runs a "test only" facility than you are a lucky man! Great job J, I will end up putting headers in my 98 even if I have to registar it as an offroad.
 

J

OCCUPY LoD :)
Oh for sure....I definitally won't pass a "visual" because its "illegal" to modify ANY emission controlled parts, but emissions wise I'll be fine. My guy IS a test only :) and he's a no pass no pay so I can go there over and over and over until I pass, and than pay 60 bucks.

These cars "normally" don't look all fixed up so putting headers on a stock looking Mark 8 wouldn't be an issue. Most smog places won't even think to look to see if you have headers.

Thanks, its definitally fun driving down the road all quiet....having a camaro pull up next to me and kinda smile, all while I'm opening up the cutouts to see a totally wierd look on his face like, "how the hell did he do that!?" haha Than its spanky time from there!

If you or anyone has any smog "issues" let me know.....if you're in driving distances its the normal price....but he'll do it if you're unavailable to drive, if you know what I mean :) but you'll pay more.
 

Stone17

New member
J, Do you have a print out of a emission test done to your car?

I want to see what is different between TX and Cal emission test.
 

D Day

New member
Yeah, you can barely even see the stock headers when you pop the hood. That some good info to know J, u sneeky dog!
 

Mike P

c:enter
Staff member
thats awesome, where are you located, I wanna bring mine in to you. :D


edit: forget it I see now, you are in CA. Oh well
 

J

OCCUPY LoD :)
Haha....I'm a sneeky boy :) Yeah, I'm in Cali, only a couple of "blocks" away from you Mike, lol!

Oh....forgot to put the videos in my post........

CLOSED


OPEN

 

BigBoyBoelts

New member
J we got to talk about you getting me a setup like that with the cats and the cutouts all welded together...I could use those! LOL
 

J

OCCUPY LoD :)
Haha Matt, that would be a long drive, but it sure would be a fun(and loud) trip back! Let me tell you....you know that feeling you get when you just get your exhaust done? Your driving around like "man this sounds good, vrrrrooom(rev'n it up)!" Yeah, I get that feeling about 5-9 times a day when I drive my car. I think to myself, "Man its kinda quiet....wait I'm about to pass a Honda*opens cutouts*....MMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!(like a drag car at WOT)*closes cutouts*, Man that sure sounds f'n awesome! LMAO :)

Order the Cutouts, ship them to my house and start driving and see if you can beat them here :p
 

J

OCCUPY LoD :)
Lol.....for 1300 bucks(about) you can have it :) I have many hook-ups so getting the exhaust done was cheap. If you just want the cut-outs, go here...when I bought mine they were $320 for 2 with the Y pipes.

http://www.dmhperformance.com/
 

Alowishus

New member
WOW love that sound.
Very nice.

1st horn I've ever seen in the back of a car, at least I think it was a horn.

Kooks still the place (only) to get headers?
 

J

OCCUPY LoD :)
Lol, that is the horn(s)...I got a seperate tank/compressor just to run all three. Its soooo loud it didn't matter where I put it on the car, but considering one horn is 2 feet long, I didn't have a choice.
 
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