Chromatic

Well,.. It was more than "should" have come out.. but the engine is running great. I simply think it was a situation of a good drain (I left it for quite a while.. and warmed it up to full operating temp before drain).. and being slightly "over" full.. either through a mistake through the last oil change, or perhaps them adding just a little more with each change as oil takes a minute to really settle to properly measure accurately.. You really can't drop oil in it.. then look at the dipstick 5 seconds later.. and get a 100% accurate reading. As of now,.. when Warm, but after sitting 20 minutes or so It will be between Midway and the H point.. which is where it should be. I'll check it completely cold tomorrow just to see if it moves around any. However, I put 5 quarts (5 quarts is the US rating for the car.. precisely) in it. Oil comes in 1 Quart containers here (the most common) -- you can get 5 quart containers which are handy for cars that hold exactly 5 quarts like our own.. but the most common is a 1 quart container. I poured a little into the oil filter from the 1st Quart bottle.. Put the oil filter on (didn't spill any ..) -- Then put the rest of that bottle in.. and 4 more 1 Quart bottles and that was that. Which is why I wanted to go ahead and do the change myself as well,.. as it still had another few thousand it could have theoretically gone according to the Nissan service sticker,.. I like getting things like that to my standard, knowing it as done properly and so on. Especially since I switched it to full on Synthetic and will be going likely 12 months (7500 miles) whichever hits sooner. My price per year for Oil + Filter .. Full Synthetic with the best filter (arguably) is $47.. The company who sent me this K&N High-Performance Oil Filter, HP-1008, .. accidentally sent me two.. So my next change will be $31 in Oil.. As I have 1 Quart remaining (6 Quarts was $40 online at the best priced reputable place). Of the Mobile 1, Full Synthetic, 5w-30. Thus, I simply need 4 Quarts next year. At least I know this thing isn't burning oil.. And it shouldn't be at 27k miles.. frankly. Unless we start talking Oil brands, HOA's, what's better or worse, etc.. I think we've/I've burned this topic out lol.. I consider it a "mod" haha.. Due to the car going Full Synthetic for the first time. (It ran Synth Blend it's whole life from Nissan every time prior.., with OEM nissan oil Filters.)

Yeah.. I'm bonafide sick right now.. I recorded the whole 1:45 minutes of messing with it and installing it.. mistakes, and all.. lol. And posted it to youtube. If anyone wants to look at it let me know and I'll post the links lol.. just using Youtube as a free 'hard drive' basically.

Hey guys, I'm constantly doing project after project on my 350Z, I thought it would best best to just make a Build log/journal thread to put everything into.. to sort of watch it change from stock onwards. I will gather my other install threads and post them in here, but for now.. I'll start the thread off with my post installation video of the Mishimoto Dual Intake Silicone Z-Tubes -- I apologize for my voice and sniffling,.. I am sick right now.. but not so sick I can't work on my baby ... I know it gets a little annoying listening to incessant sniffling.. so sorry If you guys with the HR motors (07,08,09 350Z's.. or if you have a 370Z.. and are thinking about getting these in Blue, Red, or Black.. or ordered them and want some install tips to save you time from my "learning experience".. post here, or PM me,.. I'll be happy to help with anything I can.)

