Carsound Magnaflow high flow catalytic converter installed
06-19-2005, 02:37 AM
#41
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Originally Posted by Matell
When you attacked that member it was static, and when statically loaded probably wasn't under much load at all. However most loading occurs to components when you're driving, ie dynamic loading. That is when you'll have dynamic loads placed on lateral(horizontal) structural members. This example is not realistic, but is all I could come up with quickly that wouldn't bore or confuse people with engineering speak 
. For example imagine you were fitting a strut tower bar to your car. When the cars horizontal and not moving on your garage floor it's a cinch, however if you to try to install it while the car was turning a corner you wouldn't be able to as the distortion of the chassis would prevent holes that were lined up in the garage from lining up.
You probably won't feel any difference while you drive, but hitting a pot hole, taking spped bumps fast, hard cornering especially if there's an upset in the road mid corner, will all contribute to allowing stress to concentrate around the weak point of that member where you've reduced its cross section. The end result could be warping or minor buckling, to complete failure and several more inches of compression of the rear passenger area in the event of a side impact.
If your happy with it, leave it as is. Otherwise forget the rice and fix the cause not the symptom. Have your exhaust system adjusted so it clears that area, and take you car to a good smash repair shop where they should cut out the damaged portion of the web, re-weld in a new section, and also weld a doubler over the new section.
I'm not shitting you or trying to make you paranoid as I'm a structural engineer on a fast jet military platform and would hate to have seen anybody unknowingly do something detrimental to their car although minor for the sake of a little bit of noise from the exhaust and the perception of a few more ponies that will never be of any use.
. For example imagine you were fitting a strut tower bar to your car. When the cars horizontal and not moving on your garage floor it's a cinch, however if you to try to install it while the car was turning a corner you wouldn't be able to as the distortion of the chassis would prevent holes that were lined up in the garage from lining up.You probably won't feel any difference while you drive, but hitting a pot hole, taking spped bumps fast, hard cornering especially if there's an upset in the road mid corner, will all contribute to allowing stress to concentrate around the weak point of that member where you've reduced its cross section. The end result could be warping or minor buckling, to complete failure and several more inches of compression of the rear passenger area in the event of a side impact.
If your happy with it, leave it as is. Otherwise forget the rice and fix the cause not the symptom. Have your exhaust system adjusted so it clears that area, and take you car to a good smash repair shop where they should cut out the damaged portion of the web, re-weld in a new section, and also weld a doubler over the new section.
I'm not shitting you or trying to make you paranoid as I'm a structural engineer on a fast jet military platform and would hate to have seen anybody unknowingly do something detrimental to their car although minor for the sake of a little bit of noise from the exhaust and the perception of a few more ponies that will never be of any use.
06-19-2005, 03:18 AM
#42
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Originally Posted by Triz08
Appreciate the advice. I readjusted my exhuast over and over and even took it off the cat and tried to reposition it but it kept coming back. Im not too worried about anything because i only broke off a small section of the metal. In that picture it looks like i broke off alot more, but if you go under your car and look at that section, you will see it has rounded indent in that cross section or watever its called, so that the stock exhuast would clear it. So i only took off a little bit around that indent and made it a little larger. It may be sloppy, but i woulda done anything to stop that loud ass rattle from happening.
06-19-2005, 10:07 AM
#43
Drives With Hands
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by EuroR_SG
Hey thanks Rmpage. But I'm kinda confused with the variety of MIL eliminators in the market. I've seen from some forums that some of them don't really work. Had any our of forumers tried any of them? Any reliable ones to recommend??
Another thing I would try (and I am still planning on doing this at some point) is getting a Helms service manual for our car and finding out where the secondary O2 sensor wire plugs into the wiring harness at. Then I would get another wire for the sensor itself, determine which leads are which, and connect the O2 sensor sim to that directly. That way you could swap the sim in and out as needed, and if it didn't end up working, you could just plug the stock one back in again. Messing with O2 sensor wiring can be a six headed bitch because they are pretty fine gauge and coated in Teflon insulation, both of which make them very difficult to strip and solder. I've done it, but I don't enjoy it.
EDIT: Speaking of service manuals, Helms makes one for our car, correct? I checked Chiltons already and found nothing. Does anybody know what a good place to get one is? I have yet to find one.
06-19-2005, 10:19 PM
#45
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Originally Posted by Triz08
Heres a side shot of the high flow cat.
Heres where i had to break off the metal which was causing the noise. I broke off about 1/2" of the surronding metal.
