Finally....got my Kooks LT's and Y on.
06-03-2006, 01:36 PM
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Finally....got my Kooks LT's and Y on. Started the other day, got everything off in 4 hours including the AIR, EGR, and plugs. Reinstall took me 7 hours. I had a lift and unlimited tools pretty much.
I thought the whole operation was just a total nightmare! Everything came off ok and went back in without a hitch, but it was just a huge pain in the *** getting to and accessing all of the bolts. Even with my gear wrenches, pivoting sockets, and u joint extensions. My hands and forearms are covered with scratches and blisters. Things that come to mind most, the rear drivers side header bolt, getting the dipstick back in was a two person job and slowed me down alot, and getting the rearmost plug wires on the passenger side. Without my female assistant, I would have been screwed I think. I don't know how you guys work on these things without moving the passenger side coil pack. The headers went in great but need to be positioned perfectly to get the bolts to start threading. I had to remove the oil filter and the driver side went right in. I actually had my new plugs in when installing the headers so swapping plugs was really easy and took me 10 minutes maybe. Definitely looks nice and is easier to work on without AIR or EGR though. I'm glad I did it, I just need to get those tuned out.
The kooks catted y was sweet. Good quality and all the slip fittings went right in, good quality band clamps too. It was a little bent on one opening but a hammer and anvil fixed that no problem. I had to cut maybe 2" off of the I pipe to get everything to line up with the Magnaflow cat back.
I got finished, fired it up and it idled really low for about 2 minutes and then she found the spot. Basically, it sounds like the Magnaflow always did but louder, and deeper. I couldn't hear any rasp at all, revving it in the shop, just nice deep, bassy cackle in the higher RPM range. I raised it back up and uncapped the cutout, fired it up and the SES light came on instantly. With the cutout open, it sounds brutal, not really good, but ok, kinda sounds like a big loud truck. Pulling out of the garage instantly set of alarms in the parking lot.
I looked for leaks, banging, clearance issues, and everything looked great. I'm sure something will come up eventually though.
Driving under bridges and going WOT next to people is awesome. You hear the car reverberating off of everything. The compliments and looks on their faces is priceless. People actually stop, roll down their windows and ask about my exhaust and say it sounds good.
The next day at the track, I could definitely feel a power difference. I had my most inconsistent worst night at the track ever though. Too inconsistent for me to even want to reveal my shitty times. I've gotten alot of new mods since last summer and had pulled the car out of storage from my Iraq deployment and was having issues. I did 4 runs and had no traction at all. The first two runs was a tire pressure issue, way too much, lowering the pressure wasn't as bad in 1st but I couldn't keep the car straight around the 330' mark. Hitting second gear on the track at WOT is just complete tire spin now. I felt like I was driving on ice, I would completely have to get out of it. I didn't have time to get my DR's on so I was on street tires. The car definitely makes more power than I can put to the ground with my shitty street tires. Somehow, one of my o2's came unplugged at the track too. I'll just have to wait next year to run it with the DR's.
I'm happy with the Kooks, the sound and power is there, good fit too. Working on these cars is such a pain in the *** though. I was going to do the motor mounts, but looking at them with the headers off, I said screw it. I didn't have enough time and I'm going back to Iraq tomorrow.
Sorry no pics or soundclips, I know I'm one of the few running this setup and some are curious about the sound. It's a bit too loud for me with the cutout open though. Driving 45 minutes to the track at 80mph gave me a headache. I'm really looking forward to closing it now and hearing some sounds through the muffler. The little bit that I heard sounded totally awesome though, I'm really pleased.
I thought the whole operation was just a total nightmare! Everything came off ok and went back in without a hitch, but it was just a huge pain in the *** getting to and accessing all of the bolts. Even with my gear wrenches, pivoting sockets, and u joint extensions. My hands and forearms are covered with scratches and blisters. Things that come to mind most, the rear drivers side header bolt, getting the dipstick back in was a two person job and slowed me down alot, and getting the rearmost plug wires on the passenger side. Without my female assistant, I would have been screwed I think. I don't know how you guys work on these things without moving the passenger side coil pack. The headers went in great but need to be positioned perfectly to get the bolts to start threading. I had to remove the oil filter and the driver side went right in. I actually had my new plugs in when installing the headers so swapping plugs was really easy and took me 10 minutes maybe. Definitely looks nice and is easier to work on without AIR or EGR though. I'm glad I did it, I just need to get those tuned out.
