Bassani LT installation - day 1
01-11-2009, 06:56 PM
#11
4th Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 1,679
Perched and ready for the operation. Five 2x12's was a perfect height (7.5 inches) for my ramps. After I parked on the front ramps, we jacked up the back (no pumpkin!) and slid ramps under there to give us more room under the middle. It was actually comfortable under there. The back of lowest level on the ramp isn't messed up. The last piece of wood is just pushed out of the way so I could get underneath from the side. BTW, the top 3 levels & bump stop are all screwed together. The bottom 2 levels are loose pieces.
Didn't take any pics during the LT install. I was a lot more concerned about cussing and bleeding.
Stock header stud & nut. I much prefer this design to regular bolts. Those nuts had a lot of torque on them.
An extra Bassani header bolt and anti-seize which I mainly used as lube to get the bolts in easily. And there's one of my beloved gear wrenches. But #*$%& #^$^ I didn't have an 8mm gear wrench that fit this Bassani header bolt. And I'm still worried about whether or not the LTs are in there tight enough. You just can't put much torque on anything that screws into aluminum.
Driver side, post-operation.
Driver side from underneath. You can see the steering linkage there. We didn't have to disconnect anything on this side. No steering hassle. No motor mount hassle. One tube goes between the steering & frame. The other 3 tubes seen here go between the steering & engine.
A different angle of the driver side from underneath.
Passenger side. Notice the missing cam cover bolt. It came from the factory this way.
Passenger side underneath. We didn't take out the starter, but we did disconnect it to get wires out of the way of the motor mount. I was really uncomfortable having the engine jacked up for the motor mount shuffle. And for some reason it was further complicated because the engine didn't lift straight up - passenger side stayed about an inch lower than the driver side during jacking.
Here's a look at my collectors. These separate pipes are fitted with high-temp silicone sealant into these collector pieces. There are also screws into tabs which help hold the collectors & pipes together. See, the clearance isn't bad.
Here's what remains - putting on the midpipe, sawing off 10.5 inches from these axelback pipes and getting it all fitted. These pipes can't come off the car without getting it high on a lift. We'll have to saw under the car.
BTW, I pre-fitted the midpipe already. The LT alignment is a little off, making the x-pipe sit about an inch off center. But since the midpipe is in 5 pieces (X, 2 cats, & 2 bent pipes) I have enough places to adjust to compensate. It appears everything is going to come together ok.
Didn't take any pics during the LT install. I was a lot more concerned about cussing and bleeding.
Stock header stud & nut. I much prefer this design to regular bolts. Those nuts had a lot of torque on them.
An extra Bassani header bolt and anti-seize which I mainly used as lube to get the bolts in easily. And there's one of my beloved gear wrenches. But #*$%& #^$^ I didn't have an 8mm gear wrench that fit this Bassani header bolt. And I'm still worried about whether or not the LTs are in there tight enough. You just can't put much torque on anything that screws into aluminum.
Driver side, post-operation.
Driver side from underneath. You can see the steering linkage there. We didn't have to disconnect anything on this side. No steering hassle. No motor mount hassle. One tube goes between the steering & frame. The other 3 tubes seen here go between the steering & engine.
A different angle of the driver side from underneath.
Passenger side. Notice the missing cam cover bolt. It came from the factory this way.
Passenger side underneath. We didn't take out the starter, but we did disconnect it to get wires out of the way of the motor mount. I was really uncomfortable having the engine jacked up for the motor mount shuffle. And for some reason it was further complicated because the engine didn't lift straight up - passenger side stayed about an inch lower than the driver side during jacking.
Here's a look at my collectors. These separate pipes are fitted with high-temp silicone sealant into these collector pieces. There are also screws into tabs which help hold the collectors & pipes together. See, the clearance isn't bad.
Here's what remains - putting on the midpipe, sawing off 10.5 inches from these axelback pipes and getting it all fitted. These pipes can't come off the car without getting it high on a lift. We'll have to saw under the car.
BTW, I pre-fitted the midpipe already. The LT alignment is a little off, making the x-pipe sit about an inch off center. But since the midpipe is in 5 pieces (X, 2 cats, & 2 bent pipes) I have enough places to adjust to compensate. It appears everything is going to come together ok.
Last edited by shanec; 01-11-2009 at 07:02 PM.
01-11-2009, 07:50 PM
#12
4th Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 1,679
Seeing this I want to cry - http://www.amazon.com/Wrench-9908-Fl.../dp/B000HBF660
Its an 8mm gear wrench for $20. Saturday morning I would have paid $50. Saturday afternoon, I would have paid $150.
I'm gonna order this sucker right now. Overnight shipping, dammit.
Its an 8mm gear wrench for $20. Saturday morning I would have paid $50. Saturday afternoon, I would have paid $150.
I'm gonna order this sucker right now. Overnight shipping, dammit.