Heres where i had to break off the metal which was causing the noise. I broke off about 1/2" of the surronding metal.
06-19-2005, 11:23 PM
#46
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So has anyone done a high flow cat to a stock exhaust system? I really interested and would like to see how much gain I would get from my 5AT w/ hondata CAI and Headers. It sure hell beats spending 800-1000 on a exhaust system.
06-20-2005, 02:23 PM
#48
Photography Nerd
Originally Posted by MrHeeltoe
Did not know you guys were interested in Magnaflow.......I used to work there! Our shop is 10 mins away and we get unbeatable pricing!
06-20-2005, 02:30 PM
#49
Originally Posted by Dan Martin
Maybe you could get together with them and offer a high-flow cat with bolt-on flanges.
06-20-2005, 02:46 PM
#50
Photography Nerd
Originally Posted by JTso
I actually pm MrHeeltoe awhile back regarding a custom cat with the flanges. I guess the correct sized flanges are difficult to get...
06-20-2005, 03:13 PM
#51
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Originally Posted by Dan Martin
Well they're not hard to fabricate. Just get someone with a waterjet cutter or a laser to cut the pattern. I know a ton of people locally that can do it if we wanted to get something together.
i'm in.
06-20-2005, 03:29 PM
#53
Originally Posted by Dan Martin
Well they're not hard to fabricate. Just get someone with a waterjet cutter or a laser to cut the pattern. I know a ton of people locally that can do it if we wanted to get something together.
06-20-2005, 03:45 PM
#54
Photography Nerd
Originally Posted by JTso
Actually, I thought about you when I was making the trace templates for the flanges. I figure either you have access to the equipment or know someone who does. What is required to get the flanges made? I'm interested.
Do you know how thick the material is? It looks like it might be thin enough for someone to cut with a hand held plasma cutter. They'd just need to make a template and trace it which would be a lot more cost effective for smaller runs.
Also do you have approximate dimensions, because I might be able to make this in-house.
06-20-2005, 04:07 PM
#56
Photography Nerd
Originally Posted by JTso
Yes, I have the dimensions of the flanges. The thickness is 3/8". Funny you mention the plasma cutter because I was looking to rent/buy one to see how it would work. 
If you get a chance, PM me the dimensions and I'll see if I have a machine that can handle it.
06-20-2005, 05:28 PM
#58
Photography Nerd
Originally Posted by jonnerd154
where are you guys buying the steel?
If you need some in your area I can refer you to a couple shops.
06-20-2005, 05:29 PM
#59
Photography Nerd
Originally Posted by jonnerd154
where are you guys buying the steel?
If you need some in your area I can refer you to a couple shops, although they don't really sell to the public...
06-20-2005, 06:10 PM
#60
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Hmm...this sounds interesting. If you guys end up doing this I might be interested.
As long I can still pass smog here in Cali and that it doesn't make my exhuast ridiculously loud, I'm definitely gonna consider it!
As long I can still pass smog here in Cali and that it doesn't make my exhuast ridiculously loud, I'm definitely gonna consider it!
06-20-2005, 06:43 PM
#62
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Originally Posted by Dan Martin
I buy between 500,000 and 1million pounds of steel every month so I shouldn't have any trouble getting my hands on some plate.
If you need some in your area I can refer you to a couple shops, although they don't really sell to the public...
If you need some in your area I can refer you to a couple shops, although they don't really sell to the public...
If you know anyone in the Reno/Lake Tahoe area (I'm moving) I would be very appreciative!
06-20-2005, 07:42 PM
#63
Drives With Hands
Thread Starter
Since the other thread with my pics seems to have died, could a mod put these into my first post so people see them please? (using [img] tags of course)
06-20-2005, 08:03 PM
#65
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Originally Posted by Dan Martin
I buy between 500,000 and 1million pounds of steel every month so I shouldn't have any trouble getting my hands on some plate.
If you need some in your area I can refer you to a couple shops, although they don't really sell to the public...
If you need some in your area I can refer you to a couple shops, although they don't really sell to the public...
:troutslap
06-20-2005, 08:04 PM
#66
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Originally Posted by JTso
Done!
what's done?
well, i started researching high flow cats thanks to you monkeys.
i wonder if random technologies has anything in the works???
06-20-2005, 08:10 PM
#67
Originally Posted by dzuy
what's done?
well, i started researching high flow cats thanks to you monkeys.
i wonder if random technologies has anything in the works???
well, i started researching high flow cats thanks to you monkeys.
i wonder if random technologies has anything in the works???