The kooks catted y was sweet. Good quality and all the slip fittings went right in, good quality band clamps too. It was a little bent on one opening but a hammer and anvil fixed that no problem. I had to cut maybe 2" off of the I pipe to get everything to line up with the Magnaflow cat back.
I got finished, fired it up and it idled really low for about 2 minutes and then she found the spot. Basically, it sounds like the Magnaflow always did but louder, and deeper. I couldn't hear any rasp at all, revving it in the shop, just nice deep, bassy cackle in the higher RPM range. I raised it back up and uncapped the cutout, fired it up and the SES light came on instantly. With the cutout open, it sounds brutal, not really good, but ok, kinda sounds like a big loud truck. Pulling out of the garage instantly set of alarms in the parking lot.
I looked for leaks, banging, clearance issues, and everything looked great. I'm sure something will come up eventually though.Driving under bridges and going WOT next to people is awesome. You hear the car reverberating off of everything. The compliments and looks on their faces is priceless. People actually stop, roll down their windows and ask about my exhaust and say it sounds good.
The next day at the track, I could definitely feel a power difference. I had my most inconsistent worst night at the track ever though. Too inconsistent for me to even want to reveal my shitty times. I've gotten alot of new mods since last summer and had pulled the car out of storage from my Iraq deployment and was having issues. I did 4 runs and had no traction at all. The first two runs was a tire pressure issue, way too much, lowering the pressure wasn't as bad in 1st but I couldn't keep the car straight around the 330' mark. Hitting second gear on the track at WOT is just complete tire spin now. I felt like I was driving on ice, I would completely have to get out of it. I didn't have time to get my DR's on so I was on street tires. The car definitely makes more power than I can put to the ground with my shitty street tires. Somehow, one of my o2's came unplugged at the track too. I'll just have to wait next year to run it with the DR's.
I'm happy with the Kooks, the sound and power is there, good fit too. Working on these cars is such a pain in the *** though. I was going to do the motor mounts, but looking at them with the headers off, I said screw it. I didn't have enough time and I'm going back to Iraq tomorrow.
Sorry no pics or soundclips, I know I'm one of the few running this setup and some are curious about the sound. It's a bit too loud for me with the cutout open though. Driving 45 minutes to the track at 80mph gave me a headache. I'm really looking forward to closing it now and hearing some sounds through the muffler. The little bit that I heard sounded totally awesome though, I'm really pleased.
06-03-2006, 09:17 PM
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Thanks We take pride in what we do and to read all your positive comments all we at KOOKS can say is thanks. Good luck over there, been there. Again thanks for the positive feed back.Shoot me a email when you come home and I will send you some apparel.Thanks George R SEMPER FI 
06-04-2006, 01:13 AM
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Originally Posted by LightEmUpLs1
yeah if u would of removed the coil pack it would of been alot easier
06-04-2006, 01:16 AM
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Originally Posted by GeorgeR@kooks
We take pride in what we do and to read all your positive comments all we at KOOKS can say is thanks. Good luck over there, been there. Again thanks for the positive feed back.Shoot me a email when you come home and I will send you some apparel.Thanks George R SEMPER FI
Thanks, I will definitely hit you up for that. I already put the "Kooks" stickers on my car....well, not really, I'll put them on my toolbox.
I will be a Kooks pusher on the forum from here on out. The fit was truly spectacular and the sound and power is awesome.
06-04-2006, 01:27 AM
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Great to hear you are happy with your Kooks. I'm waiting for mine to arrive and I can't wait much longer. 
My uncle just came back from his third and final tour in Iraq, and my cousin is out there now. So take care of yourself, good luck and come back soon. Thanks for everything.
My uncle just came back from his third and final tour in Iraq, and my cousin is out there now. So take care of yourself, good luck and come back soon. Thanks for everything.
