A purchase I NEVER SHOULD HAVE MADE! (long)

[AvanishV]

I think all of us have bought something that in the end, it turned out to be a waste of money and time. Listen to this story.

A guy I know has a shop in WI. His name is Henry and his shop is Revolutions Motorsports. Anyway, when I was visiting henry once, I saw a test pipe on the wall. So I asked about it. He said it'll bolt up on my car and is good for .3 seconds in the 1/4 mile. Obviously he was trying to sell it to me so I took his talk with a grain of salt. Obviously it wouldn't give me .3 seconds but I was pretty sure it would give me something. So for $60, I said fine.

So I have the pipe. I got under the car to put it in. I notice the 02 sensor hole is in the wrong place. This pipe, according to Henry, fit's perfectly in the 94-2000 GSR. I have a '95 GSR. The sensor hole on the test pipe is on the rear of the pipe whereas on my cat, it's towards the front. There isn't enough wire to stretch. I call henry and he says, oh yeah, they used different cats on the integra's and there was no way to know which one I had. I was like "what the hell are you talking about". Anyway, since I know him, I didn't make a big deal out of it.

I had an exhaust shop cut out the sensor hole and weld it into the front of the test pipe. So now it should be fine right?

I get under the car again to put it in and after everything is bolted on, I see that the test pipe (that is supposedly a perfect replacement pipe), is over 2" shorter than my cat. To make it fit, I had to pull the exhaust so far forward that the exhaust would hit the heat shield and make an awful rattle.

Wouldn't you figure if someone is selling something for you car, it would at least get it's dimensions close to correct?

I just finished putting my stock cat back on and as I tried to remove my 02 sensor from the test pipe, it wouldn't come out. I had to take it to shop to get it out. When I was unscrewing it, I cross-threaded it and it ruined the bung hole as well as a little of the threading on the sensor. But I got the sensor to screw back into the stock cat so that's OK but after all this, I'm out $60 + $20 (02 sensor hole modification) + a lot of time.

What should I do about this?

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1995 Integra GSR
JR Supercharger (6 psi), HO fuel pump, RS*R Header, Thermal R&D Exhaust, Iceman Intake, Neuspeed Front Tower Bar, Type-R Rear Swaybar, Short Shifter, ST 1.3" drop springs

[HKS AllTrac]

Avanish: that sounds EXACTLY like the test pipe I had on my GS-R. Is yours stainless steel, bulges out in the center, and resonated on the inside? I ended up buying some extra wire to lengthen the O2 sensor wires.

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The Artist Formerly Known As Teg GSR
92 Celica All-Trac Turbo

[Four Door GSR]

So are they all 2" short? The reason I ask is because I ordered the same thing from the same dude.

I was aware that the O2 hole is on the wrong side, so I planned to cutting and extending the wires.

Could it be a possibility that he gave you the wrong one? Maybe from a civic?

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Supercharged GSR Sedan
JRSC 6 psi,AEM CAI, AEM Pulley, AEM Cam gears, RSR header, Greddy PE, Field SFC-VTEC, Neuspeed Race, KYB AGX, Racing Hart C2 (3 piece).

Objects in mirror are losing.

[HKS AllTrac]

Mine was too short too. Fortunately nothing rubbed with the Flowmaster muffler I had. It made the stock muffler hit the swaybar though.

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The Artist Formerly Known As Teg GSR
92 Celica All-Trac Turbo

[AvanishV]

yeah, it's the same pipe. I've decided never to buy from him again because of this experience. I don't think he's completely honest about his product nor does he take the time to fabricate a quality piece. This pipe was also the second pipe he sent me since the first one didn't have any thread for the 02 sensor hole.

He has a '95 GSR too and he knows me well so I'm certain that this was the right pipe. I just think the design is ill-planned.

I was talking to my friend who's a tech at the local acura dealership and he said many people have had bad experiences with short test pipes since the hanger's pull the exhaust back. He said he's seen so many exhaust leaks that have developed over time.

I really learned not to just assume someone's own design is going to work on my car. From now on, I'm only going to buy quality peices for my car.
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1995 Integra GSR
JR Supercharger (6 psi), HO fuel pump, RS*R Header, Thermal R&D Exhaust, Iceman Intake, Neuspeed Front Tower Bar, Type-R Rear Swaybar, Short Shifter, ST 1.3" drop springs

[This message has been edited by AvanishV (edited August 11, 2000).]

[AvanishV]

oh yeah, when I said the exhaust was hitting the heat shield, it wasn't the muffler. It was the bend in the pipe underneath the car. The bend was not longer aligned with the contours of the heat shield and the bend was hitting the edge of the shield.

[CROM]

That sounds pretty crappy,

A friend of mine made my Test Pipe, he charged me a tank of gas for his supra TT, so that wasnt so bad(30 bucks), I did have to go and get a bung put in, but the pipe bolts right up to everything perfectly, I may sell it if anyone might be interested!

[12SecGSR]

I got the one without the bung (sounds like the same manufacturer), and it fit good in my 94 GSR... it might have been 1/4" short, but I got a thick gasket for the flanged side from autozone and it worked great! I had the O2 bung welded in (in my downpipe so I could take the test pipe out on the track.) I picked up 3 mph just from the test pipe!

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94 GSR drag gen 3 turbo
Benson's built bottom end

[This message has been edited by 12SecGSR (edited August 12, 2000).]

[JRCivic]

Was this beauty something that Henry MADE himself or was a pre-fabricated piece... say from OBX ???


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'93 Civic Si H/B with B18C1, JRSC @ 8psi
Best 1320: 12.68 at 110 mph

[Four Door GSR]

I dont think he makes them. He mentioned all of his pipe orders ship from texas.

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Supercharged GSR Sedan
JRSC 6 psi,AEM CAI, AEM Pulley, AEM Cam gears, RSR header, Greddy PE, Field SFC-VTEC, Neuspeed Race, KYB AGX, Racing Hart C2 (3 piece).

Objects in mirror are losing.