• Welcome to the Contour Enthusiasts Group, the best resource for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

    You can register to join the community.

IC: Optimized Y-pipes...

Status
Not open for further replies.
99Mystique ATX said:
If you get a shop that will touch it, you'd have to pull it off the car and take it to them. If they ask you'd just have to tell them it's on a car that only sees track use or is for off-road use only.
Click to expand...

Almost any shop I know of will be glad to pull it off for you, but they will charge you too much to do so.... and just out of curiosity, why would you have to tell them it is for "off-road or track use only." This has absolutely nothing to do with hurting or affecting emissions. Nothing at all. Optimizing a y pipe is just smoothing out and freeing up the path of the exhaust. That pre cats and the main cat remain untouched along with all o2 sensors.

I'm not trying to be dumb or anything because I think this is a great service you are offering at a fair price. I was just a little confused by those comments and I am trying to clear this up for your clients who may be afraid to do this because they wonder if they would pass emissions with the optimized Y.... and the answer is that this will not affect any emissions or smog test if your state requires such a thing. It is not for "off road use" only. Good luck with it all.
 
Reebs said:
Almost any shop I know of will be glad to pull it off for you, but they will charge you too much to do so.... and just out of curiosity, why would you have to tell them it is for "off-road or track use only." This has absolutely nothing to do with hurting or affecting emissions. Nothing at all. Optimizing a y pipe is just smoothing out and freeing up the path of the exhaust. That pre cats and the main cat remain untouched along with all o2 sensors.

I'm not trying to be dumb or anything because I think this is a great service you are offering at a fair price. I was just a little confused by those comments and I am trying to clear this up for your clients who may be afraid to do this because they wonder if they would pass emissions with the optimized Y.... and the answer is that this will not affect any emissions or smog test if your state requires such a thing. It is not for "off road use" only. Good luck with it all.
Click to expand...

I was under the impression that it is technically illegal to modify anything before the main cat. I understand that optimizing the y-pipe will have no effect on emissions, but from the state's standpoint, I believe that it is technically a no-no.
 
99Mystique ATX said:
I was under the impression that it is technically illegal to modify anything before the main cat. I understand that optimizing the y-pipe will have no effect on emissions, but from the state's standpoint, I believe that it is technically a no-no.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I have never heard of it being illegal to modify piping before a cat but not after a cat, etc... I could see something like that varying from state to state though. Whether it is frowned upon or not by your state, you guys will never have a problem if you do this. I'd throw down money for this if I needed another one.
 
Reebs said:
Interesting. I have never heard of it being illegal to modify piping before a cat but not after a cat, etc... I could see something like that varying from state to state though. Whether it is frowned upon or not by your state, you guys will never have a problem if you do this. I'd throw down money for this if I needed another one.
Click to expand...

Either way, who's to know? You have a stock y-pipe that still has the heatshielding and whatnot, the only difference is that the insides have been modified.

I had one on my Mystique and it passed inspection twice with it (Never failed, just sold the car). So, personally, I wouldn't worry about any issues.
 
well in Massachusetts its now illegal to have any exhaust alterations... which make no sense because it would put places like Lou's Custom exhaust out of business.

and i go to UTI at about 97% of the at least 500 cars there have LOUD aftermarket exhausts... just as a joke we were suspecting to see like 10 norwood pd cars outside the school one day flagging everydown writing tickets. thats what they should do if in fact exhausts are illegal but i just think that cops are only curious about the ones they hear flying by. i dunno but in a year or so i bet they will inforce it more.
 
michigan doesnt have the same emissions/inspections as we have either. the four local shops that do exhaust work wouldnt touch my ypipe for modification..atleast not on the books
 
Alright, my next question, does anyone have a spare 2 or 3-bolt they would be willing to send my way?

I need to get both a 2 and 3-bolt core for this GB to work out.
 
Not to rain on your parade, but why are you guys fooling around with the stock Y pipe?

The SHOShop/BAT Y pipe is hands down the best design there is. Trust me I've optimized stock Y pipes (more than once), had a SHOShop 1 and also built my own. Are there gains in either of the options?-definitely. However, the stock Y uses a 180 degree bend at the rr header pipe plus there's an internal lip (that you cannot see until it's cut apart) which interferes with flow. The only advantage with the stock Y is that it has an additional metal insulated jacket wrapped around the tubing. This minimizes rasp and keeps the heat in the pipe. However, coatings or header wrap will do the same thing. I also agree the V arrangement in the MSDS Y inhibits flow.

The other significant problem you are certain to run in to is removing the nuts on a stock 2 bolt Y pipe. They inevitably corrode and often you break the complete floating stud assembly off. It's made from stainless and pinned in place. If it's even available, Ford charges big bucks for new studs and removing the pins is next to impossible. It happened to me and I went through hell (& lots of oxyacetylene) removing the 2 pins which are pressed in to the cast flange. The first Y pipe I broke 1 pin and had to toss it. Then I got smart and made my own stainless studs with a larger diameter thread. The Ford ones are simply too small and they break easily.

The other point I'll make is that there's a HT in the forum on optimizing the stock Y. Read it and you'll begin to understand just what's involved. When I started following along I realized how much work was involved and came to the conclusion that buying a good aftermarket Y pipe made much more sense from a cost to benefit standpoint. However, to each his own. If it makes sense for you, go for it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top