Obligatory C5 Thread

[max225]

Wheels dropped at tire shop for new rubber. Finally going to have working TPMS for the first time since buying the car.

Yea I don't understand that or "oil leaks" since they "all do that".

[max225]

I got vibration in my drive train when under high load high rpms and starting to think its the torque tube bearings from what I see on youtube and facebook groups. Sucks that I just paid to have the diff fixed last year and now I'll likely be paying for all of that to come apart. I need to get the car up once it warms up to see if there's a few tests that I can do to confirm the bearing.

I might get them to do the clutch if the trans is out already. Then again I'm get frustrated with having to spend 2k every year on this thing. I might just dip out of the three car lyfe for a while.

Unfortunately that's just "old car lyfe" can't really avoid that.

[Tar]

I got vibration in my drive train when under high load high rpms and starting to think its the torque tube bearings from what I see on youtube and facebook groups. Sucks that I just paid to have the diff fixed last year and now I'll likely be paying for all of that to come apart. I need to get the car up once it warms up to see if there's a few tests that I can do to confirm the bearing.

I might get them to do the clutch if the trans is out already. Then again I'm get frustrated with having to spend 2k every year on this thing. I might just dip out of the three car lyfe for a while.

Unfortunately that's just "old car lyfe" can't really avoid that.

Well then I made three pretty costly mistakes:

I should've identified all all possible failure points in any piece of drive train I'm getting fixed and followed the "while in there" rule. I should've spent the extra 6k+ on a newer version instead of repairs. And lastly, I shouldn't have bought it if I don't have time to wrench in someone's garage-mahal and don't like the cost of fixing old shit.

[max225]

Unfortunately that's just "old car lyfe" can't really avoid that.

Well then I made three pretty costly mistakes:

I should've identified all all possible failure points in any piece of drive train I'm getting fixed and followed the "while in there" rule. I should've spent the extra 6k+ on a newer version instead of repairs. And lastly, I shouldn't have bought it if I don't have time to wrench in someone's garage-mahal and don't like the cost of fixing old shit.

Yea the issue is if you're not working on the car yourself the cost of repair is quite significant. You can't predict those failures either...
What were the 6k doe... Diff was juan... what was the other one?

[Desertbreh]

Well then I made three pretty costly mistakes:

I should've identified all all possible failure points in any piece of drive train I'm getting fixed and followed the "while in there" rule. I should've spent the extra 6k+ on a newer version instead of repairs. And lastly, I shouldn't have bought it if I don't have time to wrench in someone's garage-mahal and don't like the cost of fixing old shit.

Yea the issue is if you're not working on the car yourself the cost of repair is quite significant. You can't predict those failures either...
What were the 6k doe... Diff was juan... what was the other one?

He's saying he should have bought a more recent car instead of getting nickel and dimed.

[max225]

Yea the issue is if you're not working on the car yourself the cost of repair is quite significant. You can't predict those failures either...
What were the 6k doe... Diff was juan... what was the other one?

He's saying he should have bought a more recent car instead of getting nickel and dimed.

I am trying to reconcile to the hypothetical 6k

[Desertbreh]

He's saying he should have bought a more recent car instead of getting nickel and dimed.

I am trying to reconcile to the hypothetical 6k

Gotcha. I think the diff was a "mod" doe....not even failure related.

[max225]

I am trying to reconcile to the hypothetical 6k

Gotcha. I think the diff was a "mod" doe....not even failure related.

IIRC he had a leaky ass.

[Tar]

Well then I made three pretty costly mistakes:

I should've identified all all possible failure points in any piece of drive train I'm getting fixed and followed the "while in there" rule. I should've spent the extra 6k+ on a newer version instead of repairs. And lastly, I shouldn't have bought it if I don't have time to wrench in someone's garage-mahal and don't like the cost of fixing old shit.

Yea the issue is if you're not working on the car yourself the cost of repair is quite significant. You can't predict those failures either...
What were the 6k doe... Diff was juan... what was the other one?

Harmonic balancer, diff, and we will see about the torque tube bearing but it looks like the rear end and trans gets pulled, so add a new clutch lol

[Tar]

Gotcha. I think the diff was a "mod" doe....not even failure related.

IIRC he had a leaky ass.

Yeah if I'm removing and resealing a diff I'm putting new gears and bearings in there. Didn't think I had to pull a tranny and TT as well. It's not the end of the world but a younger car would have been smarter.

