ArmitageGVR4

iTrader: (13)

I've had my car for a month or two now and have finally gotten around to doing some reliability mods. My first project was to fix the ignition cylinder's key switch which was pretty minor. My second project is to change the thermostat, replace the air pump, diagnose the turbos conditions, install a new intake and downpipe.

I purchased one of the stainless downpipe/midpipe combos through eBay from seller "always-bargains" (pictures included below). They are exactly as pictured and sold for about $100 shipped. I don't plan to use the midpipe now but later I may hack it up and weld a highflow cat on. The pipes are mandrel bent, but not the thickest or heaviest steel ever. The welds are very clean and even, however the penetration isn't great. It should hold up though. It comes with gaskets, bolts and an o2 sensor bung which is located slightly back from the stock position.

I've heard some horror stories of how even the expensive downpipes don't mate up to the midpipe properly or how the eBay downpipes aren't flanged correctly to mate up with the stock cat section. However, I found that fitment of this downpipe is surprisingly good. It takes a little wrangling to get it to clear the exhaust housing studs and the side of the engine bay but once in place the flange is exactly correct to bolt to the stock midpipe/cat section (note in the pictures the midpipe is just hanging out and has plenty of slack to mate to the downpipe).

My biggest mistake was trying to remove the hard-to-get top inner nut from the exhaust housing without removing the y-piipe and other surrrounding hard pipes. The nut got hung up and I rounded it off. After removing the hard pipes, the nut was slotted with a dremel and split off the stud. The threads on that one stud are pretty well toasted (see pictures) but there's enough usuable thread left inside to tighten appropriately. I'll chase the threads that are left with a die later to clean them up before reinstall. The two bottom studs came right out of the housing with the nuts firmly seized to them. This seems to work out for the best anyway because it lets me hang the downpipe in place from the top two and I can just screw the bottom two back into place.

Anyways, that's my initial impression of these eBay pieces. Good looking, surprisingly accurate fitment and low price but may not hold up to a lot of abuse because the welds, while very pretty, aren't very deep. While the steel isn't the thickest ever I don't forsee any problems with durability there.

ArmitageGVR4

iTrader: (13)

Oh ya I can take more closeup pics of anything by request if anyone wants more info or specifics.

point5chink

i recently installed one of these too. Biggest problem we had was getting the damn thing over the studs, which was impossible so we had to remove the studs and then put the downpipe on, then put the studs in. That really sucked. Second, it doesnt mate up to the stock mid pipe very well. One of us had to sit behind the car and push on the exhaust while the other guided the mid pip up to the dp. Im willing to bet the fitment to the dp included is better though.

axr6

Recently I got the E-Bay Tsudo Down-Mid pipe combo ($120 shipped) from Trendgear and I only intended to use the downpipe with the stock cat. Unfortunately it did not match up. The downpipe exit pointed high up towards the undercarriage and was attempting to shove the cat converter up trough the floorboard. Also, the flanges did not match up with the cat. The downpipe flange was rotated a few degrees CCW from the cat. It probably would have worked fine if I used the midpipe that came with it. The quality seemed quite qood. I returned it, loosing some $65 for the two way shipping charges.

After that I tried an other stainless E-Bay downpipe, this one from "yokebet". It was around $80 shipped. I talked to him on the phone before I ordered and he assured me of a good fit. Needless to say it was exactly the same bend and rotated flange as the previous one. When I called to complain (at least he had a phone) he was very sorry, saying that there were two different downpipe configuration and he sent me the wrong one. Did not have the right one. At least, he refunded everything, including shipping charges.

Finally, I got a locally made one for over $300. It had holes that did not line up but, at least it did not try to put the cat through the floor. I had to file quite a bit to match the flange holes to find out that the flange angles did not match. At the advice of my seller, I reluctantly forcefully bolted the flanges together, placing a lot of strain on components trying to match those flanges. After a few days, I took it apart and the flanges were now a perfect fit. Apparently as the pipes heated up they conformed to each other.

