Hey, this is gonna sound stupid, but I don't know the answer so I wanted to find out.

Are all the aftermarket exhausts just bolt-on's. Is there any welding required? I've never had an aftermarket exhaust put on before and on all my friends trucks, they had to have welding done when they got their new exhausts.

I just bought the HKS and I'm waiting for it to arrive. My friend has a lift so I can work on it, but I'm wondering if I need to do any welding. If I do, then I'll just have a muffler shop put it on.

Would someone please comment on this? It seems like a lot of owners have installed these themselves and I never heard about any welding being done.

 

Nope, bolt on from cat back. No welding required.

 

after installing more than 15 exhausts on S2000s, my advice would be for you to go to your dealership and buy at least one set of the cat->exhaust bolt/nut. It alway seems to strip. I have an impact wrench, and that helps A LOT.

Good luck.

 

A tip I'd make to combat this is to soak the bolts down in Liquid Wrench the day before removing them. Works best if you can let it sit afterwards until you work on it. Sounds like a PITA, and it is, but will save you from having to monkey with new studs (6 of one, half a dozen of the other?).

 

Also, be very careful to align both exhaust tips. It is easy to have them too far to one side (by 1/2 inch), especially to the right side, and it will burn your bumper. It's not a big deal because it can be trimmed and will not be detectable, but it happened on mine and could have been prevented with a bit of care.

The original system is one-piece and the after-markets are usually three. They are all very much the same. I have the RMRacing and like it.

 

So would you say that the chances are good that I will strip the bolts?

Also, does anyone know about how much it would probably cost just to have a professional put it on?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jaded41
[B]So would you say that the chances are good that I will strip the bolts?

 

Call around....I got quoted from $60 to $100. Called an independent shop here, quoted me $60. Got there, took them 20 min to install and only charged me $40. They commented on how easy and well designed the system was to install. Mine was a Neuspeed Cat-Back system. But the HKS is very similar in design. Most these shops just see "universal fit" systems that have to have a nip-n-tuck to fit. So they really like the custom stuff. All the installers gathered around the car before they lifted it, then gathered again underneath it. Got a lot of comments on the DiGrappa X-Brace.

 

I just called around. It looks like $60 for bolt-on cat backs is the norm.

 

Jaded....If you decide to do it yourself, I'd be happy to help!