18 replies to this topic

[UKspeedster]

Firstly, just to say much thanks to Blanchie for sacrificing most of his Saturday to help Foxy and I bludgeon a couple of pre-cats to death. Now don't make the same mistake by offering to do any more

Anyway, thought I'd write a couple of words about Viper fitting and pre-cat removal which someone else might find useful.

Viper fitting

This can be done without removing the rear wheel - it's tight working on the airbox and you have to be quite prepared to utter a few swear words along the way....

As always with these things, they're much easier when you know what you're doing. Airbox removal is easy enough and can be brought out of the bootlid opening. Fitting the bracket for the Viper involves unplugging one of the cable fixings and then zip tying it back on. The alignment of the clean air hose/Viper with the bracket isn't great as the Viper sits a bit lower than the airbox used to.

Finally, remember to fit the cold air pipe to the Viper before you put the whole assembly in and attach it to the bracket! There's absolutely no mention of the cold air pipe in the instructions...

Pre-cat removal

I must admit, Blanchie did the exhaust removal and refitting and I haven't got much to add on that. However, it took Blanchie, Foxy, Partridge and I about 6 hours between the 4 of us (in rotation) to drill, lever, swear at, hammer, more drilling, etc before we had the 2 pre-cats out. They really are unbelievably strong considering their lightweight honeycomb construction. And we knackered about a dozen drill bits along the way...



Was it worth it? I can't vouch for the individual differences, but the combination of pre-cat removal, Viper and VSE is awesome - the sound on open throttle is exhilarating and the burble on overrun is stronger. As for performance, the car certainly seems more eager from idle. Pick up in any gear seems improved and acceleration is strong all the way to the red line. Will be interesting to see the difference after picking up the car after the remap.

Finally, cheers to Partridge for sorting out the brake pads after the earlier incidents! These things are so much easier watching someone else do it...

For anyone who has had the willpower to read this far, photos are here:

http://www.ofoto.co....lid=95420967633

Foxy and Mani - good to see you guys. Em really enjoyed the weekend too - hope to catch up with you all at a track day soon!

Cheers
N.

Edited because link not working...

Edited by UKspeedster, 22 August 2004 - 08:00 PM.

[Whiteboy]

Im glad you all fun with the exhaust

[Thorney]

Suddenly a Milltek precat replacement pipe seems like excellent value Well done though.

[robin]

how much is a milltec cat section only these days?

[iandhd]

I must admit, Blanchie did the exhaust removal and refitting and I haven't got much to add on that. However, it took Blanchie, Foxy, Partridge and I about 6 hours between the 4 of us (in rotation) to drill, lever, swear at, hammer, more drilling, etc before we had the 2 pre-cats out. They really are unbelievably strong considering their lightweight honeycomb construction. And we knackered about a dozen drill bits along the way...

It's a complete b*tch isn't it Anyway I thought you were selling?

[Blanchie]

Glad to here it was worth it Nick

I must admit, Blanchie did the exhaust removal and refitting and I haven't got much to add on that.

That was the easy bit each zorst system took about 30mins to drop / re-fit, what i found made the job easier this time was to removing only 1 of the heat shield bolts and moved it out of the way so the manifold nuts were accessable.

Great piccys Nick

Good luck with sorting things out for the States and i hope you get your speedy sorted.


Blanchie

[UKspeedster]

I must admit, Blanchie did the exhaust removal and refitting and I haven't got much to add on that.  However, it took Blanchie, Foxy, Partridge and I about 6 hours between the 4 of us (in rotation) to drill, lever, swear at, hammer, more drilling, etc before we had the 2 pre-cats out.  They really are unbelievably strong considering their lightweight honeycomb construction.  And we knackered about a dozen drill bits along the way...

It's a complete b*tch isn't it Anyway I thought you were selling?

Well, I figure I might as well enjoy it for the moment! The lucky new owner will eventually get a remapped, de-precatted, VSE'd Speedy though - the lucky, lucky, lucky person

Plenty of time to enjoy the cars until the end of the year, so you don't get rid of me just yet.... Besides, you all have to help me choose the next vehicle, before I end up with a 6l muscle car...

[ansalmo]

And we knackered about a dozen drill bits along the way...

Which drill bits were you using? When I was building my old kitcar, I found that Bosch bits were vastly superior to the Black & Decker and bullet types - check out my >clicky< for piccies

[Blanchie]

Which drill bits were you using?

Cheese ones

[ansalmo]

Which drill bits were you using?

Cheese ones

Well, that'll be the problem then

[UKspeedster]

