Bassani Exhaust Install - Project ProCharged Pony - Opening The Flood Gates

Use a good razor blade or better yet, a real scraper to remove the old gasket material. Clean the surface with brake parts cleaner or something of that nature.

The difference is fairly obvious. The Bassani piece has only one thing in mind and that's performance. The stock shorty purportedly features 1.5-inch diameter tubes, but they are pinched and crimped all over the place, consequently impeding flow. The stock O2 sensor usually mounts about 5-inches or so past where the mid-pipe connects to the header, so comparing the Bassani header, you can see that you'll have to do some re-routing.

Bassani makes sure you have everything you need to install their exhaust system. The header gaskets that are used feature stainless steel plates and replaceable graphite inserts.

The instructions will tell you the order in which to install the header tubes. On the driver's side, you have to install these two that wrap around the steering column first.

The "Extractor Collector" slips on and is secured by two bolts, one on each side. We had to do some minor sanding on the ends of the tubes to get them to slide in smoothly. If you have to do this, make sure you don't take too much off otherwise they may leak.

As mentioned previously, the oil dipstick goes right back into position. You may have to tweak it just a bit to get it to slide on the bolt.

Ball and socket flanges enable you to bolt up your X- or H-pipe just like with the stock system.

Diameter wise, the two pipes are the same, but Bassani uses a slightly different "X" chamber, and we also have the new high-flow catalytic converters on.

We tightened the clamp on the collector after estimating its position. We then loosely secured the X-pipe to it.