1 Quart = 0.946353 Litre I drained out close to 5.6 Litres

TLDR Below Thanks,.. I thought it turned out well, better than expected. Good feeling doing an oil change that was so fast and easy.. and then writing a date 1 year from now for another change haha.. So long 3k changes.. Just some thoughts on the oil I did drain out.. I got one of those oil catch pans that you can then pour into other containers.. So yesterday I poured the oil into 1 quart containers to see just how much oil I did get out. (it was pretty nasty oil..) Turns out I measured 5 and 1/2 quarts I drained out.. And I measured it precisely as I was curious,.. as the oil pressure is higher now.. and the car just feels 'lighter/peppier'. That's a bit much , considering some small amount of oil is always going to remain in the engine.. a quart.. doubtful.. but some.. And our engines should have 5 quarts of oil.. So to pull out 5 1/2 quarts means that engine had close to 5.5 - 6 quarts in it.. Which is slightly over full.. Only logic I can come up with is when the shops change the oil they do it in a hurry.. don't quite drain it as well as I did (for as long).. and then with each oil change it gets slightly more oil than the last change. I know too much oil is not good for the engine,.. Now this wasn't enough to do any damage etc.. but maybe it was enough overfull to create the effect I'm feeling with the proper amount of 5 quarts in it of Synthetic? Shrug. I've read other people doing their changes on the 350 in particular.. and a few of them would talk about how they only got say 3 quarts drained and then people would ask if it's burning oil, etc.. So made me feel good about the car that it's def. not burning oil,.. and the proper amount is in now, and it has a great brand/type of Synthetic oil. With how great and easy the 350 is to change oil on.. I wouldn't mind changing this cars oil ever 1k miles if I had to.. it's really quite a pleasure. really pays off to get all the proper tools/pans, funnels and such.. Made for a super clean change.. Got just a touch of oil on my finger as I pulled the drain plug off initially.. and that was it.. no driveway messes, etc. TLDR: I drained nearly 6 quarts out of the car.. Could this be a reason that with the proper 5 quarts of Synthetic in it now it feels better, and why the oil pressure is higher now?

Finally got around to doing my first Oil change on this Zed... (had it 3 months almost).. Switched it from whatever "Blend" Nissan was using to full Mobil 1 Synthetic 5w-30 (from all the research and arguments/hoa discussions I read that seemed like the best Synthetic oil that people agreed on wasn't BAD... ) Anyhow.. Got the oil changed in 20 minutes.. Prepping goes a long way (right tools, ramps, etc).. Never expected the oil and filter change to be difficult on the car.. but really the Zed is about the easiest car to change oil on I've owned. At first I thought, sheesh that undercover is going to make this a pain, but I've been building my tool collection over the past 3-4 months,.. and among that are impact wrenches, and some Dewalt 20v (XR) Brushless motor Driver and Impact Gun (Found a set of the "latest" Dewalt had of contractor grade for under $299.. so I went for it.) -- Love them. ANYWAY.. The (didn't count) Dozen or so bolts that hold that undercover on came off in about 20 seconds for me using one of my Dewalt guns,.. Think I grabbed the impact gun because I had a battery in it and it's variable so I wasn't worried about "unbolting" with it.. Man, that's so great going zip zip zip zip.. done (like a put crew or something).. Instead of spending 5mins or more depending on how slow you go manually ratcheting them off. (I'm not saying you need a $150 gun to pull them.. manually ratcheting, or even using a phillips head would be fine..) But If you have the tools why not save yourself the effort and time? My wrist is broken right now, so I have been really buying solid quality (easy on the wrists) power tools.. such as that Dewalt set. Without it I don't know if I would have been able to do this simple oil change due to the Broken Wrist.. (It's healing, but very slowly.. ). Yes.. with the cover off.. I immediately (after pulling the drain plug ) -- Start wiping the backside (that you can't see) down with a rag.. Sigh.. Then found one of the bolts was just hanging there not holding the cover with any force.. And fixed the clip that had broken off that the bolt screwed into. I as looking for new washers for the drain plug I came across this: Has a washer on it.. $8.. (Nissan wanted a few bucks for a washer..) so I said why not. Plus I like the anodized crimson color and well the magnetic part.. meh.. I'm sure it will have some iron on it next change, but I didn't buy it to 'save my engine' The oil filter, well.. was the reason this thread was started.. I bought this super cool universal tool that is impossible to describe but fits all filters and is solidly german made.. And I go up to pull the Oil filter (Nissan OEM -- Prev. owner had everything done at Nissan (yay) ).. And I was hrmm.. Might as well try with my hand first right.. but what are the odds nissan torqued this on proper? Well, it twisted right off with my hand.. so "sorry" Tool.. I guess it may get some use on other cars I work on. The Rhino ramps are perfect (the low profile ones) for the Zed,.. No scraping of bumper.. came with rear wheel chucks, and I drove up on them first time, no slipping around like I've read some people complain about. Then poured a little in the New filter, and rubbed some around the rim/gasket and hand tightened it.. went up top and poured in 5 quarts of the Mobil 1 Synthetic,.. While I was doing so a neighbor down the street stopped (in his sweet Mercedes AMG) and is obviously a car guy.. and chatted me up. Said he used to have a Zed, and had a mesh/Chrome type piece he ordered for $200 to go on his (goes where the grill is) that he'd sell to me cheap if I wanted it (he has since sold his Zed).. So bonus, I'm going to go look at it tomorrow.. but I'm not really looking for anything to put to replace my grill.. I rather like my factory '08 grill. Anyhow -- Main reason I posted here wasn't so much to talk about a boring oil change.. but How do you like these Cling Oil reminder notices (same material the shops use).. I made in photoshop? It's grainy, took it with my phone that doesn't do well in low light.. but you get the idea -- The main part I did was the Z logo.. I like it. If you are going to keep one up in the corner (I don't mind).. might as well have it look unique , no? I got 50 of these made for a few bucks.. So essentially I have more than I need.. if any of you want some let me know. Oh.. and can the car gain Horsepower putting in Synthetic oil? The car feels much better (It's not just the "wash you car" placebo effect lol..) -- Engine is quieter, and it has a bit more noticeable power for some reason. The oil I pulled was fairly dark as well (though I've since read that is what you want!.. as clean oil hasn't really been doing it's job.. or something like that.. Shrug). Previous oil had about 3800 miles on it.. Or am I literally just imagining it? I know the engine is quieter,.. that isn't placebo Well.. you see my sticker, I'm running the Synthetic 7500 miles or 12 months (whichever comes first).. seems like a solid number to me.