A quick update on the old car. I picked it up from Picador last night. A bit of a trek down from London, but very worth while. I initially dealt with Graham, but have been dealing with Mark Edwards since and he's been a top bloke. Carried out: Regal n/a remap Adjusted windows to better fit hard top Replaced rear off side light cluster under warranty, due to misting Installed storage pack (leather side pockets and netting) Bought VX220 luggage set So, the important part - the remap. Again, it's a bit subjective as I only had a little drive of the car since the pre-cat removal and Viper fitting. However, the car feels fantastic now Probably a combination of the VSE, pre-cat removal, Viper and remap, but the exhaust note is stunning. It's definitely a little louder and more throaty, with a greater amount of depth on idle. The burble from the VSE overrun is also fantastic Acceleration is sharp in all gears. It's not turbo electric, but there's a flat torque curve all the way up the revs and it's a real benefit having the extra few hundred revs as you approach 7000, rather than bouncing off the limiter. In particular, third gear from 40 to the far side of rapid(!) is outstanding. At motorway cruising, in car noise is similar, although maybe everso slightly louder. Then again, the wind noise has decreased as the windows now close properly I don't know whether I'm imagining it, but it seems to cruise easier, as if less throttle needed. And the EBC pads are now bedding in nicely and have a nice bite on braking, feels more sure-footed than OEM pads (which were admittedly older, if not exactly fully worn). So that's my (rather subjective) summary. No official bhp/torque figures, but a happy smiley driver! IMO, time/money well spent and gives a very flexible, usable car with all the noise/speed/acceleration on tap when required. Bring on the next track day!

[Whiteboy]

I found after my courtenays remap my fuel consumption improved by 1 to 2 mpg

[MacGyver]

And we knackered about a dozen drill bits along the way...

Actually there is a trick ... you may use the hardest diamond ace premier drill bit, it's still gonna turn red, melt and break after the third hole in your pre-cat....

The trick is to make it turn SLOWLY !!! I mean very slowly. This is because of the honeycomb structure. If it turns too fast, it just "floats" on the top, melting this honeycomb into some incredibly solid stuff, and the more you drill the harder it gets.... Now if you use a slow rotation speed, you will notice that the drill has enough time to go inside every honeycomb cell, you will even hear the little "crouch crouch" of the drill litteraly "cutting" cells one after the other.

Then you can drill one hole in 1min chrono.

Edited by MacGyver, 28 August 2004 - 05:19 PM.

[WoodenDummy]

...and that's how we solved the mystery of the melting drills!

[Whiteboy]

So like sex, nice and slow, dont rotate too fast otherwise she wont melt.

[MacGyver]

So like sex, nice and slow, dont rotate too fast otherwise she wont melt.

[Foxy_Jr]

Fitted a Pipier exhaust and removed the Pre cat at the weekend. Went through a couple of drills, but found it fairly easy and took only 30mins! (for the Pre cat) I found the following worked for me. The worst part was removing the exhaust - had to get the grinder out on the bolts!! (Grinder / VX - not a good mix!) Drill a series of holes on opposite sides of the cat then use a sharp chisel to part of the reminder of the honeycomb from the edge of the bore. Then bang in a large chisel/screwdriver round the edges to free it up a bit. Use a large screwdriver to start to lever the honeycomb from one side to the other, where the holes were drilled - I guess as the structure is so brittle it starts to break away round the edges. Eventually it should break away completely and you can pull it out in virtually one piece. All that remains is to clear up the bore, for this I used a wood chisel! Refitting is a reversal of removal!! Tested it out at Bedford on yesterday - sounds absolutely brilliant!! There seems to be a lot more mid range grunt too!!

[Blanchie]

Fitted a Pipier exhaust and removed the Pre cat at the weekend. Went through a couple of drills, but found it fairly easy and took only 30mins! (for the Pre cat) I found the following worked for me. The worst part was removing the exhaust - had to get the grinder out on the bolts!! (Grinder / VX - not a good mix!)

Drill a series of holes on opposite sides of the cat then use a sharp chisel to part of the reminder of the honeycomb from the edge of the bore. Then bang in a large chisel/screwdriver round the edges to free it up a bit. Use a large screwdriver to start to lever the honeycomb from one side to the other, where the holes were drilled - I guess as the structure is so brittle it starts to break away round the edges.

Eventually it should break away completely and you can pull it out in virtually one piece. All that remains is to clear up the bore, for this I used a wood chisel!

Refitting is a reversal of removal!!

Tested it out at Bedford on yesterday - sounds absolutely brilliant!! There seems to be a lot more mid range grunt too!!

Nice one.

So to sum it up BIG LARGE SHARP CHIZEL = Bye Bye pre cat, sounds a better idea than playing with cheese .

One thing i did find doing mine was how easier the pre cat came out compared with Foxys and UKspeedys, mine came out like yours almost in one lump and only took an hour, and use 1 drill bit. That envolved doing what was suggested, drilling aroung the outside and levering it out.
Are some pre cats easier to get out than others

[UKspeedster]

Fitted a Pipier exhaust and removed the Pre cat at the weekend. Went through a couple of drills, but found it fairly easy and took only 30mins! (for the Pre cat) I found the following worked for me. The worst part was removing the exhaust - had to get the grinder out on the bolts!! (Grinder / VX - not a good mix!)

Drill a series of holes on opposite sides of the cat then use a sharp chisel to part of the reminder of the honeycomb from the edge of the bore. Then bang in a large chisel/screwdriver round the edges to free it up a bit. Use a large screwdriver to start to lever the honeycomb from one side to the other, where the holes were drilled - I guess as the structure is so brittle it starts to break away round the edges.

Eventually it should break away completely and you can pull it out in virtually one piece. All that remains is to clear up the bore, for this I used a wood chisel!

Refitting is a reversal of removal!!

Tested it out at Bedford on yesterday - sounds absolutely brilliant!! There seems to be a lot more mid range grunt too!!

nice one. But you don't get the same sense of satisfaction as you finally lever the pre-cat out....