I'd do it as well, except the shop that quoted me is back home in NJ. Shops around Jacksonville and Wilmington, NC charge ridiculous amounts. I'm hoping to have my cats installed by the end of March.

 

Giving you advice is like playing cards with a puppy.

Still... just wait it out, Z. Get the work done properly by a shop with experience.

 

Let me clarify. I WANT to get the work professionally done. I'm actually calling up two shops over in Raleigh(150mi away).

I think ~$200 give or take is reasonable. My main problem is all the shops within a 70mi radius of base just try to scam service members out of their money.

 

Don't wear your BDUs when you go to get a quote...LOL.

Sean

 

Marines aren't authorized to wear cammies off a military installation. I think the medium fade or my NJ plates give it away though. Haha. But really, Jacksonville, NC sucks. People buying cars with a 17% interest rate says alot.

 

Made a couple of calls today. Best quote I got was for $200 for Z1 HFC install. I'm perfectly fine with that as long as they don't break my O2 sensors Looks like I'll be purchasing my Z1 HFC sometime in March!

Also had this one shop go on a rant how there's no such thing as "high flow" catalyic converters and how I'll need a tune along with O2 foulers.

 

Maybe it's just me or maybe I had my volume turned up too high, but that does not sound that quiet to me with stock cats. Not to mention the tone is COMPLETELY different. My car with resonated test pipes sounds nowhere near as good or loud as that.

 

You won't need a tune, but I wouldn't be surprised if you get a CEL with how Z1 has their O2 mount. The FI design where it puts the O2 out of the way of the exhaust flow is much better:

http://www.fastintentions.com/produc...16fcc0fd4ed339

 

It's not just you, I've listened to the video on several different devices and it sounds good.

I'll think about getting the Fast Intentions HFC. Don't really need them to be resonated. I just liked the Z1 HFC because of the 300 cell count and the mounting brackets.

 

It's pretty hard to tell the difference between the tanabe vs stock in a video, imo.
But there is a big difference. Its a lower, deeper tone and its quite a bit louder. I also like the little crackle noises it makes sometimes.

 

Finally ordered my Berk's HFC from ImportPartsPro! I'm so excited to get these things installed, found a G/Z speciality shop less than an hour away from me that only charges $100 for HFC install.

Also decided to hop on the debadge bandwagon. Still need to clean, polish and wax the area to get rid of the ghosting. I also need to figure out how to center the Fuji. Any tips would.be awesome.

 

Tip from a different thread:

 

Ughhhh, so yesterday I took it upon myself to paint my engine cover metallic black, since I was bored of the OEM silver and I've always been a fan of how the IPL cover looked. I sanded, masked, primed and everything. Even did 4 coats of high temp paint. Waited about an hour after the final coat to peel off the masking tape. I peel off the tape and the tape took some of the paint off with it. Didn't seem to bad, went and bought a small paint brush to touch the area up. The wet paint dripped down onto the dry paint and dissolved it. Not only that, but the primer somehow seeped through the paper I used to mask the black plastic and the overspray wasn't coming off.

Now my original cover looks terrible, I don't even want to put it on my car. I'd buy an IPL cover but I only drive an automatic X sedan, not even a sport. I'm butthurt.

On another note, my Berk's HFC from ImportPartsPro shipped today, and I'm scheduled to have my HFC, Swifts, SPC toe/camber bolts installed sometime next week.

 

Aw, poor guy. Well, you get props for trying, and then owning up to failure.

Start over. Take your time, use lighter multiple coats, and let things dry completely. Use a razor blade lightly in the crease before ripping off the mask. Use Frog tape. And don't be so hard on yourself.

I painted mine twice before I was happy with the results. Try again.

 

I just wish I never sanded the black plastic because that's just one more thing I need to worry about when repainting. I don't think it will ever look the same. I plan on giving it another shot, probably when it gets warmer outside.

Worst case, I'll just buy a used cover on eBay and be done with it. The price difference between the regular cover and an IPL cover is $20. Very tempting, but I don't know.