All, sorry to thread hijack a bit, but I had a question regarding the heat shields on the AMS downpipe. Do the OEM heat shields fit this? I haven't seen pictures anyone has with heat shields on the AMS downpipe. HBSpeed installed mine and they weren't put on, but I see bolt holes on the AMS downpipe for what I would think would be a heat shield.

So in short - should I have a heat shield on my AMS downpipe?

 

Those bolt holes towards the top left of the picture are for a heat shield that was never designed or produced because it's not necessary...

 

aren't those the holes to hold the stock heat shield flimsy thing on? I don't have them in my UR o2 housing, the shield just sits on there.

 

I just did this last weekend. It took about 3 hours but we did the full exhaust so it took alittle longer then if we did just the downpipe. You do have to get the heat shield off the O2 to get it out of the car.

All the other heat shields fix right back on AMS's DP.

 

I just started taking some stuff apart. My turbo-back ETS exhaust comes tomorrow.

At 2:45pm I started.. It's 4:30pm now and I just got all the heat shielding off the OEM downpipe so I have access to break free all the downpipe bolts. I was just using a 12mm socket and a 12mm open end wrench. Boy.. those bottom two heat shield bolts you have to break free by laying under the car are hard to get. I devised a method by sticking the open end wrench on the bolt, then using a hammer (my breaker bar) wedged between where the CV shaft goes into the trans. I used it to pry and break free the bolts. It worked.. man that's a *****. I hate when manufacturers put the downpipe on the rear of the engine. There's no good way to reach it. You're super limited by all the steering and suspension components blocking access.

If you want to have some fun, this is an install for you. Otherwise, I'd pay a good $100 to $150 for a downpipe install.

 

What is a fair price for this install, I got quoted $200 and I was like damn I can probably do this myself and save 200 bucks. Then I can put that 200 towards something else.

 

That's fair. But, make sure it's reputable shop and they know what they are quoting you for, because it's not a trivial job.

 

I think thats a decent price, if it was JMS who gave you the quote i would go for it. They have installed a few of these already and did a great job too.

 

Ok.. I got all the bolts off the downpipe except the one that faces the opposite way. I have a feeling that one is going to be impossible. I can't even see where to get to it from.

The top 3 and middle front-facing bolts came off super easy.. the hardest one for me was the very bottom rear one. I was wrenching with my full body weight and it wouldn't break free. I went to the store and bought a 1/2'' to 3/8'' adapter for my socket driver, then put a shorter extension on. I balanced a hammer between the trans case and the steering assembly so I had something to provide a point where my torque on the wrench would be maximized when I pulled down on it. I tried wrenching it like 10 more times with all the force I could.. still nothing. (I had used Kroil and PB Blaster too). Just before I gave up to come inside I tried one more time, and it came off with about 20lb of force. I was like FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!

 

Lol!! ^^ that's funny as ****..

 

Well, even more FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU today. It looks like I will be shopping with other vendors from now on. I'll see what AMS has to offer. https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/se...em-review.html

 

AMS is the only way to go in my opinion man... they have been great at their customer service and the products are top-notch!

 

Im doing mine tomorrow, cant I just do it from the bottom?? do I have to take the turbo and manifold out??

 

Do not take the manifold and turbo out, but do plan on the heat shield business being about 1/2 of the work from the top. Will also need to wrench 2 or 3 of the bolts for the o2 housing from the top once the shields are out of your way. Everything else is from under. I'd say it was probably 50-50 in the time spent between top and bottom, but the removal of the DP, cat and exhaust were really fast because those bolts were generally accessible.

(Note, the DP - o2 bolts can be reached with an impact wrench with a swivel, so long as you have a nice 24" extension.)

 

Yup.. all the heat shielding that needs to come out can be done from the top. That's actually the easy part. If you're using hand tools like I did, good luck on the downpipe removal. It's fun.