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The DC Header is designed to fit both the TL-p and TL-S but the outlet collector (The part that connects to the Cat) is the same OD as the TL-S so its 2.5".. Then it all goes down to Stock piping = 2.25 OD to the end of the mufflers.
So that is why you might not be getting the full "Headers HP Bump" as your Exhaust might still restricting the headers..
So what you will want to do is get the entire TL-S OEM Catback or go Custom what-ever is cheaper.. If your state dont require emissions you can get the Test Pipe (Cat Delete) as well.
called magnaflow today...these are for the TL-P cats
direct fitment has two part numbers:
- 27402 is the standard/hm - basically need to look at sticker under hood to see if California emissions or not (apparently the ECU is tuned differently - so part # matters)
- 49258 is the California emissions tuned version - both should direct fitment
Did you have to remove the rear engine mount bracket in order to install the rear header onto the studs?
I'll be installing the same headers and high flow cat on my '03 TL-S hopefully this weekend and was just curious about that rear mount since I've heard of people having to remove that bracket and some who did not.
Did you have to remove the rear engine mount bracket in order to install the rear header onto the studs?
I'll be installing the same headers and high flow cat on my '03 TL-S hopefully this weekend and was just curious about that rear mount since I've heard of people having to remove that bracket and some who did not.
Nope, I did not need to remove the rear engine mount bracket or rear engine mount itself to uninstall or reinstall the header. The DC header should slip right up from the bottom of the car as well.
I keep reading about a jpipe. Is this the jpipe on the left of the picture below? This is the picture of the DC Sports header set I bought. I assume the right two are called "headers" and the left is called the "jpipe."
Based on OE stock parts, the name of the left piece is "apipe" and the right two are "exhaust manifolds."
I went to an exhaust shop today to see if custom would be cost effective. Most shops, unless focused on imports/Honda's seem to only have Magnaflow and Flowmaster. I noticed in the diy thread that the Magnaflow axlebacks are listed, but most of the threads are recommending other brands (e.g. ATLP, Tanabe, Tsubo, etc.). I know above is recommended I just get a TL-S catback setup, but my thought is that if I'm putting any money, go with something that I'll really enjoy, meaning sound and whatever minimum performance gains are to be had. I'm going to see if I can source a quality setup for cheaper, but need to keep on the priority track. I think suspension work first, then exhaust.
Apologize, should have mentioned the exhaust shop said I had a 2" pipe from the cat, then the mid muffler, then a 1.5" or 1.75" pipes to the mufflers. I've also read that our 2G's are supposed to have a resonator and a mid muffler. When I was under there, I only saw the mid muffler, no resonator. I also didn't see enough space for where the resonator might go. The exhaust guy said that the mid muffler and the resonator are together, or maybe he was suggesting they were interchangeable names.
Last edited by elfnumber1; 01-26-2018 at 01:16 PM.
Nope, I did not need to remove the rear engine mount bracket or rear engine mount itself to uninstall or reinstall the header. The DC header should slip right up from the bottom of the car as well.
I ended up having to remove the rear engine mount bracket. The stock manifold came out the bottom without a problem, but I could not get the header onto the stud closest to the mount, so the bracket had to get moved out of the way for extra clearance.
Aftermarket (OE-style, not performance) pipes are about the same price, so this might be a cheaper way to go custom. Instead of sourcing a TL-S pipe, then I'd get this and just add an axleback setup and we'd be all good. Maybe at some point get a hi-flo cat.
Question is are these terrible quality? Would these cause substantial drone?
One guy had some rasp, but seems to like it. I guess it probably would still need a resonator so muffler shop still needs to do work. Based on a couple of youtube vids, looks like welding is necessary either way.
Last edited by elfnumber1; 02-04-2018 at 02:15 AM.
I cannot decide whether to get the atlp or tanabe....discuss!
i've looked into custom, went to an exhaust shop, they said to do one up with magnaflow (seems that most places carry that brand - not sure why) would cost ~$1k.
then look at the trubendz (mandrel bent) on ebay. would be $200 shipped for the cheaper metal version. i'd need a resonator and still the axle backs. so total would be about $800. welding, install and resonator would be $300. so $500 for the trubendz and resonator, then another $300 for an axle back setup.
tanabe's are $800 shipped
altp are $950 shipped
i'd rather go full system from one manufacturer then custom.
I had the same experience. My left muffler came off and I needed to have it welded back on to pass inspection. I told the muffler shop I took it to that I didn't want to spend a lot of money fixing the OE muffler when I was going to get an aftermarket system soon anyway. While I was waiting for the hack fix the shop manager asked if I didn't mind telling him which system I was looking at and I mentioned ATLP. He kind-of got this twitch in his eye and said that those systems won't line up when you go to hang it and bolt it on and that he could get me out the door for a "custom" magnaflow/magnapack system for cheaper than the ATLP.
I think these shops just don't like losing business to Internet-based companies.
I, too would rather have a full system designed and tuned for a particular chassis than get a "custom" one built on site that is tuned for a wide variety of cars.
