suspekt360

Hi all,

Long story short, I was driving and a piece of roadway sticking out of the ground ripped my exhaust off my car from the cat all the way back to the y pipe. Impact was severe.

Current status:
- Seconday o2 wire was pulled out of its source socket from within car (the sensor and its wire didnt come out of the exhaust bung, its the other end that was pulled out of its source)
- Cat took a direct hit, is now twisted
- Flex pipe damaged as well.
- Heat shield deformed
- CEL on
- Took car to muffler shop for quick weld up so I could get car home and contemplate correct fix
--> car had custom cat back setup with HKS Superdragger style mufflers. Mufflers are fine.

Drivability:
- Car will not rev beyond 5,000 rpm.
- Exhaust is VERY quiet now and air-intake MUCH more pronounced
- Appears to be mis-firing.
- Have driven less than 30 miles (incident was May01-2009, not driven since)

Questions:
The car has 100,000 miles. It was going to be sent in for major service at local mechanic for t-belt/water pump/spark plugs/engine mounts/koni-h&r spring shock install (already have them)/comptech headers. Dont have headers yet.

I do not want to waste a pile of money on diagnosis. What I need to know is, what parts should I start sourcing for the exhaust fix.

1. Cat
http://www.hottexhaust.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=27403
--> This appears to be the cheapest cat replacement. I am not convinced the RT cat is superior. Has anyone tried this cat? As I will be installing the comptech headers, is this cat too restrictive (inlet might only be 2")? Any recommendations? Is there a universal one with mid o2 placement that I can simply weld in instead with good in/out size?

http://www.hottexhaust.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=46055
--> This one is universal, but so close to RT price, I would just go with RT from excellerate.

--> Should I just run a test pipe + o2 sim + magnaflow resonator 2ft behind test pipe? Cheaper overall. PROBLEM is, does the 02 sim trick the ECU too much. I heard some discussions from some tech's that removing the cat will always degrade performance. The car is never getting the correct data to make the best decisions....

2. Any other suggestions?
--> With the headers and t-belt service, I am spending 'gulp' at least $2,000. I will simply leave the car at the mechanic for a week as I wont really need it. Any suggestions for maintenace while the car is in for this major work would be appreciated...

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

I'd recommend a 2.5" inlet/outlet on your cat. If your trying to save money, then get a test pipe. I dont have any experience with the O2 simulators.

Side note, contact the city. It was their road that did this so they should be responsible. I know plenty of people who got bent rims from potholes and had the city pay for repairs.

suspekt360

soooo,
being that my exhaust is heavily damaged I have decided to go with the following setup.

1. Comptech headers (ordered, awaiting delivery)
2. P2R Test pipe. Defouler (or 2) will be used to avoid CEL complications
3. 2.5" to 3.0" transition cone
4. 3.0" pipe back to axle into merge collector
5. Merge collector branches 3" inlet into 2-2.5" outlet
6. Rear mufflers are HKS super draggers

Depending on sound, resonator (magnaflow, 3" inside diameter) will be added if there is too much noise and not enough music...

This will likely take a few weeks to complete as the parts aren't in yet. I will post video/sound clips when complete...

I know I will take a lot of flack for the pipe size, but I am convinced it will net a power increase with no loss in torque.

TheWeez

Werd on contacting the city. Major stuff like this should be paid for by the city. It's their responsibility to provide roads that are safe to drive on and they can be held responsible for damages cause by road hazards.