BE CAREFUL….it is very east to end up with a lot more sound volume from the exhaust system than you may be anticipating. The header and 200 cell cat allow a significant increase in sound to the point the China muffler is overboard.
Firstly let me say I have turned more than a few wrenched, but I was a little intimidated in taking on this project, not because it was beyond my skillset, but because of all of the horror stories I have read about broken header bolts and the repair challenges.
My header sat in the garage for months and when I landed some high flow cats on eBay, I decided to pull the trigger on the install. Originally I was waiting on the purchase of a stud repair kit from Stomski Racing as a just in case, and was prepping the removal with weekly soaking in Kroil (both when hot and cold). Then I had an epiphany, why not use the hole in the header with a drill bushing to center the drill bit if I break a bolt. Way cheaper, log onto McMaster Carr and purchase a couple of drill bushings and some left handed drill bits for a 1/10 of the price of the stud repair kit. I figured if I broke a bolt, I would continue with the removal, cut the bolt flat, reinstall the header with the drill bushing in it and use it to center the hole in the broken stud, then follow standard stud removal process from there.
So like every good Boy Scout I was fully prepared and felt like I have given the Kroil 5-6 opportunities to do its job. Pulled it in the garage, up on the jack stands, removed the necessary plastic parts and started removal. I read several recommendations on the best process to break the bolts free and I knew that I did not want to just keep torqueing them until the broke free for fear of snapping a head off. So I used the old “shock” method, by clicking the ratchet backwards then suddenly snapping it in the off direction. Might not be the best thing for the tool, but it was the cheapest part in the equation and did the trick. All 12 bolts free with no problem. Before I pulled the stock exhaust off, I thought I should break the O2 sensors free as well. I put the O2 wrench on them and they were stuck, thought to myself…great it is the O2 sensors that are going to give me grief…so I shot them with a little Kroil and gave it 5 minutes, a little tug on the wrench and I could screw them out with my fingers. I recognized then, this Kroil stuff is some good s**t. Now on with the new / slightly used parts. First the header, picked it up on eBay, a beautiful FVD 986S Sport Header fully polished stainless steel and outstanding fit, finish and quality. After seeing the product I felt a little guilty for only paying only 250 bucks! Next up some serious cats, again another eBay find, Maxspeed Motorsports had a pair of Boxster 986S 200 cell mid pipes in stainless steel listed up at 499.00 or make offer, so I offered him 375.00 and he took it! Nemo at Maxspeed made sure I had all the gaskets and hardware he typically supplied with a brand new set of pipes. The cats are outstanding, fit perfect, finish out of this world, bungs both pre and post cat making it an extremely flexible product. I can’t decide who makes a better product, they are both very high quality and a steal for the price I paid.
Now for the Chinese muffler. It appeared to be well made and solidly constructed and at 300.00 bucks worth a try. The welds were not artwork like the other, but were functional none the less. They are basically twin oval stainless glass packs, and I did have some fitment issues. The tips are not centered and there are no provisions for adjustment, and the support bracket is too short placing the tips in direct contact with the bumper.
I fired it up and went for a short drive….Well I went a little too far…this thing was loud…going under the highway underpass it sounded like 3 perfectly timed Harley’s with wide open drag pipes. Anything from partial throttle open to full throttle open was full on NASCAR front row in the straightaway. Sounded fantastic and exotic at 6000 rpm, but this was never going to cut it for a daily driver. So I pulled it off and placed the stock muffler back on, no drone but it is a little too raspy for my liking. I am thinking of doing some kind of modification to the stock tips to retrofit with a resonator to pull the raspyness, it worked for my supercharged Miata.
Performance, I can tell you, there is more sound than stock and a bump in performance. I always felt like there was some resistance to the engine climbing the rev range, almost like there was a plugged cat. Now it revs like a sport bike, Time to save some coin for the Plenum and some software.
1998 Porsche 986
Linear Mode
