Is it time consuming to fit a new downpipe??.

[ScoobySTI]

Guys I have a sports cat to fit as my stock one is rotton ,I been to two exhaust places in Cardiff today and they quoted me £130 + : 0

Is this a bit excessive they told me its a time consuming job removing head shields etc but does it really take that long I'm thinking maybe 1hr or 1.30 hrs max

Wish I had ramp lol

[Scooby Pete]

It's doable with axel stands

Remove the heat shielding from your turbo, not sure how to do this as mine was removed.

Jack up front of car and put on stands.

Under the car remove the 2 bolts that connect down pipe to centre pipe.

There is a 14mm nut that holds the down pipe to the chassis via a bracket remove this.

.

Next we need to remove down pipe from turbo.

It's easier if you take the car off the stands at this point, hassle though.

From the engine bat unplug the sensor that is attached to the down pipe

There are five 14 mm nuts the secure the down pipe to the turbo, these are normally a bugger to get off so you may ned an Irwin grip nut to get them off. Some of them have a stud with a. It on the other side so you need 2x14 mm spanners. Ratchet works but takes some ingenuity to get it to fit.

http://www.screwfix.com/p/irwin-bolt-grip-nut-remover-set-5-pieces/96028?kpid=96028&cm_mmc=Google-_-Product%20Listing%20Ads-_-Sales%20Tracking-_-sales%20tracking%20url&gclid=COafq-XD5bwCFYWWtAodNy8AwA

Some of the bolts may come out with the stud still attached, so may even unscrew the stud from the turbo.

Prob worth getting some spare studs and 14 mm exhaust nuts and replace them all.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MANIFOLD-STUDS-M10-X-37MM-1-25MM-PITCH-METRIC-FINE-4-6-GRADE-PACK-OF-5-/180840089182?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2a1ae8c65e

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/M10-X-1-25-PITCH-FLANGED-TYPE-MANIFOLD-NUTS-PACK-OF-25-/360400519857?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item53e98b82b1

Once you have the down pipe loose lower/drop it under the car. That's it off.

Refitting is just the reverse, although don't forget a new gasket, get a genuine one rather than the crappy eBay ones, it's worth the extra believe me.

If you are fitting a decat it's a good idea to get some exhaust wrap and wrap it 1st.

It's a good idea to have a 2nd pair of hands as you need to go under the car to offer up the down pipe, and someone up top to guide it and start off a few nuts to hold it there. Obviously you'll need to put the car on the stands again to do this.

Do the nuts around the turbo just enough to still give yo wiggle room on the down pipe as you need to get it back on the chassis mount. Once you have done this do all the nuts up to the correct torque or you will easily damage the studs or nuts by over tightening.

Over all the job should take a cple of hours for the 1st time. It used to take me about 30-45 mins after a few swaps for mots and tinkering.

[ScoobySTI]

Cheers for that, very helpful , pitty you don't live closer I would have paid you to do it for me .

Cheers pal.

[Scooby Pete]

Seriously it's not that hard, just take it slowly and have replacement studs and nuts on hand.