Alex D
Well-known member
Well, I got done mounting the Corsa Cat-back on my 1996 LT1 Coupe A4.
You can get it done in about three hours all by yourself if you keep at it, even on your first try. I spent a lot of time thinking before unbolting stuff how I was going to do it right and took my time. It really helps if you have a buddy helping with it, especially when lifting in the new Corsa center muffler and when aligning the entire Corsa system. It is just so many parts all clamped together. Get ready for a lot of wrenching. Those TORCA clamps supplied with the Corsa now take quite a bit of force for a clamp to tighten down. Make sure to use the anti seize provided by Corsa or you may strip a bolt on a TORCA clamp and this stuff also helps to tighten them properly.
REMOVAL OF THE OLD SYSTEM:
I have several floor jacks, so I had the car on ramps in the front and lifted the rear with two of my long frame floor jacks that go up to 55 inches until the car was a little higher in the rear than the front and I could comfortably slip under there. I used another 2 ½ ton jack to remove the old system and lift the center muffler in there.
The old stock system came out all in one piece. This was much easier than I thought it would be. Took me about an hour, being very careful in the process not to nick anything. I was most concerned about the slip-fit passenger side to be a problem, but it pulled right apart. If you have the chance put some WD40 on all bolts and the slip fit overnight before install. It helps greatly!
All fasteners on the old system and the Corsa system are metric, so be prepared. Mostly for the clamps it’s a 15mm wrench and a few others I don’t remember. Getting the front driver side flange bolts out is tricky on the upper bolt, you need a deep well socket fitted to a flex joint and a ton of extensions to get the ratchet positioned above the pipe and about where the VSS is in the tranny. All bolts on my system came lose relatively easy with the help of a little WD40.
The O2 sensor is another little ordeal. No way to get the connector apart without lowering the pipe since it has a safety pin and you can't get your hands in there with the pipe in place. I also doubt that you can easily remove the old system with the sensor in there as the instructions indicate because on my automatic Vette the gear selector lever will be somewhat in the way since it is right behind the O2 sensor when in park. I just took a wrench and unscrewed my O2 sensor. The five wires are long enough and wind up since it is only a couple of turns to get it out. I just left it hanging in there with the wires wound up and when I screwed it into the new header pipe the wires unwound again. Perfecto and by far the easiest way to deal with this baby on an automatic car.
You should remove all bolts from the old system and only leave it hanging on the rear muffler supports and the slip fit before you move to the back of the car to take it out. When you remove the old system, you MUST put a floor jack under it to support it and to be able to work it out of the passenger side slip fit. Best place for this is right behind the resonator with the system setting on the two pipes and on a 2x4 in between your jack pad and the system. In this position the system is also well balanced when it comes off. Corsa’s instructions want you to be farther back with the support point; I did not find that to be the best spot. Doing it my way the old system’s resonator will butt against the 2x4 on your jack and not slip off when you pull it out from the rear. Grabbing the system you just pull the floor jack right along with it. I had the jack under the old system from the rear and sat behind the car on the floor grabbing the exhaust pipes with both hands and just worked the entire system backwards. Lower it enough to clear the rear muffler hangers, and then take those out. Do not lower anymore now so the slip fit doesn’t bind! The slip fit is tight and you may have to take a hammer and screwdriver to get it going after you loosened the clamp. Once it gets going, you have to pull it back until the bend in the header pipe on the old system on the passenger side hits the tunnel/passenger foot well, once you cant go any farther back, lower the system farther down until the bend clears the tunnel/foot well and it will come right off. You may have to tilt the system a little to the driver side to get this done. It is a close affair in that spot.
The new Corsa system mounted just fine. It is a little jacking around since it comes in so many individual parts and I was by myself.
IMPORTANT TIP: I couldn't quite figure out which way those TORCA clamps are supposed to mount. I read thru the manual point by point, but missed the picture on the front of the manual showing how they are supposed to be installed. The bolt on the clamp is supposed to be 90 degrees offset from the slot. The slots are on the bottom, so the bolts on all clamps go on the side and are then also out of the way.
AFTERMATH: Something interesting I noticed. When the system heats up, the tips extend quite a bit more out the back than when it is cold. Stainless steel expands quite a bit more than regular steel. Coming from the interstate after test drive, the tips are about 1/2 inch to ¾ of an inch farther out than when the system cools back down. Once it cools down, the tips are again in the “retracted position”. ....... watch yours, it'll do it too
FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
The Corsa system is even quieter than I had anticipated, but being a new system that may change yet. Nice and quiet inside too, actually quieter than the stock system inside the car above 70 mph. Nice howl though when you're wide open.
The Flowmaster Force II was my other consideration. And at $534 at Jeg's and Summit they are a steal. I love the sound of those too, but they are not stainless steel and I just hate the tailpipe design. Additionally because the tailpipes are not exactly parallel, you can't even cut them off and fit tips over the round part of the pipe to make them look halfway decent. Anyway the Corsas will be fine for me.
