i just installed a set of flowtech headers along with their y pipe and i put a strait pipe through my cat and i had to have the cat opening stretched to fit it over the y pipe. so after all this i bolted it back to the tail pipe and everything and now i have like 3 inches if that of ground clearance at the cat, why and how can i fix it? also when i started it up it started pinging and then it went away after it warmed up a little. the pinging was a metal against metal sound, i had the 4 and 8 cylindar wires crossed so could this be the problem? thanks alot

 

yea the crossed wire could cause the ping....also if it backfires you may blow out your header gasket like i did on an old car i had. at least i learned. switch them and then try again. i'm not sure how to raise the exhaust at the car though. maybe put on a set of taller springs......

 

Just some thoughts/ideas...
1) I've read that some header Y-pipes leave something to be desired as far as ground clearance - could be poorly designed/bent.
2) Can you re-align your cat on the Y-pipe to gain ground clearance, meaning is it sagging now?
3) Can't remember, is there an exhaust hanger between the trans crossmember and the cat that maybe didn't get reinstalled?
Hope that helps...

 

well there is a hanger that i found today, i did reinstall it but it has been burnt and it melted the rubber so it just fell off when it had pressure on it. i rigged up a new hanger so it doesnt sag as bad anymore and it is a poorly made y pipe, its angled down instead of strait back! also does anybody have flowtech headers? how long does it take for the paint to melt off? i ran it for about 10 minutes today and it just kept smoking and stinking, is it supposed to do this? thanks

 

take it out and drive it,let it get good and warm,then go to a car wash and spray em down.let em cool alittle first though.

 

Drive it a little and it will all burn off in time (maybe a half hour or so depending on the header) I'm not sure I would spray it at the car wash--- headers are pretty thin and the temp change could be to drastic. If you don't let them cool enough it could cause them to crack.

 

When i got my new headers,i installed em,then drove for about an hour.i stopped at the car wash,let it cool,then i retightened all the bolts.finally,i sprayed em down.they were cool enough that you could see what you were spraying(no steam).all the paint sprayed off headers,but it also landed all over my fresh motor.
another dollar,and i was again!
Gary