Can someone give me some advice with the header/xpipe and midpipes install...

We have run into a little trouble... Everything was going fairly well, all the stock pieces came off easily... got the headers on there easy as well... But, we have run into trouble with installing the xpipe/midpipes so that they hook up to the axelback exhaust.

It seems that the drivers side midpipe will not go into the drivers side exhaust correctly... we have tried everything... It has caused us to not be able to line everything up correctly and get the headers connected to the xpipe... Finally, we were able to get the xpipe to connect to the headers (the headers are not bolted all the way, but have all the bolts in them).... But, if we were to put everything together the drivers side exhaust would stick out about 3-4 inches past the other...

Also, is it okay for the midpipes to be touching the transmission? The midpipes are slightly touching/resting against the transmission... But, it looks like it is lined up and not to high or anything... We have tried turning the midpipes but they do not turn very easily...

The headers/xpipe/midpipes were all a slightly used set...

We are hoping that once we bolt the headers down completely it will help some... but.. not sure at this point.

If anyone could give me any suggestions on how to help, I would be greatly appreciative... I am located in Texas and we have been at it for about 6-7 hours.. and wanna get this finished!

Please help, thanks!

If anyone wants to try to help me over the phone or something... that would be great as well... PM me if so. Thanks!

 

I installed a set of kooks 1 3/4 and the kooks hi flow cats would not fit into the corsa x pipe worth a darn. I had to go the auto parts store and get a loaner pipe expander and work it hard until things fit. Many kooks owners have complained about the fit. Then with everything loosely bolted, it took a long time and part of the next day to get the alignment acceptable. It was never perfect. It should not touch anything or it will rattle. I think many of us spend a fair amount of the time with the alignment.
What kind of setup did you buy?

 

First off, I would bolt the headers down and torque them before I would dare install anything else. You want them to freely go up to the heads without any tension. Then you can work on getting the X-pipe and the rest of the exhaust lined up. Be patient, you should be fine unless there is something warped. On my LG's I installed the headers first, torqued them down. They were staggered slightly at the collector (one stuck out further than the other). Then I installed the Cats (sounds like you don't have cats). Then came the X pipe and it was staggered in the other direction to make up for the headers. This sounds like the problem to me. Do you have the right X pipe? Then there were 2 adapter pipes that mated the X pipe to the over the axle stock catbacks. These were a 3" to 2.5" adapter pipes that were probably 2 to 3 feet long.

One more thing, if the pipes are not slipping together easily, go to Autozone and rent the pipe expander. This will allow the slip joints to mate properly. My X-pipe was a little oblong, but I rounded it out with very careful use of a vice since I didn't want to take the time to go borrow a pipe expander. Maybe the X pipe is not seating all the way down?

Good luck.

 

the drivers side on the kooks has 3 bends but I didn't have any fit issues with mine at all

 

I bought the kooks 1 3/4 with catless xpipe (3x2.5) and it came with the midpipes...

This is what we did first... we torqued the bolts down.. and then tried to install the xpipe and could not get the thing to work at all... We then tried for an hour or two with the bolts in place but not all the way in...

Right now, everything is hooked together... not bolted all the way down.. and the drivers side exhaust muffler/tip sticks out a good 3-4inches in front of the other one, the exhaust tip on this side is not in the hanger.

Are plan of action tomorrow:
Bolt down the headers first... then bolt the xpipe connection to the headers and clamp the xpipe to the two midpipes.. then try are best to just clamp the midpipes to the axelback exhaust... then we are going to drive it about 2 miles away to a local muffler shop where we know the owner.... and get him to put it on the lift and try to maybe heat up the pipes a bit and help slide it into place...

This seems like the only thing that is making everything not fit.. with the exception of this drivers side midpipe not fiting into the aftermarket exhaust I have, it has been a relatively easy install...

Hopefully, we won't have to worry about anything else..

I figure once we get the headers bolted down.. since we have the xpipe connected.. than we might have a litte more resistance and be able to slide things into place.. but, I am not really sure... everything seems to look right and in line... with the exception of that drivers side midpipe.

