azguy Posted March 2, 2005 Share Posted March 2, 2005 Well I just got my car back from getting sidepipes hooked up to my headers with O2’s installed. These bad boys are way low... I have like NO ground clearance. I don't know if I can go over ANY speed bump. I had originally mounted them higher up on the side of the car and busted out the sawzall and hacked the front fender behind the front tire. This way the sidepipes looked low but sat up on the side of the zx just barely below the door and the 2-1/2 pipes did not hang lower than the frame. Actually turned out nice and I figured a route for the exhaust so that the entire exhaust was not going to hang lower than the frame of the car also. The brackets that I got with sidepipes just were too wimpy though. I told my exhaust guy that I wanted them to weld the "L" bracket to the body or something so that they were stiffer to the body and not moving around like they were. He told me he would figure something out. Well this is what I got. Sidepipes installed using the lip from the frame. He told me that he couldn't mount them any higher because they would sag with the weight etc. I don't know much about welding or exhaust hanging etc. so I just told him it looked good and paid the $250 and was on my way. I still think there is a way to mount them higher up on the side of the car using some sort of reinforcement if sagging is really a problem from just welding the bracket onto the car. Maybe like welding a piece out from the little lip under the car, then one up the rounded side of the car, then straight down to the original piece extending from the lip, altogether in a sort of triangular shape. Then attaching sidepipes to this. Maybe this is a dumb idea…. Maybe I should of ran that idea by a welding friend before saying it…. Hehehe… oh well. I have done research on this for a while and I have seen notched frames etc. for pipes leading to sidepipes but no real close-ups of how the side pipes were actually hung and from what point on the car. What ideas do you guys have? First two pics are of how I getto rigged it originally-- after taking this picture I removed the rubber and bent the bracket more open so the pipes sat higher and bracket was more stiff. Last pic is how it looks from exhaust shop rack. Cool but LOW! Picture looks funny because lower part of the heatshield is sticking out because I didn't attach it all the way yet. Oh yeah that stinkbug look is from jackstands in the back. From exhaust shop up on rack. Can you say LOW! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tony78_280z Posted March 2, 2005 Share Posted March 2, 2005 I hate to be a pessimist, but I don't think it's gonna work. Your hanging too low in the center of the car. It'll become a driveabiltiy issue. And I know you don't want those side pipes to get ripped off on the first speed bump, pot hole or kid's bike that you run over. Who wants to own a car that can't go over a speed bump. They are so frickin common place now. I doubt you could take your car to a concert and park it in their parking lot without at least one speed bump. The guy didn't weld them where you asked him to. He should have called you and told you he couldn't do what you wanted. Then you could have paid him for his time and and gone back to the drawing board. Now you are out $250.00 and back to the drawing board. I think he lacks creativity. You say you hacked the front fender, but I can't see this in you pics. If you were to continue along this line of thought I'm sure you could have made it work. You say the hangers were too wimpy, not the Z metal you were applying it to? Could you reinforce the hangers? Could you fabricate a hanger from some stronger metal. Get some good steal and a torch to warm it up and bend it? (Sorry I got a forge out at the farm to shape metal so it's hard for me to get away from this train of thought.) Could you somehow use bolts instead of the hangers? Fasten the hook part of the hanger to a bolt, and bolt it to the side of the Z with several large washers behind the Z metal? Get out of the box and be creative. Then take it back to the muffler guy and tell him that it's too frickin low to be drivable. What are you using for a cat? My exhaust comes off the headers makes one bend and pipes out the sides just behind the fron tires like yours, but I don't run the length of the car. The pipe is just poking out behind the tires. I use car chemisty header inserts to muffle the noise. Mine isn't as purty as yours cause I aint got the chrome turn downs yet, but since it is low only behind the tires and not the center of the car, I don't drag on bumps or pot holes. (I was Kidding about the kid's bike thing.) Lemme know your idears I like to brainstorm these kinds of things. My car is full of un orthadox methods of "making it work". The trick is that after you ghetto rig it, clean it up and reinforce it to last. Then it is creative engineering not ghetto rigging. =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azguy Posted March 3, 2005 Author Share Posted March 3, 2005 I know this is NOT going to work at all. To clarify, the single bolt that attached the bracket to z body was wiggling around from the weight. I thought that it could have been easily welded to body to stop the movement. That was the only problem that I had with the bracket. It was attached to the side part of the z which is not flat but rounded so it wasn't holding too well. I had already opened up the bracket so the height and everything was right on. Just that bolt was not very stable. I know this is a cheap pic of what idea I had for welding it, but do you think it would hold up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tony78_280z Posted March 4, 2005 Share Posted March 4, 2005 It may require a bit of work, but can you get to the back side of that location on your Z and mount several big washers on the inside of the car to distribute the weight over a larger area? You may need to "shape" the washers to the curve of that portion of the car. I think that would give better results than welding. And you can get some pretty big washers and cover a larger area. If the outside mounting location will be hidden by your exhaust, you might mount similarly sized and shaped washers on the outside of the car as well. That should end the wobble. These washers on the outside could be painted to hide them. "Shape" the washers with a vice and some gentle "tapping" with a big hammer. =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azguy Posted March 4, 2005 Author Share Posted March 4, 2005 That sounds like a better idea to me. My z is in the shop with tranny issues now. I am going to jump on this as soon as it is fixed and actually drive it for the first time... can't wait. :rockon:Then I can also see how the clearance is on some speed bumps where I live. I'm 99% sure I won't be able to drive it into my complex because it won't clear the speed bumps... damn them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tony78_280z Posted March 4, 2005 Share Posted March 4, 2005 Let me know if it works or not. I hate not getting an update on a problem solved, or completely F.U.B.A.R.ed. Besides sometime in the future I might do something similar. You are basicaly my guinea pig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.