Reply With QuoteNice write up, sound clip?
Nobody makes or carries a straight pipe axleback so I decided to make my own. The 5zigen Superlap is the closest thing to what I was looking for, but I wasn't about to spend 400 dollars on some bent pipe. In Japan a company named 3Q Cars makes a straight pipe axleback, but nobody in the USA carries their product so I was out of luck. I already have a Spoon N1 midpipe, and I like keeping the stock axleback attached when driving around town. But for some days or when racing I wanted to make a little more noise. Not a lot of axlebacks exist for our cars, let alone ones that look good. I also wasn't about to commit to a catback since I would loose the ability to swap out the axleback if I got tired of all the noise.
Picture of the 3Q axleback:
So here it is my DIY for making a straight pipe axleback. I purposely kept the fabrication light so it could be made by anyone. Of course you can go to a muffler shop and they could make one, but the places around me quoted me some staggering figures and I don't like the idea of letting other people touch my car. This was just easier and I was able to build it how I wanted.
1) First thing I did was order an RSX Type S axleback off eBay. This would serve as the donor for getting the correct flange and bend in the pipe. A base RSX axleback won't work, the flanges are welded on at a different angle. This cost me around 70 bucks shipped to my door. There is a whole bunch floating around on eBay, the one I bought advertised a 2 1/2" pipe diameter. The other ones advertise 2" or 2 1/4". They may all be the same in reality, I have no idea. But the one I bought eventually turned out to be 2 3/8"
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWNX%3AIT
2) Once I got the eBay exhaust, I hacked off the muffler right where the pipe enters. I took a measurement of the wall thickness and the diameter of the pipe to make sure the section of pipe I bought was the same. Turns out it was 2 3/8" OD x 18 Gage (.049) wall.
3) I ordered an 18" piece (same length as the fart can I chopped off) of 2 3/8" OD x 18 Gage 304 stainless steel tubing from this website - www.profabrication.com. This was the cheapest place I found to get a piece of tubing in 1" increments. I liked the look of raw stainless, you can use whatever you want if you wanted a polished tip or other finish.
4) At the same time I ordered a nice clamp to attach my hangers. I use mcmaster.com at work, they have everything and it was easy to find what I wanted. The part number of the clamp I bought is - 5204K12. You could use any worm gear hose clamp, I just liked the design of this clamp and because it was stainless steel.
5)This is the only step where I needed outside assistance. I took my 18" piece of pipe and what was left of the RSX axleback down to a muffler shop and asked them to expand the pipe so it fit over the RSX axleback pipe. They did this for free! If you’re not as lucky I can’t imagine it costing more than a few bucks.
6)I had some scrap metal laying around my work for the hangers. I ended up using 3/8" OD stainless steel tubing.
7)Now that I had all my parts and pieces, it was time to start putting it all together. I bought some JB weld to attach the 2 pieces of pipe together. First thing I did was clean all the surfaces with some scotchbrite and denatured alcohol. The slip fit connection between the 2 pipes was already extremely tight so I wasn’t worried about it coming apart, but just to make sure I loaded up the pipes with the JB weld and slid them overtop of each other.
8) I fit up the exhaust to the car, saw where I wanted it to exit, and bent my hangers accordingly. This was a little trial and error, but eventually I got it. After it was all attached and hung I ended up chopping off 3” of the exhaust because it stuck out too far.
9) To finish it off I ran my scotchbrite over everything to get rid of any imperfections and to get rid of the writing on the tubing.
Overall I’m satisfied with my little project. It’s exactly what I wanted and only cost about 100 bucks to make.
Last edited by .colin; 03-29-2011 at 01:50 PM.
Nice write up, sound clip?
not my car, but same setup:Originally Posted by ep3jd
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk1ic16aQJA
Love it. I had this done long time ago and already contemplating it for turbo bak.
Last edited by 27rocks; 01-05-2009 at 10:55 PM.
i like this idea.
that 3q piece looks nice. your diy one looks good too, but if you could shine up that tip it would look awesome.
Bad ass dude. How did it affect torque?
Thanks man, and I'm not sure. I only drove around with it for a few miles then put my stock axleback back on since it was so loud. I also didn't do an idle re-learn as Talon suggested in another thread. I'll post some more definite results in the next few weeks.
Awesome Write up!
be jealous :P
He'll yeah Colin! CAnt wait to hear it in a few weeks at autox!
Just what I've been looking for! Your finished product looks great dude.
Great write up and DIY but i think it would only sound good if the car was turbo, other than that its just obnoixously loud. Many ppl before have done this well there version of it and been hated on! just unbolt ur muffler from ur cat back if u wanna be loud lol.
I recently put on a hotckis rear sway and it was rubbing/clunking on the 70mm exhaust so i just took the twin loop off and rode around for a couple days till i repositioned it a lil. and i must say im glad i put the muffler back on. My car didnt feel as strong and it was ridicoulousy loud. JRSC 11psi K20A. Just sayin
Lovely write up, looks good. Very Buddy Club Spec II esque.
Not true, the car sounds good, it is just loud. The big resonator on my midpipe is to thank for that. Of course your car was slower, the exhaust was exiting underneath your car and into your LCA.
nice i did this the other day except i heat wrapped the whole axle back part, i didnt like the look of the pipe, plus it was rubbing on my rear bumper.. But it makes a lot of backfire.. especially down shifting from 3 to 2 or 4 to 3.
Last edited by ep_hatcher_510; 01-11-2009 at 08:14 PM.
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