Time to Smog the Terminator

[03_SONIC_BLUR]

Just got my notice in the mail. No Star Station required. Guess I'll have to slap the stock H pipe on again this weekend

[Tetge]

Just got my notice in the mail. No Star Station required. Guess I'll have to slap the stock H pipe on again this weekend

Do you actually do the pipe swap yourself? I always thought that it was a real PITA and that a lift was required if one wanted to do it without the potential for a lot of swearing and bloodied knuckles, and, even worse things. I figured that this is what the local muffler shop was for, as it generally was not too expensive to get the pipe taken off and then put back on.

[SonicVenum]

Good luck! The ol' Termi should have no problems with the stock mid-pipe on there.

[SVTRonDogg]

New smog checks now do a visual and plug into the OBDII port to check the ECU status and look for trouble codes. Just did it with my 07 Shelby last month, no more rollers and sniffer tests.

[03_SONIC_BLUR]

New smog checks now do a visual and plug into the OBDII port to check the ECU status and look for trouble codes. Just did it with my 07 Shelby last month, no more rollers and sniffer tests.

It's the visual I'm worried about, hence the mid pipe change

And yes Tetge, I change the pipe myself. I use my transmission jack to horse the stock pipe around as it is unbalanced and difficult to maneuver. The toughest part of the swap these days is the connectors for the O2 sensors and the one nut on the passenger side exhaust flange

[Tetge]

.....And yes Tetge, I change the pipe myself. I use my transmission jack to horse the stock pipe around as it is unbalanced and difficult to maneuver. The toughest part of the swap these days is the connectors for the O2 sensors and the one nut on the passenger side exhaust flange....

I am well aware of exactly what a PITA that passenger side flange nut can be as well as the obstinate O2 sensors, which is why I ended up taking the car to a muffler shop who had no reservations about working with the non CARB exhaust. It obviously can be done on a garage floor, and indeed it was a few times, but, it is not at all easy, and ease is one of the things that money can buy. And, also from experience, one should always disconnect the battery since it is possible to short out a long extension on the starter (if I recall correctly) and do some welding.

If a knowledgeable person is doing a visual they would spot a smaller than stock pulley and a throttle body as well. And if they are reading the ECU they might spot it if it were flashed. I guess that I will need to buy another new car before a smog check comes due if this keeps up, although my car is basically stock as the mass air has a CARB number and I have not messed with the exhaust other than 50 state legal GT500 mufflers. But, the inspections are still a PITA.

[03_SONIC_BLUR]

Yes, welding is a possibility if the Battery is not disconnected. Give up my Terminator? Never! Battling the Smog Nazis is something I relish. They might win the occasional battle, but I can win the war

By the way, do you still have your pulley puller? Want to sell it?

[Tetge]

Yes, welding is a possibility if the Battery is not disconnected. Give up my Terminator? Never! Battling the Smog Nazis is something I relish. They might win the occasional battle, but I can win the war

By the way, do you still have your pulley puller? Want to sell it?

I still have it, of course. I never sell tools as one can never know when owning a proper tool might come in very handy. For instance, a Saw's All and a Rigid Pipe threader came in extremely handy one night at a former old house that had galvanized pipe (remember those?) and one rusted out next to the house's foundation. I was able to cut out the bad pipe, working in close quarters, and make some new threads, and fix it, right then and there.

So, I never part with tools, and, in fact, I guard then jealously and keep them under lock and key. I even get new ones at Harbor Freight sometimes, that I can see no immediate use for, and I confess that I have even forgotten that I had them and bought them a second time at that devil of a store called Harbor Freight. But, there have been times when the tools ended up being used and they saved the day. Here again, I have an example. I recently got a piece of electronic equipment that has inputs for RJ59 cables on the back of it. But, the cheap mfg., put the eight RJ59 inputs right on top of each other and there was almost no way to secure the RJ59 connectors due to the lack of space. Initially this made me crazy and it also defied others who I asked to try. Of course, I decided to try to use various kinds of pliers and even screwdrivers, and I managed to get the cables attached but it took a long time. Then, I was going through my tools and I found the set of giant needle nose pliers (about 1 foot long form handle to tip) that I bought on a whim long ago at Harbor Freight. The pliers had three versions which were straight, bent at a 45*, and bent at 90* to allow gripping various things. I sometimes used the straight jaws to retrieve things that fell into my garbage disposal, but I never encountered a use for the angled ones. But the 45* pliers, since they were large, could grab onto the plastic ends of the RJ59 connectors and attach them perfectly with zero effort as if they were metal fingers. What had been a long frustrating battle, became nothing at all. This was a god send, since I have had to connect and disconnect those cables over and over again and I was just about toast from dealing with them.

So, tools, rules and, thus ends my long Easter tool rant. But, as my old departed daddy used to say, if you can buy a tool and do it yourself, rather than hire some possibly dubious craftsman, when you get finished you still own the tool.

[03_SONIC_BLUR]

Your dad and my dad felt the same way about tools. The Army Air Corps trained my dad as an A&P Technician, and he was expected to be able to make any tool or part not available in the field to repair an aircraft. This led to my indoctrination into tools as a young lad. When I bought my first dirt bike, I had to buy all of the metric tools needed because all of my dad's tools were SAE. He also advised me to buy a service manual as he wasn't going to pay a mechanic to fix it. This from a man who owned the Motor Manuals for every car he owned. Remember those?

So, I will buy some more tools, as one can never have too many tools, and as my Grandad used to say, the right tool for the job

As far as galvanized pipes, my house was completed in 1964, so not only do I remember them, I have them/hate them

At least, I still have my Cobra, which needs pullies, and thus a pulley puller. Et tu?

[03_SONIC_BLUR]

So, I'm buying the VMP pulley tool with the ckamshell for 3 Inch and smaller pullies
http://vmptuning.com/pulley-tools/vmpalltool/
And, some O2 connector extensions so that while I have the mid pipe out, I can plug in the extensions and not have to kill myself trying to get past the OEM front cats to get the O2 sensors connected