Any questions….let me know…………. Thinkin' about a set for my wife's T/A now
You can get it done in about three hours all by yourself if you keep at it, even on your first try. I spent a lot of time thinking before unbolting stuff how I was going to do it right and took my time. It really helps if you have a buddy helping with it, especially when lifting in the new Corsa center muffler and when aligning the entire Corsa system. It is just so many parts all clamped together. Get ready for a lot of wrenching. Those TORCA clamps supplied with the Corsa now take quite a bit of force for a clamp to tighten down. Make sure to use the anti seize provided by Corsa or you may strip a bolt on a TORCA clamp and this stuff also helps to tighten them properly.
REMOVAL OF THE OLD SYSTEM:
I have several floor jacks, so I had the car on ramps in the front and lifted the rear with two of my long frame floor jacks that go up to 55 inches until the car was a little higher in the rear than the front and I could comfortably slip under there. I used another 2 ½ ton jack to remove the old system and lift the center muffler in there.
The old stock system came out all in one piece. This was much easier than I thought it would be. Took me about an hour, being very careful in the process not to nick anything. I was most concerned about the slip-fit passenger side to be a problem, but it pulled right apart. If you have the chance put some WD40 on all bolts and the slip fit overnight before install. It helps greatly!
All fasteners on the old system and the Corsa system are metric, so be prepared. Mostly for the clamps it’s a 15mm wrench and a few others I don’t remember. Getting the front driver side flange bolts out is tricky on the upper bolt, you need a deep well socket fitted to a flex joint and a ton of extensions to get the ratchet positioned above the pipe and about where the VSS is in the tranny. All bolts on my system came lose relatively easy with the help of a little WD40.
The O2 sensor is another little ordeal. No way to get the connector apart without lowering the pipe since it has a safety pin and you can't get your hands in there with the pipe in place. I also doubt that you can easily remove the old system with the sensor in there as the instructions indicate because on my automatic Vette the gear selector lever will be somewhat in the way since it is right behind the O2 sensor when in park. I just took a wrench and unscrewed my O2 sensor. The five wires are long enough and wind up since it is only a couple of turns to get it out. I just left it hanging in there with the wires wound up and when I screwed it into the new header pipe the wires unwound again. Perfecto and by far the easiest way to deal with this baby on an automatic car.
You should remove all bolts from the old system and only leave it hanging on the rear muffler supports and the slip fit before you move to the back of the car to take it out. When you remove the old system, you MUST put a floor jack under it to support it and to be able to work it out of the passenger side slip fit. Best place for this is right behind the resonator with the system setting on the two pipes and on a 2x4 in between your jack pad and the system. In this position the system is also well balanced when it comes off. Corsa’s instructions want you to be farther back with the support point; I did not find that to be the best spot. Doing it my way the old system’s resonator will butt against the 2x4 on your jack and not slip off when you pull it out from the rear. Grabbing the system you just pull the floor jack right along with it. I had the jack under the old system from the rear and sat behind the car on the floor grabbing the exhaust pipes with both hands and just worked the entire system backwards. Lower it enough to clear the rear muffler hangers, and then take those out. Do not lower anymore now so the slip fit doesn’t bind! The slip fit is tight and you may have to take a hammer and screwdriver to get it going after you loosened the clamp. Once it gets going, you have to pull it back until the bend in the header pipe on the old system on the passenger side hits the tunnel/passenger foot well, once you cant go any farther back, lower the system farther down until the bend clears the tunnel/foot well and it will come right off. You may have to tilt the system a little to the driver side to get this done. It is a close affair in that spot.
The new Corsa system mounted just fine. It is a little jacking around since it comes in so many individual parts and I was by myself.
IMPORTANT TIP: I couldn't quite figure out which way those TORCA clamps are supposed to mount. I read thru the manual point by point, but missed the picture on the front of the manual showing how they are supposed to be installed. The bolt on the clamp is supposed to be 90 degrees offset from the slot. The slots are on the bottom, so the bolts on all clamps go on the side and are then also out of the way.
AFTERMATH: Something interesting I noticed. When the system heats up, the tips extend quite a bit more out the back than when it is cold. Stainless steel expands quite a bit more than regular steel. Coming from the interstate after test drive, the tips are about 1/2 inch to ¾ of an inch farther out than when the system cools back down. Once it cools down, the tips are again in the “retracted position”. ....... watch yours, it'll do it too
FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
The Corsa system is even quieter than I had anticipated, but being a new system that may change yet. Nice and quiet inside too, actually quieter than the stock system inside the car above 70 mph. Nice howl though when you're wide open.
The Flowmaster Force II was my other consideration. And at $534 at Jeg's and Summit they are a steal. I love the sound of those too, but they are not stainless steel and I just hate the tailpipe design. Additionally because the tailpipes are not exactly parallel, you can't even cut them off and fit tips over the round part of the pipe to make them look halfway decent. Anyway the Corsas will be fine for me.
Any questions….let me know…………. Thinkin' about a set for my wife's T/A now
