dopsonj

Joy! Well I am grateful for yours & Iogray's responses, have opened my eyes to a few issues and things I really should have looked into in more depth! Lets say I go down the route of selling the FS system and instead purchasing some DesignTek mid-pipes with 200 cell cats along with a DesignTek Muffler, would that be a better option to go for?

I have read a lot about headers & bolts - It will be my local garage carrying out the work who I'm on good friendly terms with which helps out with hourly labour charges etc. If I go under the car whilst its on stands will a visual inspection tell me much about the condition of these bolts? Quite a few in the exhaust system are corroded and will need replacing but some are in fairly good condition. Most journeys in the car are 10-30 miles maximum so they're fairly minimum, for the longer ones I have earplugs handy. I'm young and should be able to deal with a bit of drone and having read & listed to videos etc. I do plan to have the ECU remapped at some stage as I am looking to also track my car on the occasion.

Thanks for your response,I knew what I was purchasing from the start, I was just under the impression my car would have pre-cats.With regards to adding pre-cats - Is there anyway to find out before purchase if it would pass emissions? The ones I linked on eBay are possibly what I'd go for but with regards to O2 sensors, would they reach as well?I may look at Mid-pipes with Cats, I assume an exhaust specialist would be able to mate the two pipes together?ThanksEdit: These state they're MOT compatible... So this is the route I'd rather take because then it all fit together! Question is, will O2 sensors reach - If not can they be extended, or do I have any other options?

Hello,Firstly I’m Jacques, based in the UK in East Sussex & new to the world of Porsche.I own a 2002 Porsche Boxster 2.7 986 in black which was purchased completely stock 2 months ago now. 45k miles – FPSH etc. Since then the only modification I have done is to de-snorkel and have just progressed onto the idea of an exhaust system – mainly for the noise & very minimal power gains.I have spent a lot of time reading the web, mainly US Boxster forum’s and I came across the FabSpeed Race Exhaust for the 986 – Great I thought, exactly the product I want – Sounds good, reasonably priced and feedback on the company and product has been top class.I went ahead and purchased the product from Vivid Racing who drop shipped it directly from FS to me here in the UK and it turned up on Friday 4 days after leaving the states – Very happy!Now, here’s where things go wrong…. After watching many videos, FabSpeed own video included (Quote: “Factory OEM Porsche complete exhaust featured on every 2000-2004 Boxster USA and worldwide”) I was under the impression that my UK spec car would have 4 cats – 2 pre (combined with headers/manifolds) and 2 cats in the pipe between headers & mufflers. Or my car would simply have 2 cats as part of the headers as I know there was a change over years where the cats were reduced.In hindsight I should have looked under my car sooner, but I was convinced by what people had said and what I’d seen from Fabspeed that I should have been ok… But after jacking my car up I am surprised to find that I don’t have cats located in my headers, but simply 1 pair located in the pipe between muffler to header with an o2 sensor before and after on both sides.So now I have this lovely race exhaust that I cannot fit because I would be left with no cats – no cats means I won’t pass emissions laws at my next annual check and also my car will through up the CEL light – Which can be disabled but the engine doesn’t behave as it should if I’ve read correctly?So this is what I thought I had:This is what I actually have: I didn’t want to change my headers just yet, mainly for monetary reasons but now I have been put into a position where if I return the exhaust I can attempt to fight my case that the description is incorrect and try and get them to waiver the 25% restocking fee, but then I also lose out as I have to pay for shipping and I’ve lost money on import.So ideally I’d like to keep the system and find a way around it… Here are my suggestions so please feel free to make comments!1) Modify the FS system to have cats – There are two locations I believe it might be possible to put in cats – these I would purchase from eBay (200 Cell I think?) and I would also get the company putting them in to make holes for the O2 sensors – See the picture for locations I believe cats could be installed. Questions – Is this possible? Will it completely ruin the sound of the exhaust? 2) Purchase used headers with cats from eBay – Hard to find and often expensive – But this keeps OEM & conforms to emissions laws. Only issue – Will 02 sensors that are currently connected reach to cats located in the headers? I can’t see why Porsche would make the wires longer then they need to be, so I suspect I might have to buy new o2 sensors as well? (This point is important so if someone can confirm that would be great)3) Purchase aftermarket headers with cats. A company in the UK produces headers with cats for the Boxster at £600 a set… Which is cheap, which worries me a little but they have the appropriate o2 senor locations so they should do the job – correct? LINKI can’t think of any other real options but I am open to suggestions please.I haven’t yet approached VR but I have had contact with FS, unfortunately they haven’t been of very much help and have simply dismissed my email and stated that I most likely have aftermarket headers. If anyone does have a set of headers with cats - wants to sell them to the UK and is happy to declare them a minimal value I'd be very much interested :)Really I’m rather stuck and I am open to all advice and ideas, the more the better!Kind RegardsJacques