Right on. So you've settled on the primary material being the aluminum.

You have to resolve the issue with welding on the port for the hose - or has this been done too? If the welding is a problem, what about a gasket/fitting type of arrangement? Not preferrable but will accomplish the task.

What else is in the way?

 

Im using a nipple and clamp, on one end, the stock fitting for now.

Im still trying to see how I can resolve that issue.

 

Mafioso,

I'm interested. If you need another test mule, I'm local as well...

BB

 

Awesome, we should should meet up sometime! you are STR #3 local on the forum. Im in Carrollton

 

Very cool! I'm interested in the product as well. I fabricated my own intake for use with either the stock airbox or a cone filter. I ran into the same problems with the breather hose. The pic below was before I threw a CEL for the breather filter. It DOES make the car louder at WOT. It's better to run the intake pipe with the stock airbox... especially in hot climates (like here in Texas). Keep us posted if/when these become available. I'm interested.. and also local! My car dyno'ed 341 HP to the rear wheels bone stock.. I can't wait to see the results after the intake pipe.

Here is a pic of my old setup:

 

Nice! Does that small little filter on the breather hose port work good?

 

Normally a hose connects that port on the valve cover to the intake tube. It's used for ventilation/pressurization. Since I did not think to add a port on the metal part of my intake.. I just put a K&N filter there to keep the air clean. On older cars, this isn't a problem. On the STR, the air is metered by the MAF sensor.. so I threw a check engine light. (the computer was wondering where the extra air was coming from/going) After this picture was taken, I fabricated a tube and tap and I was check engine light-less.

 

Man my car is going to sound like a jet after adding this piece. I already took off the decorative shroud and my blower re-gear livened things up quite a bit too. I'm excited to see the progress on this project!

 

Going on the dyno this weekend weather permitting

 

Sorry for the delay in posting the results.

Made a bunch of pulls on the dyno and we broke the car I think.

full stock best pull was 349whp 376ft-lb
with intake elbow 362/382 ft-lb

I overtemped the cats on the 11th pull hp dropped 299 and the AFR was 8.9.

So I think some time this week its off the muffler shop to have the cats changed, x-pipe done. to cure the cat over temp.

Plus now after the day of playing on the dyno I did notice its running like my cats are cooked.

little bit of a rough idle and its running like its fell on its face.

 

Mafioso,

Rats! Unless, of course, you were already planning to replace the cats and X-pipe...

BB

 

Oh but of course, I was waiting till I had completed the testing on the intake elbow, intake primary tube port, tb port and intercooler porting before starting the exhaust so the data isnt skewed but now doesnt look like I have a choice.

Gotta finish project suck before project blow. lol

Im going to see if I can get an appt into Midas this week and get it done.

They quoted me $210 for materials and labor. I bring my cats and x pipe. they provide bungs, and 2.5" manderal bent pipe. removing resonators, and keeping stock exhaust for now.

 

bummer about the cats. I had a friend do that on his vette and it almost burned up the car.

I'll take one of those pipes once you figure things out. I'd take one even if it was only 5 hp as long as it makes it scream even louder.

 

Yessir, I was actually expecting a power loss, but a gain is always welcome.

Now I need to figure out what murdered my cats lol

I have a feeling it was age that did them in, or it could be the nasty turn that exhaust gas has to make to escape, and slamming into the exhaust casing and super heating it.

 

Bro get the angled Magnaflow Hi flow cats like I have, remember? Screw the bent pipe shiat, the angled Cats are your best bet. Browse back on the threads and look at the pics I took of them on. They sit nicely just like your OEM cats are now.

Good luck!

 

I have my hi-flow cats already and the x pipe I'll post up a pic of them in the morning the cats are just big enough to keep the o2 sensors happy hopefully they will work well.

 

Mafioso, yer gunna love the hi-flow cat sound and power. Aside from age, yer stock cats may have kicked the bucket quicker due to increased flow causing ECU to lean her out due to more intake air? Whatever the case...yer gunna luv the new cats.

 

Man, now this is worrying me a bit.

When I took my STR back to the guy that installed my exhaust (to fix a leak), he asked me if I was "beating the (stuff) out of the car"...and said he was asking because the cats were experiencing some bluing, and resemble what cats look like when engines are running lean (the cats are located just behind that "nasty turn" part). I dismissed his concern after considering how rich these engines are typically running, and that I had made no other modifications.

Later, I was still hearing this tapping noise (under load) which resembles what an exhaust leak would produce. I had someone lift the car and powerbrake it...and I discovered that this noise appears to be produced by the exhaust gasses slamming against the piping at the point where it turns.

So...a question on the bent cats--should they eliminate the noise I am describing? How do they perform relative to most straight hi-flow cats?

 

Did the shop reintroduce the same bend or did they radius it out more?

Ideally the cats needs to be angled more to soften open the final bend.

 

The bend is located in the same place as original; however, the pipes are now +.25" in diameter when compared to the original, and the cats are now located just to the rear of that location. The cats are straight, hi-flow.

I did not see the location of the stock cats prior to removing them. If the OEM cats were (apparently) intentionally placed at those bends, it was probably to eliminate the tapping noise I am experiencing. Essentially, at that bend, I can hear each exhaust pulse tapping against the pipe.

Sigh...