Shop or Not?

Subaru_Nation555 · Post by **Subaru_Nation555** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 10:09 pm

I recently came across a full turbo back system for a turbo Legacy. So as of now its sitting in my garage waiting to be installed. So I am debating whether or not to install it myself of have a shop do it. I already removed the heat shield which was a huge pain and lengthened the O2 sensor wiring. So i jack up the car and as I was trying to remove teh rubber exhaust hangers, I wondered if I should just have a shop install it. I would need gaskets and hangers, which a shop would just do for me anyways. How much time is involved in removing and installing the exhaust? Im thinking it would take an exhaust shop a couple of hours to do the job. What do you guys think?

91White-T · Post by **91White-T** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 10:18 pm

If you dont have a lift it will be a huge PITA. I say go to a shop, but its your call.

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 10:33 pm

Whaaaattt? Installing a turbo back without a lift is about as hard as changing your oil.

Seriously, do it yourself. Absolutely no point in wasting money going to a shop.

I'm pretty to the point of a 10 to 15 minute install of my whole turboback.

You will need gaskets and that should be it. You can use your stock hangers and bolts for the turbo.

However, if you aren't confident that you can do it, then yea, just take it to a shop.

If you have 4 jackstands (hell, or even 2) and aren't afraid to get your clothes a little dirty, then go for it.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 10:39 pm

I don't think it'll be a huge pain, since you have the exhaust complete. It'd be nice to have both the front and rear on jackstands/ramps, but you could even do it one end at a time if you had to.

You have to remove the three nuts and two nut-and-bolt pairs that hold the downpipe to the turbo. Then you just have to get off the two bolts that hold the downpipe to the transmission (or just cut those brackets) and then pull the exhaust off of 3 hangers.

Then you just put the new one on. The only gasket you'll need to reuse or replace would be the downpipe gasket, which the exhaust shop wouldn't have anyway. If your original one is in okay shape you could just spray it with some copper gasket spray and reuse it.

And as for hangers, Advance can get Walker part number 35473 (which is what Walker recommends for our cars) for you for $3.48 each.

I think you could do it in a couple hours. Just spray all the bolts with PB Blaster at least the night before you start.

A couple of hours at an exhaust shop in the DC area will cost you like a hundred bucks. It hardly seems worth it in my opinion.

Subaru_Nation555 · Post by **Subaru_Nation555** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 10:43 pm

So all I really need to do in order to get the old exhaust system off the hangers is to juts pull and it should slip off?

THAWA · Post by **THAWA** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 10:44 pm

If it's a bolt on piece do it yourself. Even if you have no clue what you're doing, there's no better time to learn. If you have to do welding and bending have a shop do it. unless you can weld and bend.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 10:46 pm

Yes. It helps a little to spray them first with lithium grease or something. If you look at the exhaust you have off the car it should make sense; the rubber hanger stretches over a bump at the end of the metal rod, and the bump is what keeps it from sliding back off.

If you're buying new hangers, it'd be easier to just cut the old ones off.

Subaru_Nation555 · Post by **Subaru_Nation555** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 10:55 pm

makes sense. I guess I'll save myself some money and do it myself-plus I do like the satisfaction of doing it myself. I just started unboltign the 5 bolts on on the turbocharger. Two are really stuck so im letting them soak in lube. Thanks for the advice guys.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 10:59 pm

Yeah, let them soak for a good long time. The nuts are stainless but the studs are not, so there's probably some corrosion on the studs. If you need to replace some of the hardware, look for a thread I started called "downpipe fastener threading" or something like that for good info.

You might find that you get a better angle at some of the fasteners from underneath the car rather than from above the passenger side strut tower.

Good luck!

91White-T · Post by **91White-T** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 12:31 am

Guess I'm the only one who had bad experiences with DIY exhaust work. Oh well... tell us how it went.

Kelly · Post by **Kelly** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 12:47 am

I used to do em all day long with jackstands. I suggest taking it out in two parts. Split it after the cat, and ya, soaking everything in WD40 will make your life easier. Dont give up because of the heatsheild bolts, and theres a bunch of em, thats probably the hardest part!

Go Gettim Tiger !

legacy92ej22t · Post by **legacy92ej22t** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 1:38 am

If you have the TBE system that I think you do the only problem you may have is the hangers on the muffler. They have rally style backing plates, do they not? You may not be able to get the hangers over the little discs. If you can't then you may need new hangers put on the muffler to get them in the exhaust hangers.

Hmmm, that sounds pretty confusing because there is hangers on the exhaust itself and the rubber hangers that they go into. I think you can get what I'm saying though.

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 5:09 am

Grind those washers off, or something.

I was unsure of that setup, to tell the truth. I feel like the rubber hanger was put on, then the washer tack welded to the muffler hanger.

Subaru_Nation555 · Post by **Subaru_Nation555** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 5:50 am

Yeah I thought those might be a problem so I broke the washers off and grinded off the rest. The install will continue tomorrow with pictures to follow sometime soon.

legacy92ej22t · Post by **legacy92ej22t** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 6:44 am

Oh cool.

If you want to keep the rally style hangers once you get the exhaust hung, an easy way is to drill little holes through the mufflers hanger's and use a flat washer and coder pin just outside the rubber hanger. This will keep it nice and tight.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 6:49 am

Replace all hardware with stainless to make life easier down the road, too.

Steve

Subaru_Nation555 · Post by **Subaru_Nation555** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 5:33 pm

Well I'm offically feed up with the bolts on the turbo-those buggers are stuck on tight. I kinda ran out of time so I am just gonna install the midpipe and muffler. The HKS downpipe will be for another weekend. I wanna try to get a sound clip of the new muffler so when I figure that out I'll try to post it along with some pics.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 7:24 pm

I don't think just the midpipe and muffler will bolt up correctly, unfortunately; WRX downpipes are longer than the Legacy downpipe.

legacy92ej22t · Post by **legacy92ej22t** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 7:50 pm

That and there won't really be any performance gains without replacing the DP either.

The turbo bolts can be a bugger but you need to do the DP most of all. Use a long breaker bar and about a gallon of PB.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 11:54 pm

Liquid wrench = torch. Worked on two Mercruiser 454s with manifold bolts so rotted that most bolt heads were almost completely flush.

Steve

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Shop or Not?

Shop or Not?