[Acid666]

So the company that sells XS Headers is having a sale on their offroad system. $100 off and free shipping. $675. This is the brand I was going to get but I was gonna get the full catted version for $1K. I just didn't wanna drop the coin on it right now.
The car just gets taken out every once in a while for weekend drives, and autocross.
I'm on the fence about it. Not sure if it's gonna have fumes and smell or not. From what I read the sound only really screams when you're getting on it and while you're putting around it's not too obnoxious.

Thoughts?

[Acid666]

Fuck it. I ordered em. Because racecar... That's why

[ChrisoftheNorth]

Fuck it. I ordered em. Because racecar... That's why

If you want cats, I’ll trade you my catted x pipe straight up for the catless.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

BTW, I really like the XS Power LTs. Solid power, decent fit, etc.

[Acid666]

Fuck it. I ordered em. Because racecar... That's why

If you want cats, I’ll trade you my catted x pipe straight up for the catless.

Is it because you deep down wish you went catless?
I was on the fence for a while when I was driving the car more. Now I'm at the point where it gets garaged and raced so I kinda want it meaner. At that price, I can probably turn around and sell it for $500 and get another header system. I don't mind the work to swap em. I've been looking for a project or something to swap out.
If it turns out that the sound on the highway to and from autocross events is too much, or the fumes are obnoxious I'll take you up on that offer if it looks like everything will fit.

[Acid666]

BTW, I really like the XS Power LTs. Solid power, decent fit, etc.

Exactly. I can't justify $2K for Kooks and other shit. That Corvette tax is astronomical. But I could do $1K for a set of catted long tubes. $675 shipped is a ridiculously reasonable price so I went ahead and jumped on the bandwagon. I've researched the hell out of the XS and they seem to have little fitment issues for the price. Because that's what you hear people bitching about with stuff like the Texas Speed headers... $500 header kit and trouble installing and fitting.
Out of the 60 or so XS Power LTs I found and dug up from years of posts, I think I read maybe 2 or 3 people with install issues.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

If you want cats, I’ll trade you my catted x pipe straight up for the catless.

Is it because you deep down wish you went catless?
I was on the fence for a while when I was driving the car more. Now I'm at the point where it gets garaged and raced so I kinda want it meaner. At that price, I can probably turn around and sell it for $500 and get another header system. I don't mind the work to swap em. I've been looking for a project or something to swap out.
If it turns out that the sound on the highway to and from autocross events is too much, or the fumes are obnoxious I'll take you up on that offer if it looks like everything will fit.

Systems are identical, so they'll swap right over.

I want my car to be like 5-10% louder than it is. I don't want to change from the stock Ti's because anything else will be too loud. The car is so close to perfect sound wise, and from what I can tell, going catless will get me that extra bit I'm looking for. I don't care about smell and whatnot.

I've been trying to find someone to swap me for over a year. Nobody wants cats. I'm too to buy a separate catless x-pipe, so I just keep the cats. I'd feel stupid gutting them, but maybe I will. Let me know if you end up wanting to trade. Mine are 3 years old now and have just over 10k miles on them.

[Acid666]

Is it because you deep down wish you went catless?
I was on the fence for a while when I was driving the car more. Now I'm at the point where it gets garaged and raced so I kinda want it meaner. At that price, I can probably turn around and sell it for $500 and get another header system. I don't mind the work to swap em. I've been looking for a project or something to swap out.
If it turns out that the sound on the highway to and from autocross events is too much, or the fumes are obnoxious I'll take you up on that offer if it looks like everything will fit.

Systems are identical, so they'll swap right over.

I want my car to be like 5-10% louder than it is. I don't want to change from the stock Ti's because anything else will be too loud. The car is so close to perfect sound wise, and from what I can tell, going catless will get me that extra bit I'm looking for. I don't care about smell and whatnot.

I've been trying to find someone to swap me for over a year. Nobody wants cats. I'm too to buy a separate catless x-pipe, so I just keep the cats. I'd feel stupid gutting them, but maybe I will. Let me know if you end up wanting to trade. Mine are 3 years old now and have just over 10k miles on them.