Another good example of the difference in volume/sound of this setup is the driveby videos and how loud (or rather quiet) all the other cars are going by.. they all sound like just big waves of wind going by.. Then I go by and it's rrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrr...,.. while many of these cars have some exhaust note of their own, just shows how much is not being picked up. IE: The cop that went by .. here in the US, the cops are nearly always in a V8, or a V6 built up .. So their motors almost always sound like your traditional V8 Rumble.. I could faintly hear his Cruiser going by.

Pleasure.. If considering Berk HFC's.. I can say without a doubt they make it louder across the board.. But it's nothing , to me, that is Shockingly loud.. The Invidia Gemini was already loud in Cabin at idle-3k.. And the volume is still a little 'quieter' at higher rpms.. 3k+ -- But it opened up the 3k+ noise level, which was really needed in my case. But even with v8's.. the higher you get in the RPM band the higher the pitch is on the exhaust note, and the more 'quiet' they are to some degree.. This still screams though no matter where you are.. But I can drive it easy, or pop the clutch in if I'm around police to not get any unneeded attention. If you watched the second drive-by video.. I had a nice cop on my tail.. and you heard how unbelievably quiet the car was going by (quieter than I thought it would be..) at 35-40ish mph. My mount came in today.. so I'm probably going to try and mount it on the back of the car.. (I'm a little nervous the camera is going to fall off and be ruined..) -- But I got the Fat Gecko (or something like that) with dual suctions that is supposedly the best/most sturdy for track use and so on.. So surely it will handle somewhat normal driving, with a little bit of agression (staying within speed limits).. That is another difficult thing,.. With this exhaust now,.. I want to hear the other 50-60 percent of the sound,.. and I just can't do that and be "legal" .. It's not uncommon for me to me on a 55mph stretch of road and slow do to 15mph if no car are behind me,.. to give me 40-45 mph of acceleration to hear the car And.. ya.. my Gas mileage is not happy.. but surprisingly it's hovering around 16-17mpg even with this more aggressive driving which is surprising me. Especially after I did the Pedal sequence to reset the Computer.

