The reason we didn't dremel the bend is because...that's really the only reason most people go with the Takeda. You don't have to because it's rubber...and I don't like cutting my car up lol. So that's why. In the future, I might do that and, heck, might even gain 2-3AWHP. But for now, I'm more worried about keeping things nice so I can go back to stock if need be. I hope that answers your question.

 

As a side note...my mechanic is here doing his dirty work on my rear springs. Getting them all set up for me. Dremel is going strong and things are looking good.

 

Nice to hear, keep in mind I'd still wait about 5 to 7 days after your rear springs are set up to get your alignment, don't want to have to do it again if the rears settle a bit more in the coming week.

 

Well, things went well...but uh??? The fender gap from the rear is already less than the front, and the rear just went on with 5/8" spacers??? I'm a little confused by that but ok. Measurements are very close between the front and rear, the rear is about 1/8" lower than the front...here's to hoping the front settles a little more and the rear doesn't settle much more haha. Mechanic is hoping that since the front is heavier it will ultimately settle more than the rear, so we shall see. That being said, the actual "look" isn't bad. The gap is only slightly different, and the car still "appears" to lean forward a bit which is good, giving it a slight raked look.

We will just have to wait and see what happens. Brad, we're waiting until the 9th to do the alignment so we should be good to go by then.

I'll give more info on the install tomorrow or something, although there will be some Avengers going on before that happens.

 

What did your mechanic think of the whole idea of poly bushings over the rear coils?

And did they just fit right in perfect? Any issues there?

 

So, I installed my Takeda today and ran into some fitment issues. Everything lined up perfectly, I slotted the foam bumper channels, but then i tried to put my bumper back on and it looked like the tubing was bumping up against some plastic part behind the grill.



Here is the little plastic triangle the coupler was running into, not sure what purpose it serves.

Here is it after I dremeled it off. Bumper went back on and fits with no issues (i do not have the steadiest of hands with a dremel. I made sure there was nothing important behind it before i started cutting. I was careful!



- On another note, it does look like Takeda changed the design a LITTLE bit. You can see the angle difference in the couplers (this is Jumpman's sedan). His are more at a 90 degree angle, and mine are at about a 65-70 degree angle.

Definitely think this was the cause of it.

 

great build so far...love the wheels but I would have personally gone with the 19" Avant Garde 580's. At the point your at and amount invested...a set of front and rear camber kits would have fixed it all, but again just my $0.02.

Should be interesting since youve already gone through the trouble of a butt dyno and then again after the CAI, anxious to see the results once the HFC's and CBE is installed.

Need more pics of the wheels...some side and angle pics to see how well they sit would be great

Im subscribed to see what else is in store...keep up the good work

 

So...as most of you know I purchased the Fast Intentions CBE and RHFC's a while back. I just wanted to give some timelines so that people have an accurate idea of how long things have been taking. This is not to bash people or companies. When I initially placed the order, I was told:

"Current build time on Catbacks are 8-11 weeks. Testpipes and HFCs are 3-4 weeks."

I placed the order on February 22, 2015. A little while later when asking for an update I was told:

"As of right now, your estimated ship window is 06/04-06/18 per FI."

Now my math is a bit less than stellar, but by my count (and Time And Date's count)...even using June 4th as the cutoff instead of the 18th to account for packaging time, prep time, etc etc that might not be considered "build time"...that's 103 days, which translates to 14 weeks and 5 days. So just shy of 15 weeks for the build. That's at least 1 month longer than initially stated, and could be looked at as almost 2 months longer if you use the lower end of the build time quote.

Again, I don't want this to come across as me being upset because I didn't get my exhaust when I thought I was supposed to. I just want to make sure people understand these times fluctuate and that they need to be patient if they want this exhaust. I want to thank Lance for being transparent and up front with the time changes or the expected ship dates, etc as things progress, and he has always been helpful and provided quality customer service.

I am excited and waiting with a big grin on my face for what I am sure will put an even bigger grin on my face. And hopefully, my wait is coming to an end. Down to a month or so. (fingers crossed)

 

Seems like FI has a lot on their plate right now with their twin turbo package they're trying to get on line. Not sure how big an operation they have but I'd expect those kind of delays. I'm sure the wait will be worth it, glad you're
in the home stretch

BTW how did your springs end up settling, any more drop in the front?
Need some pics, you're way past the said lead time on those, lol

 

My FI catback took 14+ weeks. I think maybe FI is going through some growing pains. Growth is good.

^^^
Bump

 

Ok ok I get it!! Lol I am way behind. I have pictures of everything and I have the final measurements. Spoiler alert! I love it! I will get you all stuff this evening when I get back from bowling. Last night was the first night of the league and I averaged 164. Unacceptable....so I'm going bowling again this evening to try and get back on target. I will be sure to post what I can before I hit the hay. Tomorrow is midnight black grille install and SSR hub centric rings...oh, and alignment.

 

First of all I am a little biased but nice choice of color for your car. Second I like the user name and choice of mods so far. Wheels look great, especially with the brake setup. I'm sure the car feels 100% better than stock with these tasteful mods.

 

Ok, so here is the quick down and dirty.

John, to answer your question, my mechanic mentioned it about the poly...but said we should be good. We'll just take it a day at a time. If it starts to make noise...we'll fix it.

Ok, on to the spring install. First he(mechanic) took the universal coils and took a dremel tool and dug them out pretty well. They sat down almost all the way and they looked good.



After that, we took them and installed them on the car. :P I mean honestly, I wasn't there for a lot of this one, because it seemed like a pretty straightforward install, and from what I understand, it was just that.









After it had settled for a few days.




It has since settled a bit more, but I think it actually looks more even now...so I will try to get another pic tomorrow.

Measurements:

Before:

Front: 28 1/4"
Rear: 28"

After:

Front: 27 1/2"
Rear: 27 3/8"


Literally about as close as you can get to being even. And even though it's a tame drop, it looks so much better. See pics below for measurements. Sorry the rear measurement is so blurry. :/






All in all, I'm super happy with the results. I think the car looks great. It still has this slight raked look, even though the front sits higher supposedly. Ride quality is the same as when I put the springs on. I feel it is either the same as stock or a bit better, maybe not more comfortable, just more settled on the road, I don't know how to really explain it. Again, I love it.

 

Thanks for the pics, looks pretty even right there, nice to hear it ended up even after adding the spacing bushing. Makes the sedan seem more aggressive for sure and looks much more proper.
BTW, ever had a 300 game in league play? I had one back in the mid 80s but it wasn't sanctioned

 

Excellent. Thank you.

Im trying to set a followup appt with my mechanic now to get these bushings installed... And the vert cradle braces, and some replacement SS hardware on the exhaust. Ive actually been waiting on your feedback to using the bushings, so thanks for that.

AWD vs RWD, Tanabe vs Swift, potato potahto... Anyway, your car looks to be sitting at 98% perfect, which is awesome.