I will start off with a couple photos how a Borla is shipped and how it should be shipped. Yes, I polished it
a little. I only show one tip below. The other differences can be seen through out the page Polishing was
done with a motorized fine wire brush and polishing compounds for Stainless Steel that contain ammonia.
You can see only the tips are polished at shipping The rest has an aluminum look
On the right you can see one polished tip compared to the other unpolished. The rest are shown below
 

I never realized a simple exhaust modification could bring me so much work,, geeesh. My problem is when
I see an area open up and have better access I have an uncontrollable desire to correct all the other flaws
before I fill the spot up again with a new system Then when I remove another object because it is more
accessible, it opens up another area and so on and so on and so on Kind of like a snowball rolling down a
mountain. Anyway, after removing the Differential, the Propeller Shaft, the Heat Shielding,
and the Fuel Tank, cleaning them up and also cleaning the undercarriage above those items and undercoating,
I finally got to install the new exhaust. A new record of about a week and a half for the install. Good thing
this isn't my daily driver. After cleaning up the original down pipe (yes, I had all that out too) I proceeded to
start the install from there to get to the point where most Cat Back installs will start. Refer to the original
exhaust removal page for reference on removing the original exhaust if you need to,,, Shown below is the
original reinstalled after cleaning it up. I was under the impression the original exhaust was Stainless Steel,
but it is not true Stainless and it is mixed with some standard steel parts. The flex joints are stainless, but the
flanges are all standard steel as a magnet will stick to them and a magnet will not stick to true Stainless.
A magnet will not stick to the entire Borla system. As shown below I chose to paint the original system to the
main cat with high heat aluminum paint. This paint is the same I painted the plenum with and will withstand
1200° and stay looking good. I used high heat black for the flanges. I cleaned up the flanges on the manifold
and the rear pre-cat and installed new gaskets. This in itself was a trip because no one had gaskets and the
dealer was out of them and wanted about $8 a piece for them I needed three, they only had two in Knoxville
and didn't feel like driving all the way there for an incomplete order. On the way back home I decided
to stop in a muffler shop. I explained my predicament and what they were charging and how I
thought it was an atrocity because all other gaskets of the same type are like $3 each. Well, he went to the
back, plucked three universal gaskets of the same size of his rack and handed them to me. I asked what
I owed and he said, "just take em, you'll need a muffler someday" It was a Maxi-Muffler Shop in Alcoa
home of Alcoa Aluminum. I thought that was rather nice so I thought I would mention it.
The cleanup of the front pre-cat required removal from the rest of the down pipe and the cleanup of the
main cat is also a lot easier when it is out, so you may wish to go the same route I did.  This only applies if
you did not get the down pipe and did not have a test pipe made. The photo on the left shows the system being
held in place by the nuts loosely on the manifold and the rear pre-cat and the photo on the right shows the
support location while you are tightening up the down pipe assembly. The main cat will kind of hang till
you start installing the Borla systems first straight pipe and get it supported
 

The next photo shows the first straight pipe for the borla installed and the rear most hanger installed to
support the system. Place the nuts for the flange loosely on the rear flange of the cat and then raise the pipe
in the rear and install the supplied bolt to hang it as shown below in the two photos. Tighten up all the bolts.
All the flange bolts call for 36 ft lbs of torque but I probably went closer to 45 lbs because I didn't feel
36 ft lbs was enough (just me)

Now moving back to the center of the first Borla pipe hang the pipe from it's supports as shown below.
It uses most of the original, except the cross brace. I also reinstalled the ground strap even though I do not
see much of a need for it. There is one shield for the rubber hanger that had to be bent to accommodate
the hanger strap on the Borla. Because the rubber hanger is so close to the exhaust I felt it was needed so
I bent it to fit on the top lip as seen in the photo on the left and also in position by the ground strap on the left
side of the right hand photo On the right of the right hand photo is the other hanger and uses the supplied bolt
 

Once everything is tightened up, move to the back Y pipe that Borla supplied. Install it as shown below and
install the band clamp provided by Borla. Install with the bolts facing up on eater side  checking for clearance.
Your mechanic will thank you or yourself when you avoid hitting your head on the stud sticking down
when it is on a lift or you are under the car. It also will be out of harms way for getting damaged from
road hazards. Make sure you also install the small piece of foil gasket included in the clamp hardware at
the seam. The clamp will tighten up all the way to where both sides are touching and squeezed together.
You will probably need a 1/2 " drive breaker bar or a 18" torque wrench to get it tight enough. It will
actually form a lip over the smaller diameter pipe and is designed to do that, so make sure you have at least
2" hanging over to the smaller pipe. If you look closely, you can see how it formed around the seam
between the two pipes. Also notice the location of the foil gasket in the photo on the right. Make sure the
pipe going to the passengers side is level as shown in the photo on the left
 

Next install and hang both mufflers and hang using the rubber from the old system over the hanging bars
on each assembly as shown below on the left and install the clamps once you have everything positioned like
you want it, again with the studs facing upwards as shown below on the right
 

 At this point there is only one thing left and that is the hole we are left with when we have shoved the active
exhaust cable into the hole. If you can measure the hole and find a solid rubber grommet for it that would be
the best solution, however you can also do what I did. Shown in the photos below I applied a glob of RTV
Silicone to a piece of masking tape that was of a larger diameter than the hole
I then evened out the silicone so it would protrude into the hole yet also seal to the undercarriage of the car.
The masking tape mearly holds it in place till it's cured. Let set overnight and remove the masking tape
and undercoat it the next day. Shown is five photos of the hole, the Silicone on the tape, the applied plug,
the cured plug and finally the undercoated finished product.
 

And there you have it! The completed Borla Cat Back System! Here is a couple more photos
of the completed job I have the sound recording made but not made into a wave file yet. I have also not
disconnected the battery to allow the ECS to remap the air flow. This is another thing you have to do and
no K&N or boost controller installed yet
 

Ok, here is the wave file I promised. It is while the car is on jacks, but I attempted to make it sound as if
it was going through the gears It's 231kb so it isn't that large. The introduction wave file was 85kb and it
was recorded when it was started for the first time after the install. You should have heard it when
the page finished loading. A lot of people have asked what the Borla sounds like, well, here it is.

Click here to hear a longer version of the one you heard when you came in

For Comments or questions on this Page Click Here

 To Return to 3SI Tips and Tricks Click the Image below

Photos and text Copyright John C. Adams  Use prohibited without authorization.
For questions send e-mail   Last Update 12/04/98