Hey guys, new to the forum and just got an 04 wagon about 4 months ago. I've gone through the entire car, replaced all the fluids checked everything I can and took it in to a mechanic to make sure everything was good. Now that I've got all the maintnence out of the way, I'd like to start the mods. Car is 100% stock other than a Borla cat-back I put on last week. The guy I bought it from worked at a shop and he recommended that the next thing I do was the up pipe. I've done my research but I still have some questions.
1. I live in California and we have the smog nazis here so I'd like to stay legal. can anybody in CA show what they've done? Can I get a good, catted up pipe?
2. Would it be worth it with to get a tune? What about an accessport?
sorry if this is :beatentod
don't worry about an aftermarket up-pipe causing you to fail a visual inspection in CA...most smog techs don't even know what "that strange thing on top of the motor" is.
haha I usually get "wow thats a huge oil cooler!' thanks for the tip on the stock pipe from the newer wrx, it think thats what ill do so I don't need to worry about fitment or anything and they're easier to find.....and cheaper
i know everyone says stay away from ebay parts, but i got my up pipe on ebay for like 50.00 and have had it on for about 2 years now w/no leaks or problems. fit good too and came with studs
Well, in the case of up-pipes there is a reason. vibrations and heat put a lot of stress on the up-pipe. If you get one with a cheapo flex section it will tear sooner rather than later. If you get a cheap solid one with poor welds, the welds will bust and you'll have a pre-turbo exhaust leak. Since the up-pipe is so hard to install and cheap to begin with, you want to get a reputable one and only have to do it once.
My Invidia turbo up-pipe for the same car was 135 CAD$ but it took the shop 2.5 hrs to install it. Installation was roughly twice what the up-pipe cost, and I'd hate to have to do it all again if a inexpensive turbo up-pipe were to fail prematurely.
good points, but in my case i do all my work myself, and the up pipe was pretty easy and quick to replace. i have had it out again since i installed it when i put in my vf39, pinks and large tmic. still looks good with no signs of leaks. maybe i got lucky :s
If you're doing the work yourself, you're in the best situation to try something new. Since it's already installed and there are no issues, I wouldn't give it another thought - just put the hammer down and drive it like you stole it!
I don't know of any "Catted" aftermarket up pipes. But like many other people mentioned, I think most smog technicians don't care, as long as you have your other cats in place.
Wait what?
Who the hell are these guys and where have I been?
The up is a bitch but you can do it yourself in 2-4 hours depending on how good you are with tools.
The biggest bitch of the whole install is the removal of the old one since the exhaust covers can really be a pain in the dick.
I also used a jack under my engine to give me a little wiggle room.
GL, and don't pay more than a 100-150 for an up or your getting ripped off.
took me about 1 hr to get the old up pipe out, mostly trying to figure out how to get it outa there. jacked the motor up a little bit and wiggled it out. then it went really fast after that
**figured id be the guinea pig on the cheap ebay up pipe, so far so good, going on 2 years with it installed**
rust wasnt bad at all on the up pipe cover surprisingly. the rest of the heat shields on the downpipe and turbo shield were a bit rusted, every bolt broke as i tried to take them out.
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