Not yet lol - R35Lee's sending mine out today so should have that done this weekend too. I'll post up pics as I go along with the dressing of the engine bay. Gonna look to get some orange hoses as well to keep the colour scheme going. How's your berks chromatic? If you check out the thread (if you want a long read.. or just skip to the page with the youtube vids).. http://www.350z-uk.c...s-arrived/ You will see exactly how it went/is going. Install was a real nightmare lol. But, all is well now. Super SUPER happy with the end result. Still trying to iron out getting a good sound from my cameras to properly show the difference in non Berk and with Berks.. and trying to show just how good they sound in person.. not easy. I spent all those days and hours installing this phenomenal stereo system with mids, highs, sub.. amps, etc.. And I don't even turn it on lol.. I'm always listening to my exhaust. Go figure! I'm getting into the Engine dressing myself - Have two parts arriving tomorrow (fri) -- to start me off.. Some Red Mishimoto Z-tube (Intake tubes).. and A black Mishimoto Air Diverter panel,.. That's a start,.. so my scheme will be Red (with black of course..) my plan is to get the Radiator hoses done next.. then maybe do the bolts/washers with a kit, or maybe make them myself (not sure on that).. some paint work,.. but I'm highly inexperienced with it,.. so looking forward to seeing the outcomes of this stuff.

Brilliant! Thanks. Does it sound much different to you than the other video of just the Catback? I'm going to do some more.. but just curious how much difference can be heard ? hehe.. thanks. Doesn't hurt that you have the exact same setup to the T that I do lol.. Excellent taste mon ami! Do that too.. I got this JVC GZ-GM65 Camcorder (like 10ounces in weight).. and you see the picture quality.. for $155 US.. Really went for almost the cheapest Camcorder on the market.. but it's still a huge step up from my Iphone .. and throwing in a 16GB (or 32) card which is cheap as well.. lasts forever. This one lasts 5.5 Hours at 1080p quality.. Hard to top that. If I ever got serious with it,.. I'd get one of the $700-$1500 cameras.. but for now, I'm very happy with this one and the $29 Tripod I got which is SO handy.. you saw it in the vids.. Yup.. Not easy tracking people down to have a listen.. You really start to meet the people AFTER you have the Z.. and after you have the mods.. I'm finding. But,.. I got mine setup just the way I wanted by doing a ton of research, listening to every clip/video I could find.. and asking enough questions to be annoying. So these videos and such are my attempt at paying it back a little for the next guy or girl on this path...

I cleaned them up.. no missing sound , etc now .. lol. More are on the way this weekend.. as the Car mount comes in.. and I play with the settings of the camera, maybe I can turn off the "auto wind reduction audio adjustment" OFF.. We'll see.. Trying to get a "truer" sound.. And the Camera 2 feet from the exhaust outside the car should do it lol. Maybe.. Yeah I struggled with that before ordering. I was set on the Stainless Rolled Tips as well.. and thought the blue anodized was just "Tacky" and cheap looking initially.. Then within 24 hours they grew on me.. and then it changed to.. I MUST have the blue tips.. but still have to stick with the Rolled version. Also, the Blue anodized part can be easily polished by hand to look just like the Steel Tips If someone just doesn't like them.. most don't realize that, but it is true. So you sort of get two tips on one with the Blue Rolled Steel. Another reason was the Blue tips sort of give the exhaust a little TINY flair of "Hey I'm not Stock." .. Which now with HFC's and exhaust I don't think anyone will confuse this with stock -- I did do the Pedal sequence to reset the computer today.. man took me 3 tries to get it to work! Nuts how it's setup.. Turn key to On,.. wait 3 seconds EXACTLY.. depress Gas pedal completely in and completely OUT 5 times within 5 seconds... Then stop wait 10 seconds exactly.. Then depress Gas pedal for 10+ seconds,.. CEL will then blink.. At that point release the gas pedal and turn key to OFF position. THen start the Car.. if you did it right, no CEL will be on. (If I got all that right,.. I can't believe I remembered it lol).. but I did notice the car was "peppier" after that reset.. I figured it wouldn't hurt with the intake, exhaust and HFC mods in place.