01-13-2009, 01:57 AM
#15
4th Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 1,679
Day 2 (Sunday)...nothing waiting on word from Bassani about these O2 extensions that don't fit.
Day 3 (Monday)...Bassani says nobody makes any extensions that "fit", cut the notches off and then they fit. They're right.
Monday night...Cut 10.5 inches off midpipe-to-axelback pipes and completed installation. I've got some minor pipe alignment issues. Left exhaust tip looks good. Right exhaust tip is rubbing the bumper. Hard to explain what's happening here, but I can see what's wrong. I've made all the adjustments that I think can be made.
I think I'm gonna toss this to a muffler shop and I'm sure they could make a minor bend or two and have everything straightened out pretty easily.
OK, so how does it PERFORM.....
I loaded Bamachips 93 Race tune made for my CAI & LT's. It does feel a tad quicker. Nothing major. I guess this is to be expected if I'm only adding 15 or so horsepower with the LT addition.
How does it SOUND....
A lot different than I expected. It is not deeper or louder than before. It is actually LESS throatier. It is infinitely smoother (guess smooth is the opposite of throaty). The little bit of trumpeting I had from the manifold-Xpipe-GTA combo completely disappeared. What detectable drone I used to have with that setup also disappeared.
Having less drone due to Bassani LT's is a bit curious. Ya see, I always had read that GTA mufflers had ZERO drone, but with stock manifolds I could always hear drone in the GTA's. Granted, it wasn't loud drone but I could clearly hear it. But now with these LT's the drone is completely gone.
Dang, sure wish I hadn't sold my Stingers a while back. I'd sure like to try those out again. Maybe I'll try some Bassani mufflers next. They probably work well in a complete Bassani setup.
Oh yeah - no exhaust leaks or check engine light. Whew.
Day 3 (Monday)...Bassani says nobody makes any extensions that "fit", cut the notches off and then they fit. They're right.
Monday night...Cut 10.5 inches off midpipe-to-axelback pipes and completed installation. I've got some minor pipe alignment issues. Left exhaust tip looks good. Right exhaust tip is rubbing the bumper. Hard to explain what's happening here, but I can see what's wrong. I've made all the adjustments that I think can be made.
I think I'm gonna toss this to a muffler shop and I'm sure they could make a minor bend or two and have everything straightened out pretty easily.
OK, so how does it PERFORM.....
I loaded Bamachips 93 Race tune made for my CAI & LT's. It does feel a tad quicker. Nothing major. I guess this is to be expected if I'm only adding 15 or so horsepower with the LT addition.
How does it SOUND....
A lot different than I expected. It is not deeper or louder than before. It is actually LESS throatier. It is infinitely smoother (guess smooth is the opposite of throaty). The little bit of trumpeting I had from the manifold-Xpipe-GTA combo completely disappeared. What detectable drone I used to have with that setup also disappeared.
Having less drone due to Bassani LT's is a bit curious. Ya see, I always had read that GTA mufflers had ZERO drone, but with stock manifolds I could always hear drone in the GTA's. Granted, it wasn't loud drone but I could clearly hear it. But now with these LT's the drone is completely gone.
Dang, sure wish I hadn't sold my Stingers a while back. I'd sure like to try those out again. Maybe I'll try some Bassani mufflers next. They probably work well in a complete Bassani setup.
Oh yeah - no exhaust leaks or check engine light. Whew.
Last edited by shanec; 01-13-2009 at 02:02 AM.
01-13-2009, 04:43 PM
#17
1st Gear Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location:
Posts: 118
I have the Bassani mid pipe and Bassani axle-backs and have the same issue with the tips contacting the bumper. It hasn't proven to be any actual problem other than it bothers me. I'm not pleased with their x-pipe but I do like their race axle-backs. Good pictures of the process though. It has made me now think that getting them installed at a shop is much more worth my money than dealing with it myself.
01-13-2009, 06:04 PM
#19
4th Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 1,679
I have the Bassani mid pipe and Bassani axle-backs and have the same issue with the tips contacting the bumper. It hasn't proven to be any actual problem other than it bothers me. I'm not pleased with their x-pipe but I do like their race axle-backs. Good pictures of the process though. It has made me now think that getting them installed at a shop is much more worth my money than dealing with it myself.
The Bassani LT install is nice in that feeding one tube in there at a time means you get to leave the steering & starter alone. But I also think the 8 individual pipes made for a longer install time because all 8 pipes have to be held into place individually while you get the header bolts started into the block. I'd imagine with a one-piece JBA (or other) header, it may be a #*$^& getting it into place but once there the header bolts probably all fall into place a lot easier.
Vids coming...kinda busy right now. Gotta catch up on everything that got deprived while I slaved over my car.
Last edited by shanec; 01-13-2009 at 06:06 PM.