If you want an aftermarket cat, it would have to be custom made for now.
06-20-2005, 10:58 PM
#68
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Originally Posted by dzuy
all this talk is makin me excited.
i'm in.
i'm in.
06-20-2005, 11:06 PM
#69
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Originally Posted by JTso
I merged rmpage's pics to his first post as he requested.
If you want an aftermarket cat, it would have to be custom made for now.
If you want an aftermarket cat, it would have to be custom made for now.
on a side note, i emailed both ACT and fidanza about clutch and flywheel.
guess their reps at SEMA were a bunch of talk over nothing.
its been well over two weeks - and they just lost my business.
what's the point of hyping up a product that doesn't exist AND urging you to contact them to try to get it on your car. :troutslap
oh darn.
06-21-2005, 05:18 PM
#71
Photography Nerd
Update on flanges
Ok I spoke with the lead machinist here at my company and he doesn't see any problem with doing the part on a mill. Unfortunately, we don't have the machine to do it.
The good news is I have another shop that I can get them done at. I'm meeting with them later this week so I'll see if I can get a quote at the same time.
Taking a quick look at things, I'm going to guess that a set of front and rear flanges complete with studs and o-ring are probably going to run about $20-25. This is really just a guesstimate. It's not my shop so I don't know how fast his machines are and what his shop minimums are.
I'm also assuming that we could do 25 sets and that they won't ding me for two setups, even though they could because they're two different parts.
All you would need then is to buy the cat and have your installer weld the flanges on. You wouldn't need to sacrifice anything from your OEM cat setup so you can easily switch it back if you need to at a later date.
Is that good enough or should I source a supplier for a complete welded setup that you can just bolt on yourself?
The good news is I have another shop that I can get them done at. I'm meeting with them later this week so I'll see if I can get a quote at the same time.
Taking a quick look at things, I'm going to guess that a set of front and rear flanges complete with studs and o-ring are probably going to run about $20-25. This is really just a guesstimate. It's not my shop so I don't know how fast his machines are and what his shop minimums are.
I'm also assuming that we could do 25 sets and that they won't ding me for two setups, even though they could because they're two different parts.
All you would need then is to buy the cat and have your installer weld the flanges on. You wouldn't need to sacrifice anything from your OEM cat setup so you can easily switch it back if you need to at a later date.
Is that good enough or should I source a supplier for a complete welded setup that you can just bolt on yourself?
06-21-2005, 05:26 PM
#73
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Wow....thanks Dan! Thatz awesome
I would be fine with getting the flanges welded on locally.
Since the aftermarket cats is probably gonna be smaller than the OEM one, will we also need to have some extra piping welded onto the cat along with the flanges?
I would be fine with getting the flanges welded on locally.
Since the aftermarket cats is probably gonna be smaller than the OEM one, will we also need to have some extra piping welded onto the cat along with the flanges?
06-21-2005, 05:27 PM
#74
Photography Nerd
Originally Posted by JTso
Thanks Dan! Good enough for me. I'll take 2 sets of flanges.
Edit: Do I smell a test pipe?
06-21-2005, 05:28 PM
#75
Photography Nerd
Originally Posted by Tsx536
Wow....thanks Dan! Thatz awesome
I would be fine with getting the flanges welded on locally.
Since the aftermarket cats is probably gonna be smaller than the OEM one, will we also need to have some extra piping welded onto the cat along with the flanges?
I would be fine with getting the flanges welded on locally.
Since the aftermarket cats is probably gonna be smaller than the OEM one, will we also need to have some extra piping welded onto the cat along with the flanges?
From the pictures of rmpage's setup, there's a little bit of pipe to fill the gap between the new cat and the flange. Any muffler shop would be able to fit this easily.
06-21-2005, 05:30 PM
#77
Originally Posted by Tsx536
Wow....thanks Dan! Thatz awesome
I would be fine with getting the flanges welded on locally.
Since the aftermarket cats is probably gonna be smaller than the OEM one, will we also need to have some extra piping welded onto the cat along with the flanges?
I would be fine with getting the flanges welded on locally.
Since the aftermarket cats is probably gonna be smaller than the OEM one, will we also need to have some extra piping welded onto the cat along with the flanges?
06-21-2005, 05:32 PM
#78
Photography Nerd
I never thought of using various cats or test pipes, so I'm definitely just going to offer the flanges. It will give everyone the flexibility to use whatever equipment they choose.