Just did up-pipes, i'm beat!

[stangclassic66]

Well, I just woke up and i'm hurting in places I haven't felt pain in a long time.

This was my first time pulling a 7.3 apart as much as I did. I was a bit overwhelmed at first but glad I did it. I do feel a lot more comfortable with the engine.

I must say, it helped a great deal to pull everything including the downpipe. I was able to remove the entire up-pipe assembly as a whole which made things much easier.

I also used the recommended Felpro 8194 gaskets. They are huge and don't really let the flanges come close to the collector. I do hope they hold for as much work I put into it. I also added a 4" MBRP downpipe and a turbo with a wicked wheel on it. I also pulled the insulation from the driver side intercooler tube.

I fired her up and she started and seems to run better. I can't really tell a whole lot because it's running on just a downpipe and is REALLY loud. The turbo whistle is a whole heck of a lot louder and i've got mixed feelings and a little remorse about pulling the insulation off that intercooler pipe.

Anyway, i'm scheduled to get my mbrp 4" muffler welded in. I don't have a 4" piping to go over the axle so i'm either going to have the muffler shop weld a reducer from my 4" back down to the OEM 3.5" or i'm going to have him weld in a 4" turn out just before the rear tire. Do you think it will be too loud just before the rear tire? I honestly don't want this truck too loud.

Thanks for listening and the input.

[stangclassic66]

Oh, and how important is it to torque the v-band clamps? I tightened those *****es until they almost wouldn't turn anymore.

I also installed Clay's plenum inserts and tightened those clamps until they wouldn't turn anymore too. Pretty much all the clamps involved in this project got clamped down with a ratchet like there is no tomorrow.

The v-band clamp at the collector was the worst, I put in the up-pipe assembly in as a whole with all the pipe to collector flanges already tightened so it was a bear to get the collector to mesh with the turbo. There was a little wrestling at the bottom where the ex. manifold to pipes connected but I worked her in there.

I figure if I ever have to do these again, it'll be with the international bellowed pipes.