I actually emailed these guys asking if I could get the Cat'd crossover pipe separate in case I want to go with the other. They said they only sell them as whole kits. I totally get you on not wanting to spend on just a pipe. When I had my MKV GTI I had a stage 1 APR tune and the only thing that kept me from going stage 2 was the fact that you HAD to have that $600 downpipe. I couldn't justify spending $600 on a fucking pipe with an O2 bung in it. So I just stayed at stage 1 and enjoyed it. had the stage 2 tune and full exhaust and I liked it, but I just couldn't get past that expensive ass pipe and scrooged it for the life of the car and was happy with that.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

Systems are identical, so they'll swap right over.

I want my car to be like 5-10% louder than it is. I don't want to change from the stock Ti's because anything else will be too loud. The car is so close to perfect sound wise, and from what I can tell, going catless will get me that extra bit I'm looking for. I don't care about smell and whatnot.

I've been trying to find someone to swap me for over a year. Nobody wants cats. I'm too to buy a separate catless x-pipe, so I just keep the cats. I'd feel stupid gutting them, but maybe I will. Let me know if you end up wanting to trade. Mine are 3 years old now and have just over 10k miles on them.

I actually emailed these guys asking if I could get the Cat'd crossover pipe separate in case I want to go with the other. They said they only sell them as whole kits. I totally get you on not wanting to spend on just a pipe. When I had my MKV GTI I had a stage 1 APR tune and the only thing that kept me from going stage 2 was the fact that you HAD to have that $600 downpipe. I couldn't justify spending $600 on a fucking pipe with an O2 bung in it. So I just stayed at stage 1 and enjoyed it. had the stage 2 tune and full exhaust and I liked it, but I just couldn't get past that expensive ass pipe and scrooged it for the life of the car and was happy with that.

This could work out perfect then. Just let me know if you want to swap.

[Acid666]

Word up, this has got to be the fastest shipping on any item I think I've ever ordered.
I ordered it around 10am Monday, it came in today at about 10am Wednesday.

Welds look pretty good. Flange looks to be pretty flat. Gonna put a level on it when I get home. Not sure if I can use my own bolts or if I should just say screw it and order some header bolts. Need to research the EGR delete as well. It comes with the plates to cap it off. Need to pick a company for a tune as well.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

Word up, this has got to be the fastest shipping on any item I think I've ever ordered.
I ordered it around 10am Monday, it came in today at about 10am Wednesday.

Welds look pretty good. Flange looks to be pretty flat. Gonna put a level on it when I get home. Not sure if I can use my own bolts or if I should just say screw it and order some header bolts. Need to research the EGR delete as well. It comes with the plates to cap it off. Need to pick a company for a tune as well.

I bought stainless steel header studs on eBay (ARP ones are cost, and there's not a lot of torque on them, so why spend the big bucks?), and they make the job 5/7. The first time I installed the headers, I reused the stock exhaust manifold bolts, and getting them to thread properly while holding the header in place is NOT easy. The studs make it stupid easy, and mine haven't budged.

AIR delete is both easy and a bitch. I pulled out the air pump in the front driver's side fascia, and removed the tubing. The tube that runs behind the engine is bolted to the back of the head, and impossible to get to unless you take off the intake manifold. I left mine on until I swapped the heads because it really doesn't get in the way much. But getting rid of it entirely really cleans up the engine bay.

I'm pleased with the fitment, though I did have to dent the primary to increase steering shaft clearance. Not a big deal, but some dudes on the gold chainz forum go about it. I also cut off those stupid AIR fittings and welded the holes closed. On the passenger side on mine, the air fitting pushed one of the wires into the header primary and melted it. HIGHLY recommend heat socks for the wires (that can be had for cheap on eBay). Getting rid of the AIR fittings took care of the issue. Did it myself with SS flux core on my HF welder. Ground them smooth and they look way better.

I'd also HIGHLY consider doing engine mounts when you have the headers off. It's so easy to get to them, and yours are probably toast by now. I did the Hinson poly mounts in stock height and they're fantastic.

I've done these a few times on a few cars. Holler if you have questions.

