It was now time to tackle the job we had been dreading. With it being difficult enough just trying to get everything to neatly fit in the bay, be functional and serviceable making headers and an exhaust system was a job that we were not looking forward to.
Doing this and getting the end result we did was way above my skill level so full credit to Tim with this. I think he ended up doing a killer job. Fenderwalls are not to everyone’s taste but I’m stoked with how it turned out.
Primaries are 1 7/8” to a 3” collector which is way overkill for a N/A 5.3 but pretty much everything on this build (except chopping up the tubs) has been done to allow for future upgrades. The ECU, diff, fuel system and suspension have all been built so that if down the track I want to step up the power levels the foundations are there.
So while it may be a bit of an overkill for this version of the build I’ve left options open for future upgradeability. There’s that scope creep we have been talking about…. But I guess down the track it may help?
Anyway, Tim got himself in the right frame of mind to tackle the job and he nailed it in my opinion. He has made it so if I do want to drop the pipes at the track it isn’t too much of an ordeal and day to day running the car should have a nice note without being too obnoxious or droney given that it’s a wagon.
Started with the hardest side…
As you can see with the above, rocker cover mounted coils had to be sacrificed…. Doesn’t really look it but plugs are still accessible. Master cylinder will be heat shrouded
Onto the other side. As I’ve mentioned earlier, Tim’s eye starts twitching when thinks aren’t centered and symetrical. The engine is actually offset 30mm so he had to compensate some runner length on the passenger side to make it all look symmetrical…..
From the 3” collector it is now v banded. From
Here it steps down to 2.5” tucks back in between the Y frames and heads out over the diff through after passing through the usual x pipe, flex joints, cats and flow masters which Tim is currently finishing off.
One thing that was surprising and something Tim had to keep an eye on was how much steering lock this front end has. It’s pretty impressive to be honest so running the exhaust back through the Y frames took a few goes to steer clear of everything and allow plenty of clearance (no pun intended)
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pipes are a right pain in the arse on these things, I have been thnking about what to do on the 2 door if I ever get to that stage and there are no easy options .....