CME install....update and teaser...
07-26-2005, 11:32 PM
#1
CME install....update and teaser... Well fellas, as promised...a little write-up for my CME install.
I started at 11am. First I cleaned the area where the valence would sit...that took about a half hour. Then came getting the stock tips off....
This went really well. What I did was use an angle grinder and went around the weld on each tip. With a little twist, the stock tips came right off. The CME will use the same part of the pipes as the dual/dual tips were on, so I cant just chop the dual/duals off or there will be no pipe for the CME bends to slip over and still have the CME in the right place.
Next, I fit up the CME tips with the 90° (more like 87° and 93°) bends just to make sure everything fit. This is where it started to get tough. The passenger side bend fits fine. The driver's side is a POS! I have no idea how SLP gets them to fit....maybe that's why the SLP installed ones aren't exactly straight and centered
....shame on SLP for that....the bends probably work fine on a car that hasnt had the whole rear exhaust sytem welded up yet. Why GM and SLP cant make an exhaust system with tailpipes that are straight back and parallel (instead of bent over one way then bent back a little) is beyond me.
Anyway, after a few trips to the muffler shop for some trimming and expanding of the driver side bend, I managed to get it worked out....$13 lighter in the pocket.
Pics for ya.....
First pic shows how I got the stock tips off and where I used the grider....this worked awesome
Second pic shows how the pipes looked after the tips were pulled off...the passenger pipe has the weld ground down smooth, driver's side hasnt been touched yet...I think this is the best way to get them off without losing any of the pipe which you'll need for the bends to go over.
Third pic shows fitting the bends and making sure they were on the right way. Looks fine so far...CME tip should slide right in....shouldn't they?
Fourth pic shows the passenger side of the CME tip that had to be trimmed. This was done so that the whole tip could be moved toward the passenger side to make it centered. The passenger bend had to be trimmed the same amount as well...still, it fit much better than the driver's side bend
Fifth pic shows the trial fit...with exhaust still hanging, just to see how far out they were from the bumper and how parallel they were with the bottom of the bumper. Here it looks like it will work fine......BUT, I havent put the valence up yet...stay tuned!
I started at 11am. First I cleaned the area where the valence would sit...that took about a half hour. Then came getting the stock tips off....
This went really well. What I did was use an angle grinder and went around the weld on each tip. With a little twist, the stock tips came right off. The CME will use the same part of the pipes as the dual/dual tips were on, so I cant just chop the dual/duals off or there will be no pipe for the CME bends to slip over and still have the CME in the right place.
Next, I fit up the CME tips with the 90° (more like 87° and 93°) bends just to make sure everything fit. This is where it started to get tough. The passenger side bend fits fine. The driver's side is a POS! I have no idea how SLP gets them to fit....maybe that's why the SLP installed ones aren't exactly straight and centered
....shame on SLP for that....the bends probably work fine on a car that hasnt had the whole rear exhaust sytem welded up yet. Why GM and SLP cant make an exhaust system with tailpipes that are straight back and parallel (instead of bent over one way then bent back a little) is beyond me.Anyway, after a few trips to the muffler shop for some trimming and expanding of the driver side bend, I managed to get it worked out....$13 lighter in the pocket.
Pics for ya.....
First pic shows how I got the stock tips off and where I used the grider....this worked awesome
Second pic shows how the pipes looked after the tips were pulled off...the passenger pipe has the weld ground down smooth, driver's side hasnt been touched yet...I think this is the best way to get them off without losing any of the pipe which you'll need for the bends to go over.
Third pic shows fitting the bends and making sure they were on the right way. Looks fine so far...CME tip should slide right in....shouldn't they?
Fourth pic shows the passenger side of the CME tip that had to be trimmed. This was done so that the whole tip could be moved toward the passenger side to make it centered. The passenger bend had to be trimmed the same amount as well...still, it fit much better than the driver's side bend
Fifth pic shows the trial fit...with exhaust still hanging, just to see how far out they were from the bumper and how parallel they were with the bottom of the bumper. Here it looks like it will work fine......BUT, I havent put the valence up yet...stay tuned!
07-27-2005, 11:58 AM
#7
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When you put the valence on use a little bit of dawn and water (1 drop f dawn to 1 bottle of water) and spray it so you can kinda move the valnce around to position it right once its on. I just redid my valence and it worked a lot better using the soap and water!!
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07-27-2005, 01:09 PM
#9
I got the valence on pretty nice...I dont like how the gray tape can be seen if you look downward the the valence, I put it about 1/4" away from the top edge, but you can still see it if you're standing right behind the bumper....I may just darken it with a hobby brush and a little NBM The soap idea would probably work great, but it looks good for now, if I ever re-do it I'll keep that in mind.
Nah, get the SLP tips. There are some in the for sale section right now for $220. Thats a good deal...
They might be going inthe for sale section...cant decise if I should keep them because they came with the car, or if I should let them go. I'll get picvs of those too...they would be super easy to put on from the way I took them off.
Update soon....right now I have to clean and sweep the garage, dust off the car, maybe do a little NXT spray shine, then I'll have some pics
The soap idea would probably work great, but it looks good for now, if I ever re-do it I'll keep that in mind.
Originally Posted by JustAnIlluzion
looks good, i found the valance piece, all i need is know knock off tips heh
Originally Posted by SRZ
So what are you doing w/ the dual duals?
Update soon....right now I have to clean and sweep the garage, dust off the car, maybe do a little NXT spray shine, then I'll have some pics
07-29-2005, 11:02 AM
#18
Aside from the SLP bends not fitting right, it wasn't too bad to install. I managed to get the tips tucked up a little more. Now the edge of the polished lips are about 1" below the valence.
It took me from 11am to about 8pm to do everything. I'll admit I took my time to do it the way I wanted, but if I didnt care how straight it was or what kind of clamps I used, it could have been on in about 4 hours or so. I spent an hour just doing the clay bar on the rear bumper and getting the road gunk off the lower part...
Also, after I put the sticky tape on the valence, I let it sit in the sun for about 30 minutes....it went on like butter
The only thing I want to do is darken the top edge of the foam tape so it will be harder to see when looking down between the valence and bumper (the tape is gray), and I also want to replace the SLP bends in the future....I just have to find someone who can do mandrel bending, will let me help with fitting them, and wont charge an arm and a leg
It took me from 11am to about 8pm to do everything. I'll admit I took my time to do it the way I wanted, but if I didnt care how straight it was or what kind of clamps I used, it could have been on in about 4 hours or so. I spent an hour just doing the clay bar on the rear bumper and getting the road gunk off the lower part...
Also, after I put the sticky tape on the valence, I let it sit in the sun for about 30 minutes....it went on like butter
The only thing I want to do is darken the top edge of the foam tape so it will be harder to see when looking down between the valence and bumper (the tape is gray), and I also want to replace the SLP bends in the future....I just have to find someone who can do mandrel bending, will let me help with fitting them, and wont charge an arm and a leg