sstang

Got my MAC cat-back the other day and Im getting ready to install it after lunch. How long should it take me?

SNORX302

If you're putting the car on a lift-shouldn't take more than an hour. If you're doing this in your driveway on jacks-you're gonna have to cut the pipes because there are no flanges to disconnect from like on the aftermarkets-its all one piece. Doing this may take a little longer-but with a good saw-probably only another hour or so.

stangman2354

i say an hour and a half at the most including getting the tools jacking the car up and then doing it and then putting it back down.

Hash06

yeah about an hour sounds right, but there always seems to be something that goes wrong. good luck though

sstang

I know what you mean, lol. But anyways, I have my car backed up on 2 ramps, so I have plenty of room. I'll take the hack saw and cut the stocker out.

stangman2354

good luck.

sstang

Uhh! Well the nights over. After a few hours of work, I got everything working, but the tips aren't lining up right. I'll have to do some more work on it tomorrow when I get home. Did anyone else have a problem lining them up? As for the sound, I love it and can't wait to get everything worked out.

XXrider

Just did mine yesterday. Previous owner had stock pipes that he'd cut the mufflers out of and welded in a hunk of pipe in their place. Sounded decent when idling, but did absolute crap for performance. And, without mufflers, was it obnoxiously loud at anything over 2 grand, even during moderate throttle use. Ack. Moron.

Anyways, the sawzall took care of the pipes in mere seconds. (Love that tool). The installation, in my garage, wasn't too bad. I only had a hydraulic jack and two jack stands, and it was still do-able. Took about 4 hours.... mostly due to the pain in the butt of crawling in and out from under various areas of the car, having to jack and work one side at a time, and working by myself - would have been quicker if I had someone to help. Still, not too bad to do alone...

Installation is actually pretty easy. The tough part is getting things adjusted so they align correctly. That took a fair amount of tweaking, but ultimately ended up being perfect. Just work logically, from the front towards the back, and you're there. MAC did a great thing with their joint system, so you'll be able to move the parts around in all sorts of ways to get them aligned. The back ended up being a piece of cake. My only issue was the right side exhaust being a pain to adjust around the gas tank, but it all ended up being good with a bit of adjustment work.

The overall sound is, as you said, amazing. Compared to the hill-billy sound of the straight pipes it's back to being something that you'd expect from a Mustang. (I've owned several over the years, but this is my first MAC system - very impressive).

And for anyone contemplating straight pipes (back from the cats), forget it: the car hates it. Performance, mileage, and sound are all way off from what they should be. I got the car, used, with very low miles from the original owner who admitted himself that it wasn't what it was when he bought it. Exhausts work, kids.

'rider.