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Okay, we need something down on paper about this, guys. I've searched and searched and searched... and most posts on Exhausts go something like this: "how will this sound?" ... or... "I want the best exhaust.. whats the best?" Well, I found this excellent post by DeadPurple that answers that question thoroughly... Type of exhaust you should buy.
Now, we need a good how-to on taking the stock exhaust off, and installing a new one. In this post a good idea was formulated ... a drawing (labeled) showing where are cat, pre-cat, muffler, etc is located on the stock exhaust. People have tried to explain this lots of time, but reading all the posts makes things so confusing. A picture would be perfect.
Now, there has been some controversy about whether to weld the exhaust or clamp it. This is discussed in this post ... but the short and sweet answer is: clamp, do not weld. PuckPuck reinforces the fact that you should clamp, and not weld, along with giving tips on clamping in this post.
Now, I've learned that on 99-00 Cougars they have a second exhaust hanger already available (Ford was probably thinking about making the Cougar with a dual exhaust, who knows). However, the 01-02 Cougars do not have this second hanger. So, anyone looking to install a dual exhaust on their 01-02 Cougars (like myself) have to install a second hanger. Now, you could go to a muffler shop and have them weld a hanger on, but I was reading on Contour.org that you can do this yourself without welding. You can read about that in this post on Contour.org's website. They talk about using a hanger from a Taurus, and fabricating a piece of metal. Will this work on Cougars as well? It looks like it might, but I haven't heard or read anything this before.
Now, my only other question that was not even touched on in other posts, was about taking the stock exhaust off. I know that muffler shops use a blow-torch to take the stock exhaust off (right?), but a normal Joe like myself doesn't have access to a blow-torch. So, could we saw it off? Granted it wouldn't be as "smooth" as using a blow-torch, and probably hard as hell to do, but would it be safe?
There is also a great how-to by PuckPuck on teamneco.com about gutting the pre-cats (which is a cheap way of getting similar performance gains to headers).
I found a few useful pictures along my way (they are below) ... I'm after forgetting who's pictures they are, so I can't say thanks to them specifically... but I hope you don't mind me posting them here.
After searching and reading all the posts on exhaust systems, I'm just trying to make and once-and-for-all post that answers most everyone's questions.... and stop the madness!
Now, we need a good how-to on taking the stock exhaust off, and installing a new one. In this post a good idea was formulated ... a drawing (labeled) showing where are cat, pre-cat, muffler, etc is located on the stock exhaust. People have tried to explain this lots of time, but reading all the posts makes things so confusing. A picture would be perfect.
Now, there has been some controversy about whether to weld the exhaust or clamp it. This is discussed in this post ... but the short and sweet answer is: clamp, do not weld. PuckPuck reinforces the fact that you should clamp, and not weld, along with giving tips on clamping in this post.
Now, I've learned that on 99-00 Cougars they have a second exhaust hanger already available (Ford was probably thinking about making the Cougar with a dual exhaust, who knows). However, the 01-02 Cougars do not have this second hanger. So, anyone looking to install a dual exhaust on their 01-02 Cougars (like myself) have to install a second hanger. Now, you could go to a muffler shop and have them weld a hanger on, but I was reading on Contour.org that you can do this yourself without welding. You can read about that in this post on Contour.org's website. They talk about using a hanger from a Taurus, and fabricating a piece of metal. Will this work on Cougars as well? It looks like it might, but I haven't heard or read anything this before.
Now, my only other question that was not even touched on in other posts, was about taking the stock exhaust off. I know that muffler shops use a blow-torch to take the stock exhaust off (right?), but a normal Joe like myself doesn't have access to a blow-torch. So, could we saw it off? Granted it wouldn't be as "smooth" as using a blow-torch, and probably hard as hell to do, but would it be safe?
There is also a great how-to by PuckPuck on teamneco.com about gutting the pre-cats (which is a cheap way of getting similar performance gains to headers).
I found a few useful pictures along my way (they are below) ... I'm after forgetting who's pictures they are, so I can't say thanks to them specifically... but I hope you don't mind me posting them here.
After searching and reading all the posts on exhaust systems, I'm just trying to make and once-and-for-all post that answers most everyone's questions.... and stop the madness!