I'm about to get a QTP electronic cutout, my exhaust guy says he'd charge $70 for him to cut before the cat and weld the Y pipe in. As much as I would love to have it welded, $70 is a lot of money when money is tight so I thought I might be able to get my car on some ramps cut it myself and then clamp it on, might take some more time but it's cheaper since I have clamps and all the tools. I have never done exhaust work at all so I don't really know what to expect but I don't imagine it'll be hard. The clamp would be a temporary thing until some more money is available. Any advice or thoughts?

 

Clamping it is fine, just be sure to leave extra pipe for to slide into the cutout

 

alright thanks! i was planning on using this y pipe so i think it should just slide right inside the existing pipes http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-670136/

 

I don't think it's going to matter all that much as i have never head a cutout that did nto leak after some time. Cutout's are one thing I will never run. I say $70.00 is ot bad if the guy knows what he is doing.

 

I talked to the guy that did my last exhaust and he said he wont install them because they tend to always leak. As much as I know it may leak I think I'll still install and if the heat gets too bad I can rig up a heat shield to put over the cutout.

 

If you used the manual cutout and kept some extra gaskets around and kept the bolts clean and tight do you think it would still leak?

 

with the price of this pipe I'm guessing its like 16 gauge from China, not the best quality, but I think as long as the welds hold it would be good but I am not really fond of the idea of crawling under my car to take off the cap and then climbing under again to put it on a hot pipe. plus since it'll be before the cat its gonna be very loud and on the off chance a cop is hassling me about the sound I can close it really fast without leaving my car.

 

OK I understand now, I might make my own then with better material. I thought you were opening up the cut outs at the drag strip.

 

maybe in the future once this machine is running a lot more power i will but for now its my daily driver so no drag for me yet

 

my idea was to cut the cat completely out, weld the three bolt flanges on to the exhaust pipe and cat, as well as either a straight pipe or a cutout. I don't know if it would cost any less, but you wouldn't need to buy a new y-pipe.

 

i like the sound of that haha but im not too worried about the y pipe, its only $30 for the cheap one and around $50 for a good quality one

 

If you are using manual cutouts do yourself a favor and tack weld the bolts to the back side of the flange and use wing nuts on the front.

it's a huge pain to try and get the covers back on with the exhaust hot, that makes it a little easier.

the standard paper gaskets don't last, grab some of the soft aluminum ones from autozone and don't over tighten the nuts.



good luck!

 

Thanks DeathStar for you good advice.

 

yes thanks a lot death star. I think i will be sticking with electric though. I might have the pipe installed now and but the electric once i get paid again and just do what you said till the electric is on since the bolts being welded on wont matter for either

 

Just make sure the bolts are long enough to go through the electric cutout's mounting holes, that would suck otherwise.



I removed my manual cutouts a long time ago but kept them since they were just clamped on.. might finally reinstall them this weekend.

Electrics on the ends would be sweet, then you can add some extra pipe to get the exhaust out the side of the car. I might have to do that later on.

 

Wow that's a good idea Death starr.