LOL.. This is actually the legal 35% tint.. it just looks a bit darker due to the contrast of the Silver car against the tint.. On a Black car it wouldn't look as dark. -- I do like my tint though .. I always tint my cars, .. as it really helps with the heat in the summers here 44C+ sometimes.. and it just makes the car look sexier imho.

Ahh.. I just noticed that! I wasn't careful enough ! lol.. I'm supposed to be anonymous -- Yeah you got a glimpse of me after being up all night working on a network install in an office building.. I took care of that -- I'll make more videos where I look halfway decent .. I was tired when I uploaded that one, no editing and totally missed it. I don't care who sees me.. Just rather not have my first impression be my up all night, unkempt , walking dead look I wouldn't worry too much ~ have a look at some of the other members on here & that'll make you feel better. http://www.350z-uk.c...o-the-username/ Ah, Well I guess we do have a Pic for the User name thread.. I'll definitely have a go at that! Though I am a bit unique here,.. American, Southern Accent,.. well, that's about it haha.. but still. One thing you may have figured out by now is that I follow through with what I say I'm going to do ... I see a lot of people on various forums who are putting this or that on.. and then never post again in that thread.. promise this or that .. never deliver.. -- I know when I was looking and researching what exhaust to get for my "wants" then what to put in place of the Stock Cats it was VERY hard due to lack of solid info.. and video's with direct comparison. I didn't find one set of videos that had the INvidia Gemini on 350Z that ALSO then put various videos of the Berk HFC's on it as well to get some sort of idea of what the change would be. The videos I've posted thus far , I'm not pleased with -- So more will be coming over the days until I'm happy with a distinct difference in sound between the CBE, and CBE + HFC -- They sound a little too much the same right now and that is not at all what is the case, esp. 3k rpm and up. I have one of those good Car mounts for your camera otw.. (i've always wanted one)-- and this stuff has given me the perfect excuse.. So I figure for this I can mount in on the back to block it from the wind,.. and pointed down toward exhaust so you get the full tone .. literally outside the car.. while I drive around. Won't be too "visually" appealing.. but should capture the sound better. I did grab that old Kodak Camera and made a quick 1 minute video of the CBE + HFC's revving again to see if it picked up the deeper tones any better.. maybe so, maybe not.. It's up now though, where the other one was on the "idle revving" video comparison.

Everything good with the Second video and sound now? I thought the Cop behind me was funny.. -- There is a cop every 200 feet where I live. I was keeping it under the speed limit, so that's why you see my in some of the approaching shots with cars on my arse cause I'm in 2nd gear going 19 mph until I get a little closer to where I believe the camera is then hit it till 55mph and brake.. Not much room for these cars,.. especially trying to shift in 2nd and 3rd.. As in 3rd you can end up over 100Mph without breaking a sweat. You sure do.. I did blur it with youtubes "bluring" feature I've never used mainly just to annoy you haha.. Obviously if I was worried about online stalkers/killers I wouldn't have plastered my picture in the thread. We need a "post a pic or vid with your alias -- Face to the names" thread... if there isn't already one.

Ahh.. I just noticed that! I wasn't careful enough ! lol.. I'm supposed to be anonymous -- Yeah you got a glimpse of me after being up all night working on a network install in an office building.. I took care of that -- I'll make more videos where I look halfway decent .. I was tired when I uploaded that one, no editing and totally missed it. I don't care who sees me.. Just rather not have my first impression be my up all night, unkempt , walking dead look Here's a picture .. just so everyone knows what I "Look like".. At least I'm relatively clean in this one..