 

Hey, I have been reading posts about a bracket to move your tranny colling lines. Is this a must? I did not receive such a bracket and I am trying to find out if I need it????

Also, I have read about an oil line clip that goes on the drivers side? Never received such a thing... and it was not in the directions.

Also, I have seen some people talk about using antiseize... is this a must as well? And what should it be used on?

And, Also I have read people saying to disconnect the positive on the battery as well... I thought the negative was sufficient?

There was nothing about these things in the directions... besides disconnecting the battery... which I figured the negative was enough.

Please help guys! Thanks!

 

On installing my LG Pros, we did not touch the tranny cooler on my M6 Z51
I would definitely use antisieze on the bolts going into the heads. Anything going into aluminum. I don't see a downside to using it elsewhere too.
We did the positive side. No chance of completing a circuit with the positive disconnected.

 

However, I did not disconnect the positive terminal of the battery, only the negative. However if you decide to take off the positive, take off the negative first or you could weld your wrench to an adjoining metal structure of your car (please do not ask me how I know this!)

 

Your gonna hate this, but here is what you do:

Bolt back on the stock system and find a local Corvette experienced speed shop to do the install.

Headers can be tricky. My friend and I took off his mide pipe from his shortys that were on for a year when we swapped out his differential.

While we are lucky that I have a full lift in my garage, the exhaust reconnect was a mother *#$^&*. This was just reconnecting what we took off!

The diff took 3 hours to RnR, the exhaust took two nights and almost ended our friendship.

Get it back to stock and find a good shop that has done many installs. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the help guys...

I think we are going to try to heat the midpipe that connects to the axelback on the drivers side and hopefully be able to manuver it in better...

Might have to drive about 3 blocks on headers and straight pipe

While leaving the exhaust unbolted... so that we can put it on a lift and hopefully heat it up to be able to slide it in better...

We have been doing this on jackstands and everything has been fine up until this point... I guess it is just hard to get the exact angle... but, my midpipe has little indentions at the end where it looks like it was pryed open a bit... so, this might be causing the problem... Anyways, hopefully getting it on a lift for a little bit to heat up the pipe and connect the axelback will solve the problem!

 

At this point I think it might actually be harder to bolt the stock system back up.... I think the fact that we are on jackstands is hurting us as well. The headers went on easy and everything... just having problem with these stupid midpipes.

 

Have you tried flipping the X pipe over? I know with the LG's one side is shorter than the other... Just an idea..

 

So, the cat back is not sliding in the 4" or so that it needs to into the x pipe? I take it you soaked both ends with WD40 and try to use a pry bar to push the cat back pipes back onto the x pipe? Maybe you need to get a pipe expander and open up the end of the x pipe just a touch? You can get them at Autozone.

 

if you flipped it over than the 02 sensors would be on the bottom of the xpipe... and that would be hazardous... I am sure it does not need to be flipped over.

 

Yeah, this is what we have been trying. The axelback is not sliding the 4 inches that it needs to on the drivers side, into the midpipe. We have try using different things to help slid it in and have tried prying... It looks like because they are used the pipe openings are smaller from being clamped down.. so we are figuring out a way to expand these...

Now I have run into another problem... it seems while putting back in the spark plugs one of the plugs will not go all the way in... its on of the ones on the driver side in the middle... So, now I am trying to figure out what to do about that... it looks like the hole needs to be re-threaded where the spark plug goes in... The problems just keep piling up... AHHHHH.

 

Be careful. If you chase the threads into the head, those aluminum shavings are gonna go in the cylinder and i dont think thats a good thing.

 

Yeah, we did our best to get everything possible out.. we rethreaded the whole using the rethread spark plug tool... was very careful. Ended up working out...

Got the install done.. most everything seems well and best of all sounds amazing.

 

Allright dude!!

Now, share your tips for future gens.

 

already ahead of you!

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=2065518