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Whizo

Cat Back fitting cost.

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Hi guys.

Just thought I would share this.  I am wanting to buy an Invidia N1 cat back exhaust.  Unfortunately I live in apartments and there really isn’t anywhere suitable where I can do the install myself.  I am pretty handy with a spanner and used to rebuild carburettors and dizzy’s back in the day.  I have seen YouTube videos of teenagers doing this exhaust install on their driveways etc so it’s not difficult.

Anyway, because I don’t really have anywhere do to this I thought I would just pay a local car performance place to do it. I mean the exhaust itself is only held in place by two bolts and some rubber hangers.  These guys quoted me £200!!! That’s £100 per bolt.  Surely this can’t be right?  
 

What kind of price have you guys paid to have a cat back system fitted if you haven’t done it yourself? TD even said that they would do it for free if I purchased one of their systems since it doesn’t take long to do.  £200 seems wrong?

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£200 does sound a bit juicy.  I'd find somewhere else, local exhaust centre maybe? It's probably 30mins work, you're paying for their ramps etc. so £50-60 maybe?

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Anymore than 1 hrs labour charge then they are looking at the car and rubbing there hands together. Fitted my N1 on my uncles driveway and took 30 minutes. I spent more time trying to align the tips than actually removing and fitting the exhaust. 

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4 minutes ago, JohnM said:

Anymore than 1 hrs labour charge then they are looking at the car and rubbing there hands together. Fitted my N1 on my uncles driveway and took 30 minutes. I spent more time trying to align the tips than actually removing and fitting the exhaust. 

Was aligning the tips difficult? Is there much wiggle room or give? I am guessing this is done by moving around the rubber hangers?

I have heard that getting the exhaust off and on the rubber mounts is the hardest part, how did you find it?  Thanks.

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1 hour ago, Whizo said:

Was aligning the tips difficult? Is there much wiggle room or give? I am guessing this is done by moving around the rubber hangers?

I have heard that getting the exhaust off and on the rubber mounts is the hardest part, how did you find it?  Thanks.

Use some washing up liquid in the rubbers they will come off far easier

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56 minutes ago, Kaltorak said:

£100 per hour, 1 hour minimum. 2 person job.

That's a bit of a piss take to say the least! You sure you cant rent a lift nearby for less and DIY?

With lockdown no one is allowing this.  To be fair it’s cheaper and easier to just buy some axel stands and a low profile jack and find a quiet side street and do it myself.  I didn’t want to do this simply because it looks a bit suspicious if anyone sees a car being jacked up on a side street with someone crawling around under it.  

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1 hour ago, Whizo said:

With lockdown no one is allowing this.  To be fair it’s cheaper and easier to just buy some axel stands and a low profile jack and find a quiet side street and do it myself.  I didn’t want to do this simply because it looks a bit suspicious if anyone sees a car being jacked up on a side street with someone crawling around under it.  

Also the weather is naf at the moment so it's won't be a lot of fun lying under a car in the rain on a street. Sounds like getting a garage to do it for you this time is the more civilised approach. Might be worth you giving TD a call if they are not too far from where you are. They know their stuff and have lots of experience with 86's.

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13 minutes ago, Shippers said:

Also the weather is naf at the moment so it's won't be a lot of fun lying under a car in the rain on a street. Sounds like getting a garage to do it for you this time is the more civilised approach. Might be worth you giving TD a call if they are not too far from where you are. They know their stuff and have lots of experience with 86's.

I agree with everything you’ve said.  The thing with TD is they will only fit their own system for free, as far as I know they don’t sell the Invidia N1.

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17 minutes ago, Whizo said:

I agree with everything you’ve said.  The thing with TD is they will only fit their own system for free, as far as I know they don’t sell the Invidia N1.

I'm sure they'd fit it for you for a fee though

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1 hour ago, Deacon said:

I'm sure they'd fit it for you for a fee though

Might be worth asking them.  I might plan it around getting my car lowered at the same time.  I was going to get TD to supply and fit the lowering springs and lower link arms so whilst there I could ask about the exhaust.

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13 hours ago, Deacon said:

I'm sure they'd fit it for you for a fee though

We would, yes :)

 

The N1 is rather loud and does drone on the motorway, incase you haven't experienced one first hand yet.