Just checked on the Second video .. which is the most important one lol.. And , nope, no sound, Uploading it again now -- Will fix it when the upload finishes. Edit: -- My dumb-arse didn't edit the first video a few days ago in my zombie state,.. and didn't realize in the last few seconds I walked in front of the camera.. sigh.

And.. for reference -- No load -- Idle, just revving engine without HFC's,.. and then With HFC's.. Only Invidia Gemini Dual CatBack Exhaust: Invidia Gemini + Berk HFC's: Note: These Rev videos are far from the actual sound.. I have to change some settings.

Here are the videos.. Quite windy today, so that made the Camera's mic kick down in volume and up in pitch trying to 'reduce wind noise'.. Anyhow. Drive By's with just Invidia Gemini Catback (before HFC's): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPdyOB7vEWo Drive By's with Invidia Gemini and Berk HFC's (same location): http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=23ExEYkmcPU

On my colour choice.. I jumped in and Ordered my Diversion plate from Mishimoto in Black, and the MishiMoto Z-tubes (for both intakes) in Red. So looks like it's be a Combo of Red and Black in my Engine.. And yes.. the 370 strut tower brace looks much better than the 350.. But i was surprised the 350 even came factory with one.. Most mechanics ask me if I put that on.. and I'm like,.. nope,.. That comes factory. Really a nice touch (and functional) from Nissan.

Have you fixed/finished the door handle/grip yet? Also looking forward to your Brake/Battery covers.. I'm starting with the dressing of the engine now.. and haven't seen too much "painted" that I like over just the factory black.. aside from Carbon Fiber.. be interested to see what it looks like.

It's coming.. I did have the presence of mind to get a better camera and mic a tripod and mark a location with *just* the Invidia Gemini cat-back on.. with 1-2 driveby's.. (If you notice all the driveby videos you can't hear a thing as the car is approaching normally.. but that makes sense.) -- And a regular standstill camera at exhaust level with a few revs with just the Invidia Cat-Back on.. I'll replicate those for you.