[Acid666]

I may actually do the list of what you're saying. My car kind of vibrates at idle. I thought that changing that harmonic balancer would correct it but I suspect it's likely the motor mounts.
A friend actually messaged me with some steps to grind off something with the AIR like you're mentioning. I've tore the top of the engine apart a few times and am kind of familiar with the AIR thing, but don't really remember exactly how it's routed or what exactly it's plugged into. Maybe I'll just order the header bolts and motor mounts now and do it all at once. I'm really in no rush to install these NOW, but I'd like to at least have all the parts I need so that I can roll thru it and just relax with it as opposed to do some work, need to or something, then jump back on it.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

I may actually do the list of what you're saying. My car kind of vibrates at idle. I thought that changing that harmonic balancer would correct it but I suspect it's likely the motor mounts.
A friend actually messaged me with some steps to grind off something with the AIR like you're mentioning. I've tore the top of the engine apart a few times and am kind of familiar with the AIR thing, but don't really remember exactly how it's routed or what exactly it's plugged into. Maybe I'll just order the header bolts and motor mounts now and do it all at once. I'm really in no rush to install these NOW, but I'd like to at least have all the parts I need so that I can roll thru it and just relax with it as opposed to do some work, need to or something, then jump back on it.

I'd definitely buy the following:

Engine Mounts
Heat Socks (for wires)
Exhaust Studs

I think those are the critical things. The AIR tubes are pretty easy to figure out, other than the mount on the back of the head. It's on the back of the driver's side head IIRC, pretty near the intake. Remove the intake and unbolt...it's a slotted mount, so the bolt doesn't even need to come out all the way.

A lot of guys just cut the tubing, but I wanted to keep mine in tact, just in case. Getting rid of it really makes reaching things easier.

The Hinson poly mounts are pretty good. There's a bit more vibration from them being poly, but nothing crazy. It's probably worth considering the trans/diff mount too. The entire drivetrain is supported by three mounts...two engine and one trans/diff.

[Acid666]

I may actually do the list of what you're saying. My car kind of vibrates at idle. I thought that changing that harmonic balancer would correct it but I suspect it's likely the motor mounts.
A friend actually messaged me with some steps to grind off something with the AIR like you're mentioning. I've tore the top of the engine apart a few times and am kind of familiar with the AIR thing, but don't really remember exactly how it's routed or what exactly it's plugged into. Maybe I'll just order the header bolts and motor mounts now and do it all at once. I'm really in no rush to install these NOW, but I'd like to at least have all the parts I need so that I can roll thru it and just relax with it as opposed to do some work, need to or something, then jump back on it.

I'd definitely buy the following:

Engine Mounts
Heat Socks (for wires)
Exhaust Studs

I think those are the critical things. The AIR tubes are pretty easy to figure out, other than the mount on the back of the head. It's on the back of the driver's side head IIRC, pretty near the intake. Remove the intake and unbolt...it's a slotted mount, so the bolt doesn't even need to come out all the way.

A lot of guys just cut the tubing, but I wanted to keep mine in tact, just in case. Getting rid of it really makes reaching things easier.

The Hinson poly mounts are pretty good. There's a bit more vibration from them being poly, but nothing crazy. It's probably worth considering the trans/diff mount too. The entire drivetrain is supported by three mounts...two engine and one trans/diff.

Is it Bolt #2 on here?
Because a friend linked me some steps to not have to remove the intake (which really isn't a big deal to me since I've done it so many times)
https://www.wholesalegmpartsonline.com/ ... rchString=

You CAN get the bolt out from the back with out taking the intake off.
1st.- Take off bolts from the exhaust manifolds and all the rubber hoses attached to the secondary air system.
2nd.- Go to the hardware store and get a “close quarters one handed hack saw” make sure the blade is long enough around 5-8 inches. I know hack saw sounds crazy but it looks clean and works fine for this project.
3rd.- Where the manifold meets the drivers side head is where the tab that holds the air pipe is you can see it fine if you get your head close to the firewall with a light. Where the metal tab is that holds the metal air piping which is also bolted to the back of block you’ll want to saw where the tab meets the pipe starting on the passenger side of tab finishing at the driver side of tab, you will be at it for about 5 min or so it worked GREAT for me and I can assure it will do the same for you just be careful there are some wires back there just be cautious and you won’t even come close to them.
4th.- pull the remainder of piping out from passenger side cautiously. Once you’re done and the secondary air line is out you can loosen the 13mm bolt slightly and pull out the tab that WAS holding the air pipe with whatever tool you have that can fit back there, I just left the tab there’s only about 1/2” or less showing back there and no one will ever see it plus it’s not hurting anything.

[wap]

Word up, this has got to be the fastest shipping on any item I think I've ever ordered.
I ordered it around 10am Monday, it came in today at about 10am Wednesday.

Um, it's Thursday, brah.