legacycentral bbs

I don't care what exhaust it is, how new/old/expensive it is.....it never goes in without some sort of grief.

I spent about 3 hrs or so last night putting on the CES exhaust. I went to put on the down pipe and things were not lining up right with the mount on the back of the transmission. I spent a lot of time bending and tweaking that mount so things would at least align up enough so that the mount would actually connect the down pipe and so that the down pipe wouldn't hit the trans crossmember or the transverse links. I bent the trans mount a tad....it's pretty beefy. I also filed away a small edge on the aluminum transverse mount.

I then went to put everything else together. Well that wasn't any better, the resonator was touching the driveline as well as the heat shield, and the axle back was very close if not touching the rear axle.

I ended up loosening up the mount on the transmission, low-and-behold everything seemed to un-tweak and fit where it was supposed to. So I made a modification to the bracket on the transmission. I cut off the top portion and grinded down a section for it to clear the bolt so that the mount would mate up to where the down pipe was sitting.

Long story short....the exhaust is in. The clearances are pretty close between the tranny crossmember, the driveline, and the rear axle. I'm going to have to keep an eye on the, and maybe get different hangers.

Here's the pics.
http://www.main.experiencetherave.com:8 ... s/ej22t/30

Looks like it was worth the hassle

Sexy

Wow that looks soo sharp, I would love to have a SS exhaust system!!
How much did this set-up run for?

Josh- That's crazy that you ran into so many problems. Mine went on without a hitch. I've had other guys that have got the systems say that they had to rework things a bit too and klienkid even notched his tranny cross member if I remember right. I never had an issue at all though except when I did the motor swap, my turbo was twisted because of the support bracket and I couldn't attach the tranny mount. Once I undid the turbo support bracket everything straightened right out though.

Well, besides the problems you had with installation, what do you think? Have you driven it yet and heard the sound? I'm dieing to know what you think! =)

I've been waiting for your install report on your CES. I had the same issues you had. Can't remember what I did exactly on the mount that bolts to the transmissioin, maybe elongated the hole and loosened the bolt on the tranny to let it come down as far as it could. After the first test drive I could hear something rubbing occasionally. It turned out that the pipe was rubbing on the larger O.D. of the axle housing. I then loosened the bolts at the flanges, except the DP to Turbo flange and got it to settle down and then tightened it up again. 5/16" clearance there now. I did notch out the crossmember to give more clearance after I installed a STi group n tranny mount. How do you like the sound, performance?

One of the things to be aware of with long SS pipes is rapid and unequal changes in temperature.

Like driving through some deeper puddles on the road on a cold winter day. The pipe is chilled which shrinks the length on the
cold side . The resulting bend in the pipe can cause it to vibrate against
whatever.

The first time it happened I thought the rear diff was having a problem.
Adjusted one of the hangers and no probs since.

Busdriver wrote:Wow that looks soo sharp, I would love to have a SS exhaust system!!
How much did this set-up run for?

With shipping, $1,878. So it certainly was not cheap.

Yeah I didn't expect all the problems I had. If I would've just bolted the exhaust up, and then dealt with the hanger, I would've saved myself a bit of time and headache.

I haven't started up the car yet. I'm still working on the engine. Hopefully next weekend I'll get it running. I'm planning to do the wiring this weekend. After that, it's pretty much just connect everything up.

Once I get things running, I'll have to check for rubbing. I've got sti tranny & engine mounts, so that should help keep movement to a minimum. I'm probably going to grab some more pictures when I go get the car aligned, and it's up on the lift.

I'll be sure to report back when I get to hear it. I'm sure it'll sound pretty good. I still prefer the twin outlet exhaust.....but oh well.

Josh, nice setup there. I think, however, it's time to change that badge on the back of your car.

Yeah I plan to change the badge when I get it running

For any one close to Vancouver---SS, divorced down pipe,
high-flow cat , Vibrant final silencer with two out pipes.

All custom made and installed for $2000 cdn.

ooooo, ahhhhh

Wow. Thats more than I spent on all 3 legacys I've owned combined, but thats a VERY nice exhaust system.

In US funds, $2000 cdn works out to $1690 US. That's for ss exhaust from turbo to twin tips-- custom built and installed.

the divorced dump tube for wastegate is teh hotness.

Does this come ceramic coated?

The down pipe is ceramic coated. The rest is not.

The coating was an option I got, and is included in the price I quoted. I don't recall what the coast was.

Yes, it's ceramic coated.

I'm about ready to take a freaking cutting torch to this exhaust and sell it for scrap!!!

I met up with some other subaru guys to take a cruise down to Galveston. Well it's raining today. I'm driving along, and get this horrible vibration/sound. Almost sounds like a wheel bearing. It's speed dependent. Anyway, I get it several more times between the way down there and back.

I checked things out when I got home, and had rubbing in two places. In the rear, the axle was rubbing the piping. Also, and the worst spot was the driveline rubbing the rear part of the resonator.

Do all freaking SS exhausts bend that much with temperature changes?

I'm at my wits fucking end with this piece of shit exhaust. If I wanted something that was not going to fit properly and have to fuck with it constantly, I would've bought something for a WRX and had a shop modify it.

I'm going to look into the supro poly bushings for the rear diff mount. That will hopefully keep the rear diff from sagging as much, and increase the clearance there. I'm nut sure what the fuck I'm going to do about the driveline though.......

have an exhaust shop bend it anyways...

Josh, I was looking through your pictures and I noticed something (maybe you already noticed it). I noticed that your axles and my axles are at two different angles when sitting normally. Mine sit at an angle close to 30 degrees while yours sit at an angle of closer to 0 degrees. Maybe this has something to do with it or maybe it's just my imagination.

Wow Josh, I can't believe you're having so many fitment issues. I feel really bad because I've always been one of the most outspoken people about how great the CES systems are.

I haven't had any of these issues though. Could it be something caused by the fact that oem, your car was NA?

I'm at a loss. Mine has always been perfect and went on easy as pie.

DANG Josh,

I feel so bad for you!!

My biggest problem was playing with the tranny mount to make sure the DP didn't rub on the corssmember.

I've had almost 0 problems with the area you are talking about. The only time I had an issue there was after I got rear ended and my tranny mount bolt thing was loose. I know that doesn't help ya, but that really sucks.

-Ryan

Josh

Yeah--ss exhaust pipe is thin material and the water spray chills the straight part of the pipe. It shrinks enough to warp the pipe against whatever it will contact.

On mine, I thought the rear diff had a problem--eventually you figure it out and change the hangers or whatever until the pipe doesn't vibrate against anything at any temp.

It can be eliminated

wow, looks likr you made out a little better than me. I paid $2000 for my CES with shipping. must have been the exchange rate lol? I had to cut the trans support on my car to get the DP to fit. I had posted the photos a while ago when I put it in. I'm concerned about how close you are to the mount in your pics. I'm thinking you might get a rattle or a bump when shifting gears or going over bumps. other than that, welcome to the elite few with the best sounding boxer exhaust in the world!

A beautiful site...
yours...
http://www.main.experiencetherave.com:8 ... P_5972.JPG
mine...
http://www.thawa.net/gallery/albums/alb ... .sized.jpg

wiscon_mark wrote:have an exhaust shop bend it anyways...

That may be my only alternative.