Yeah, maybe it was.. was tired.. that wore me out yesterday even my feet were hurting standing up under that lift all day.. at first I was trying to stay out of his workshop.. then , as I do,.. I inched my way in and started to feel him out.. And he's just as nice (or frankly,.. nicer) of a guy as/than I am.. we got a long great.. and he was more than willing to let me work on the car with his tools.. only thing I didn't touch was the torch.. Though after you work on a car with another person you form a quick bond lol.. and I bet he would have broken every safety rule in the book and let me use that torch if I asked him just to learn how it works.. After all any damage is on MY car, by ME! He was was good on price too.. You heard the nervousness of sorts in my voice in the "middle synopsis" video when essentially we were 2+ hours in and he was like.. I don't know what else to do.. (but kept trying).. and I'm trying to think of every option we had left.. googling removing these things.. and there wasn't anything left... -- We at one point considering taking a sawzaw to the Stock cats.. coming off to give us more room.. And I told him.. Look man, I don't want to go through all this and drive out of here paying you for labor and nothing been accomplished. I wanted to keep the stock cats for resell, etc.. but if we have to cut them.. well, we have to cut them. He was like.. yeah... we may have to.. but I'm still not absolutely 100% sure that one bolt will come off with them cut, so for now we're not going to do that. Which I was fine for.. I was going at a rate of basically $1 per minute.. (he's a reasonable $60 an hour).. but considering I got a quote of $400-$600 from everyone else in town for doing these.. I wasn't worried even at the 2-3 hour mark.. still way under budget. It was a trial and error.. and I told him .. feel free to grab a hammer and flathead (or other item to bang against) -- and hit it a few times to try and loosen things up. I went in concerned about the O2 Sensor banks and all that being damaged with impact .. something about 2-3 hours of working on ONE bolt, on a rack, with all the tools you need changes that "concern" a great deal. He said, alright.. that may help.. worth a shot at this point.. And lightly/moderately hammered against the flange of the cat (not the flange that we couldn't afford being damaged).. you know the rest.. eventually.. I believe.. a combination of all we did.. and using the torch for a longer duration on the flange then him with his ladder (as you saw) running up real quick and using the breaker bar worked.... He said he almost fell off the ladder when that bolt broke free lol! Exactly.. I've been busy today so no setup video slips.. it's almost dark. I could go find a lit up area I suppose and do Driveby's.. what is cooler than night? (daytime?) meh.. But it's sort of asking for cops .. as all that comes to mind are open parking lots of huge places that are closed for the day, etc.. maybe I can think of something to give some differences.. I can do the Sitting still startup.. in the garage,.. idle.. then when I feel comfy with the oil I will rev it a bit.. but not under engine load it's just not the same sound. But, yes.. love them.. and anyone who wants louder exhaust than this IN their Cabin.. is half deaf for doesn't care about conversations , talking on the bluetooth, etc in the car. It's already so loud with this that I can easily tell I'm going to have to elevate my voice a fair bit to talk to passengers now. I'm going to work on dialing the "cabin" noise back a bit with some left over Sound Deadener from my audio install placed in the rear hatch lower sheetmetal.. then I don't anticipate that to quite do the job, so I'm thinking buying some of that "egg-shell" foam and filling the area where the spare tire is (with spare tire in place) should help a good bit. I'm not looking to take away the sound.. just try to keep the 'drone' dB level down just a hair for "in cabin" .. because right now it sounds like an Italian race car lol.. Sweet, but loud. Let's put it this way.. (and the videos may not pick this up.. maybe I'll do one inside the car too).. but if I heard what my car now sounds like coming up or passing me in general traffic I would think twice before messing with it. It sounds WAY WAY off from what factory should sound like. Didn't even mention this.. but that was the first mod I can quite noticeably tell a power difference in the car.. it picks up from 3k+ a great deal..