 

Thanks

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17 hours ago, Whizo said:

Was aligning the tips difficult? Is there much wiggle room or give? I am guessing this is done by moving around the rubber hangers?

I have heard that getting the exhaust off and on the rubber mounts is the hardest part, how did you find it?  Thanks.

It was just a case of small adjustments, re-adjust hangers before the final tighten up. If anything it would have been better to let the exhaust settle itself for a couple of days and then re-adjust if required. In truth it took alot less time than I was expecting, but the weather was alot better than it is now and I did have a 2nd pair of hands just in case.

You can buy a specific tool to remove the rubber hangers from fleabay, this made the whole job alot easier and no wd40 was required. They all came off first try. 

The N1 is loud, so if drone is going to be an issue then I would look at a different exhaust. Although I have added sound deadening to the boot area and under the rear seats  which does seem to reduce it, it does take a while to get use to especially coming from the stock system.

If you are planning on working on the car yourself then it maybe worth investing in a Jack/axle stands setup rather than paying a garage to do the work for you. If this isnt the route you wanna go then I would pay a garage to fit it for you. The beauty with this car is that there are hundreds of how to videos on youtube for pretty much anything you would want to do but I still have a trusted garage that I use should the need arise.

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3 hours ago, Mike@TD.co.uk said:

We would, yes :)

 

The N1 is rather loud and does drone on the motorway, incase you haven't experienced one first hand yet.

 

Thanks

Hi Mike

Thank you so much for the generous offer, really appreciate it.  To be honest I haven’t heard the N1 in person, just going off the tons of YouTube videos and reviews if I’m honest.  
 

How does your TD non res cat back exhaust compare to the N1 in terms of loudness and drone?  I hardly do any motorway driving so I am not overly concerned about the drone.  
 

Do you guys actually stock the N1? I couldn’t see it on your site, is this something you could supply as well.  I rather have the money going to you guys instead of another retailer.

Thank you again.

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@JohnM thank you for such a detailed post.  It looks like I will plan a day trip to TD and get the exhaust fitted and whilst there get the car lowered as well.  Really wanted to get coilovers but thanks to lockdown the budget is tight so may have to just settle for lowering springs.  It’s purely for looks anyway, not like I need anything for the track etc.

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26 minutes ago, Whizo said:

Hi Mike

Thank you so much for the generous offer, really appreciate it.  To be honest I haven’t heard the N1 in person, just going off the tons of YouTube videos and reviews if I’m honest.  
 

How does your TD non res cat back exhaust compare to the N1 in terms of loudness and drone?  I hardly do any motorway driving so I am not overly concerned about the drone.  
 

Do you guys actually stock the N1? I couldn’t see it on your site, is this something you could supply as well.  I rather have the money going to you guys instead of another retailer.

Thank you again.

Volume wise I'd still lean towards the N1 being louder than even our non-resonated system. There is more drone with an N1. I think it is the loudest in that regard that we've seen/heard here.

 

If you want it loud then go for the N1. It isn't something we stock or sell though I'm afraid. Can happily install for you if required.

 

Thanks

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TD exhaust is a great bit of kit and there are 3 versions to choose from to get your desired volume. If you are local to TD I think they have one version fitted to their demo car so would be a good way to hear it in person.

The N1 is VERY loud. Plus if you fit a manifold in the future it gets even louder. Local member to us has one and you can literally hear him coming from miles away :lol:

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I’ve come from several Subaru’s a Lotus with a Larini exhaust and a Focus RS and their exhaust notes were beautiful.  Just right.  The last thing I want to do is spend a wad of cash and not see much difference in sound.  
 

@Mike@TD.co.uk Do you have any springs that lower the car by 40mm? Tuned UK have something like this just wondering if you have springs that give a similar drop?  

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1 hour ago, gavin_t said:

TD exhaust is a great bit of kit and there are 3 versions to choose from to get your desired volume. If you are local to TD I think they have one version fitted to their demo car so would be a good way to hear it in person.

The N1 is VERY loud. Plus if you fit a manifold in the future it gets even louder. Local member to us has one and you can literally hear him coming from miles away :lol:

Who do you mean ? 🤯

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