I've heard cars with major exhaust leaks. They sound terrible. Our TLs sound absolutely sublime without restricted exhaust - and I'm picky.
I had the same experience. My left muffler came off and I needed to have it welded back on to pass inspection. I told the muffler shop I took it to that I didn't want to spend a lot of money fixing the OE muffler when I was going to get an aftermarket system soon anyway. While I was waiting for the hack fix the shop manager asked if I didn't mind telling him which system I was looking at and I mentioned ATLP. He kind-of got this twitch in his eye and said that those systems won't line up when you go to hang it and bolt it on and that he could get me out the door for a "custom" magnaflow/magnapack system for cheaper than the ATLP.
I think these shops just don't like losing business to Internet-based companies.
I, too would rather have a full system designed and tuned for a particular chassis than get a "custom" one built on site that is tuned for a wide variety of cars.
I've heard cars with major exhaust leaks. They sound terrible. Our TLs sound absolutely sublime without restricted exhaust - and I'm picky.
did you end up getting the aftermarket setup yet? if yes, what did you get?
also, were you able to look at the hosting of the doc for me? will be helpful when i'm doing my coils in the next few days.
Where did you get the dc sports headers and how much if you don't mind me asking?
I see some on Amazon for $328 shipped.
yeah I got them off Amazon for $313 shipped. In reading older posts looks like they haven't changed price much, maybe $30-50.
separately I'm thinking of atlp, I don't want to regret getting something that sounds like crap, which is what YouTube clips sound like for the tanabe's. I haven't heard a nice deep tone that they advertise or what others say it sounds like. Wish I could hear both live on my car and return them.
welp, i went ahead and purchased the tanabe's catback system. couple of reasons i went against the atlp, (i) i've never owned a car with aftermarket exhaust so the thought was that if i were loud all the time i probably wouldn't get used to it, also thought of pulling up to a professional setting in a loud car that isn't a sports car probably would get judgmental looks/thoughts (i think it would matter in my profession), (ii) cost, i found an online vendor late model performance.com selling the tanabe's for $800 shipped, no tax, where all the other places either were close to $900 and/or charged shipping and tax (amazon charged tax - 10% here in seattle), and (iii) i reached out to marcus at heeltoe several times; he would not lower the price of the atlp's any further than the 2.1% coupon code on his website. not saying he should because i do realize the atlp is in higher demand, but in my opinion not worth the risk of having to do more to make it softer. would have been an easy decision if the atlp's were closer in price as i would have learned to live with the sound.
still haven't received the coilovers or exhaust, so will report back when i've installed those. i want to take pictures so that i can do a DIY, but we'll see if that works out.
got the tanabe system installed. overall, it is a fairly high quality system. that said, one of the headaches i had was fitment. it was not manufactured to fit the stock cat perfectly. the 3 holes weren't close enough together, so i had to grind away on all three. it took an extra 45 minutes because the tool i had was complete garbage.
here are some pictures. the sound is quite good, it is truly a deep sound. at high throttle it sounds ok, still can't compete with the scream of the CAI. at cold startup though, it definitely sounds good. at cruising, not that noticeable. overall, worth the $800 i spent, but to each his own. i can tell it is freer flowing, but not knocking my pants off wow.
Alright, I was up to 5am working on the coilovers...nuts. Of course the most difficult part was getting the rear struts out. As many people noted, the endlinks are in the way. I didn't have a new set, so couldn't destroy them to pull out. I was able to unscrew the passenger side partially, but the end of the bolt was so rusted it got to a point and stopped. Even with the hex key in (which is the dumbest design, what hex key can hold that kind of torque?)...
Here are some pictures of the fronts job. They were super easy, two bolts hold the strut 14" and 17" (for the 17" you'll need two ratchets/wrenches, one to hold, one to torque). Then the 5 screws at the top hat.
OE strut removed
17" bolt with 17" nut at the fork (LCA I think)
5 bolts at the top hat / engine bay (3 were 12" 2 were 10" IIRC)
only thing to remember on the installation is to make sure the guide nit goes into the crevice so it sits flush on the LCA
better picture when fully seated
Tein coils installed. Note the color, yes Christmas, not my first choice, was thinking of FF1's, but read Tein's were better. It's okay though, fits my name perfectly. If only I knew how to bleed brakes, I'd take off the calipers and repaint them fully again.
First time on full load. Lowered to Tein recommended specs 40mm. Was about a 2 finger gap from wheel well to tire
Here are the rear pictures, sorry thought i had more:
hmm...these are hard to explain and pictures aren't great. i did not remove the endlinks. if you follow where the endlinks connect to the LCA, you will see a plate, there is a bolt that holds it there, remove it. then remove the two bolts that hold the brake line and another line (not sure what it is) to it. once you do that, you can move the endlink and the bracket out of the way. also, i didn't install a camber kit, i was already 4 hours into the job when i got the rear struts out finally. i got the spc camber kit: part number 60040 (comes with 4 pieces, two ball joints for the front and arms for the rear). i'll drive around for a week, then bring it to an alignment shop to see if camber adjustments are even necessary. i didn't drop that much and when i drove around it felt really good. i'll probably have them install, i'm tired of messing with the suspension stuff now...i might even consider an anti-sway bar set with new bushings and endlinks. who knows...i've come really really close to my end on upgrading the car. i just want to enjoy it now
better shot of the endlink bracket. i tried so many different ways to remove the strut the first time before figuring this out. nothing i did gave me enough clearance.
