Re: CSC exhaust system report

[Mark Denovich <mark@domain.elided>]

Jay T Hinton wrote:
> I noticed the CSC systems mostly from EB Spares.  While I would have
> liked to have the headers they sell,  at 765 dollars to my door,  they
> have to wait.
I ordered the CSC headers and downpipes for my Milano Verde two weeks 
ago from EBSpares in the UK.   Total cost was $670 + $18 customs charge. 
 Amazingly I ordered on a Wednesday and it showed up on Saturday. 
Kevin at EBSpares is a very cool guy, great customer service.

Current setup:  Stock 3.0l, with CSC headers/downpipes, no cat, OEM 
center and rear mufflers.

Previous: Stock 3.0l manifolds, cracked downpipe, stock cat center and rear.

Pros:  Power!  I expected it to be better... no cat and no cracks had to 
account for something, but wow!   The results were much better than I 
expected.   It completely transformed the feel of the car...  Pulls very 
hard from idle to redline.   Much improved grin factor.

The headers are very nicely contructed, smooth bends, very thick 
flanges, good welds.   Everything mated up nicely, and there were no 
clearance issues in the engine bay.

Other bonuses are the flexible sections and some increased ground 
clearance.  Oh, and they weigh at least 30lbs less than the stock 
manifolds/downpipes.

Cons:  The bolt holes for the #3 pipe where about 1/8" off.  The black 
spray paint is thin.   Some of the bolts holding the headers on are a 
pain to access (but not worse than the stock manifolds.)

Installation notes:   I used a small grinder to enlarge the holes in 
order to make it fit.  Loosening the PS pump bracket makes installation 
a bit easier too.  Make sure you have a selection of M8 bolts handy, as 
the stock exhaust bolts are too big.  Or maybe just use all studs. 
Mating up the headers to the downpipes was pretty easy.  Just make sure 
you have a few socket extensions and a universal handy.

On my car the downpipes appeared to be just a bit short...  when 
everything together the rear muffler S-bend was too close to the rear 
caliper.   I used two 1 3/4" ID/OD exhaust adapters to add about an 1", 
which was just about perfect.

I had trouble with POR-20 not sticking to the black paint (one other 
person reported a similar problem with another paint.)  I've never had 
problems with POR-20 in the past, so it might be a good idea to strip 
the black paint if you decide to paint them yourself.

The slip fits at the center muffler are still a big pain in the ass. 
Hard to get a good seal...  I plan to install flanges instead.

	--Mark
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