The Youtube video on this is a bunch of BS on a car with my front bolts welded on through heat cycles.. No WAY this was coming off without a Torch. I'm sure some people get lucky and their "Demon bolts" break away with a breaker bar.. but not this one.. not a snowballs chance in hell. We used The breaker bar with BOTH of us (I'm 200lbs, 6ft.. he's 260lbs, shorter,.. but you see the guy, he's strong.. and he does exhaust work all day, everyday.) -- Bolt wouldn't budge! We broke The Universal Joint first.. Then the Socket.. Then ANOTHER Universal Joint.. then ANOTHER Socket (over 2 hours).. After an hour or so.. I was like, I know it's not recommended to use impact wrenches.. but we don't have much choice here.. let's use them. He had a pile of them.. and a 100+ Gallon tank/Pneumatic setup. So we use the first Air gun.. Nothing.. decide.. ok might as well try the other two guns to see if they are "Stronger".. Nothing! Ok,.. let's flip it from reverse to forward and back with each gun.. Nothing. Ok let's let it impact for a solid minute+ -- Nothing! After this,.. The impact wrenches were just useless.. This guy has been doing this for 23 years.. and I brought him the HARDEST bolt he has ever dealt with.. do I deserve a reward? lol.. yeesh. Here's the "demon bolt" (one of them).. You'll notice it's obviously broken, but honestly.. This is really what you want in this situation.. as you see in the longest video above.. when it breaks.. you are home free. Also, this is the bolt after 3 Impact Guns, with dozens of Impact attempts at 30-120seconds a piece.. in forward and reverse -- The head looks pretty good, not rounded off. But here's the "Formula" to get a bolt like this off in under 15 minutes: 1) PB Blaster (I PB Blastered these bolts 72 hours prior to this, and 12 hours prior to this.. and all during the process today). 2) I can't say whether the impact really made any difference.. I know it's not necessary 3) Breaker bar! 4) Extensions (Half inch have a hard time fitting in on the driver side, so near the steering shaft you may need to go to 3/8th's to get the socket on the Bolt) 5) Remove all the OTHER bolts/nuts (which came off with a 12" standard ratchet and a little muscle - From UNDER the car.. cause these are facing the RIGHT way.) 6) Go ahead and remove the nuts from the Cats to Straight pipe(pipes if dual catback system) .. to allow for more movement. 7) Move that Stock Cat around a little with your hands.. nothing serious.. but give it some tugs.. 8) Rubber Mallet and Screwdriver, file, etc.. Moderately Tap on the flange area.. to move it around a bit. 9) Acetylene TORCH. Most important and the ONLY way these things were ever going to come off. 10) Patience, and more patience. Essentially doing all of those steps (which really only take 10 minutes or so..) - And heating up the flange like you saw in the long video where I got a good close up shot of it being torched and glowing.. in the proper area (not the bolt/threads/nut).. Then hurrying and getting back on top (with socket already in place if possible to start with breaker bar) to take advantage of the now expanded surrounding area of the "demon Bolt". Ok.. you get it.. but I just busted my arse today with him.. so it was quite a learning experience.. Now to the Results! WOW! -- Absolutely amazing! The Berk HFC's don't just make the Invidia Gemini a little louder it makes it A LOT louder.. No Rasp.. none at all. There is some "gurgle" if you will at times when you let off the gas .. but expected and sexy. It improved the already sexy Invidia Sound that mainly was evident from Idle to 3k RPM -- and it caused 3k to Redline to finally amp up and sound fantastic. Really REALLY made a huge difference in the "Missing" 3k-7500 RPM range that was near stock levels with my Invidia Gemini alone. This car sounds like an exotic Race car now. Yes,.. I've been enjoying driving around at 3-4-5K RPM.. (not so great on gas.. lol) -- Man it sounds so mean. Sounds as fast as the car really is now I highly, highly recommend this combination. I do NOT recommend doing this in your garage unless you have a Torch.. and lots of patience. Yes,.. Where are the "Before and After" Videos of my exhaust ? They are coming, it was dark before I could have even a remote chance of recording them,.. Tomorrow I'll be recording some Drive by's.. and so on. I'm really, really liking this Video CamCorder I bought.. You see the videos in a pretty dark environment under the car.. In the daytime it's super good.. and even better it picks up the full tone of the Exhaust now (no more Iphone "low tone" cutoff.) So , Video's of Standard Start, and Rev's.. Drivebys in the SAME spot with *just* the Invidia catback.. and then in the same spot with the Invidia Gemini True Dual Catback + Berk High Flow Cats are forthcoming. I drove by a building on the way home, and was like Woahh.. I'm going to have to bring this thing behind some buildings (wish I could find a good tunnel lol) -- and get some sound/video of this.. I'm well happy -- And Exhaust is DONE. There is absolutely NO WAY I'm ever doing headers on this thing.. and have no urge to do so. The exhaust is perfecto now.. Don't want it one ounce louder. TLDR: -- Berk HFC's are installed. Take care,

I should have video'd the actual install of the Berk HFC's .. but this is all I got,.. which is the Driver Side Berk HFC in place,.. better than nothing: Next post = my 10 Billion Word "Essay"

After 2 Hours of working on ONE Bolt, The one you access from the Driver side Engine bay.. Still wouldn't budge -- He had a Friend/Customer come by and was outside talking to him taking a break. -- I give a little Synopsis of what's going on. We got the "Demon Bolt" Out from the Driver side after 2-3 Hours,.. and had the process down to a science for removal of the other identical bolt on the Passenger side. I managed to catch the Torching of the Flange surrounding the Bolt in full, and then was filming while holding the Cat with one hand,.. and you'll see SUCCESS as the bolt Breaks (as we wanted) with the breaker bar and the Factory Cat falls out. (This one took us 10 minutes or so, but only because we learned just what had to be done to coax these things out!)