i think this is a picture of the endlink and bracket out, can't really see it well
Last edited by elfnumber1; 03-04-2018 at 07:36 PM.
anyone know why or what would cause one wheel to be lower than the other after installing coils? i know there are a million different arms in our suspensions and could just be a misalignment(?). it's the drivers side rear that is slightly lower. most others are about a 1.5 to 2 finger gap from tire to fender. the one in question is probably 1.25 to 1.5 finger gap. i've measured the grooves on the rear axle on the coils, both are the same. i tried to raise the side in question to where the springs don't have any tension without load and it still sits at the same. the rears both seem to sit the same at the top hat and below. i should take more measurements, but perhaps would an alignment fix this?
Got the eibach sways on, front and rear. Was pretty dang easy, one of the easier mods I've done.
I had a lot of questions going into it since there weren't any pictures I could find of the fronts to see how easy it would be to remove and install. To be clear you don't need to drop the subframe at all. The fronts and rears are just screwed into the frame and sit above the exhaust and cat.
sorry, timed out the 15 minutes as i was editing above...double posted.
Got the eibach sways on, front and rear. Was pretty dang easy, one of the easier mods I've done.
I had a lot of questions going into it since there weren't any pictures I could find of the fronts to see how easy it would be to remove and install. To be clear you don't need to drop the subframe at all. The fronts and rears are just screwed into the frame and sit above the exhaust and cat.
OE front sway (left side)
OE front sway (middle over apipe/jpipe and cat)
OE front sway (right side)
eibach front sway (left side with new end links ingalls)
eibach front sway (middle to right look)
eibach front sway (right side with new end links ingalls)
close up look at the ingalls (front sway left side)
i choose ingalls over the moogs because they did not require me to grease it. i've seen pictures of how messy it can be. i didn't go with performance b/c the cost was too great. i found some of these on AMZN for ~$5, great deal. i did have a click before when i was brake at slower speeds, it isn't as pronounced now, but still have a click. so i don't think it was the end links or the anti-sway bar bushings. i'm now not sure what it is. should i be worried?
the removal was pretty easy, only needed to remove one nut on each end link. the hardest part was holding the hex while you removed and tightened. was fairly easy with the right tools. i did not need to break my end links off like many others did. most of the bolts and nuts that i removed were pretty loose, which made me think that that was causing the clicks.
OE rear (left side)
OE rear (middle)
eibach rear (left side with new end links, ingalls)
how much difference do the sway bars make. never thought about getting those so I might when I change up my wheel and tire setup to not be slammed anymore lol!
how much difference do the sway bars make. never thought about getting those so I might when I change up my wheel and tire setup to not be slammed anymore lol!
my opinion, not much. i am selling my friend's is250 and that handles stock better than my setup. of course the TL is a boat compared to almost anything else. i'm really not liking the look of my rears, it sits too low and i can't raise it. i will take it in to a shop to get aligned and see if they can adjust.
i got the car aligned. called heeltoe and asked the shop how to adjust the rears. apparently i was doing it backwards. a lot of youtube videos also have it backwards. when you raise the shims (the two green discs) you are raise the car, when you lower, you are lowering the car. i got this backwards, i thought that if you raise, b/c you are pre-loading (or tightening) the springs, that i would be lowering the car.
also, i've been wondering about what it means when people say they redid the heads. what is beyond the intake manifold? links to pictures or pictures themselves with labels would be nice. if i removed the lower runners on the intake manifold that is my valve covers right? what does that open up to? cams? are the heads below that? when you do a head cover gasket, do you need to redo the timing belt?
i got the car aligned. called heeltoe and asked the shop how to adjust the rears. apparently i was doing it backwards. a lot of youtube videos also have it backwards. when you raise the shims (the two green discs) you are raise the car, when you lower, you are lowering the car. i got this backwards, i thought that if you raise, b/c you are pre-loading (or tightening) the springs, that i would be lowering the car.
also, i've been wondering about what it means when people say they redid the heads. what is beyond the intake manifold? links to pictures or pictures themselves with labels would be nice. if i removed the lower runners on the intake manifold that is my valve covers right? what does that open up to? cams? are the heads below that? when you do a head cover gasket, do you need to redo the timing belt?
sad day today, i've decided to sell the car - either in full or parted. if anyone has interest in my parts, please let me know. i've probably only put a couple thousand miles on them at most.
from what i can remember:
- exhaust
- headers
- CAI
- anti-sway bars
- coils
i'll post this in the FS section at some point, putting it up now until i get more time to properly list.
oops, also have a couple of other brand new, never installed leftover parts. mostly for alignment, ball bearing something and a control arm for the rear. they are in pairs. have an extra set of the endlinks, forgot front or rear - can find out.
01-22-2018, 05:04 PM