Was a big hassle.

Interestingly, in 1994 I must have been amongst the first ones to put a downpipe on my new FD. It was called "mindspring"(?) brand and was advertised not to effect the engine boost. The darn pipe fit perfectly. As soon as I got on boost the stock system spiked sky high and the ECU cut fuel. I called the maker of the downpipe, and asked him about his claim for not effecting the boost pattern. He was horrified to find out that it did. Obviously, I must have been his first customer.

moconnor

iTrader: (14)

These ebay downpipes sound way too hit or miss. You can get perfectly good used stainless steel brand name downpipes (Pettit, Bonez, etc.) for $70-$150 in the classifieds section of this board that will fit perfectly. I bought a used SS Bonez downpipe for $70 and Jet-Hot 2000 coated it for $90 - for a total that is not much more than these eBay deals. It fit like stock.

Even with the perfect fitment, intallation was a total PITA. I can't imagine having to work with a poorly fitting downpipe.

ArmitageGVR4

iTrader: (13)

Yea with all the horror stories I've heard about misfitting pipes I guess I was just lucky in picking the vendor or just got a particularly good item from a mixed bag.

Anyway I completed the install and everything fits and runs great. Installed a new thermostat, air pump and intake at the same time. Scared myself when the AWS kicked in (it's been disabled with my old airpump being busted) and the downpipe started glowing bright red right away. After the warm up ended it went back to normal and has been fine under driving conditions as well.

I also installed a cheapo eBay intake pipe set (see attached pic) at the time which I gotta give a thumbs down to. Two aluminum hard pipes with couplers and hose clamps and filters for 40 bux shipped. No bungs at all for any of the airbox hoses. Hose clamps bust apart if you try to put the slightest amount of torque on em. The larger intake pipe fits well with the stock airbox, the smaller pipe does not (if you were thinking of not using the filters it came with). The open element filters are of dubious quality and when all is installed (with some additional mini filters on the airpump etc) the top filter rubs the hood when fully closed and the car makes ALL sorts of funky gasping noises from the airpump, cat, BOV, etc. I am not going to be keeping this setup. I can't recommend anyone buying this, save your pennies for a better solution.

ArmitageGVR4

iTrader: (13)

I should mention that if you unplug the airpump or aren't running one all those funky noises go away, but I want to remain emissions legal and keep my car basically stock appearing. If you don't mind running no airpump and want to take your chances with questionable air filters this could work for you.

afterburn27

iTrader: (5)

Yeah, the only decent part of the ebay intake kits are the pipes. I ditched the stock airbox, so I bought one of those kits for about 40 shipped, bought some K&N filters and nice silicone couplers. Fabricated a heat shield out of aluminum (Damian style) and used a 'silencer' to mute the ugly airpump sounds. Worked out to be a decent intake setup for a lot less than most other aftermarket kits.

nashman69g

iTrader: (3)

I have one of these and thought it was great bolted right up to my greddy catback! Best damn $100 I have ever spent IMHO!

California Dreaming

I have the same midpipe/downpipe combo. I have a hi-flow welded onto the midpipe and both that and the downpipe fit perfect. I guess it really is hit or miss with all these eBay parts.

-Neal

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

My car came with an Ebay downpipe. Fit is actually pretty darn good, there's a VERY slight misalignment of the rear flange to the main cat, and it looks like there may be a minor exhaust leak at the top of the two flanges. But, it fits great, even with 4 studs present.

I tried to install an Ebay downpipe on a friend's car, and it didn't fit for crap. Flange was off somehow, and it was hitting the frame rail bigtime trying to even get it on.

I do have a Bonez downpipe I got off Ebay some time back for cheap - only paid $40 for it . It's rusty, but I'm gonna get it Jethot coated, so that doesn't matter.

BTW, that early downpipe maker was likely Mindtrain. I think they're still around, but they've never had a website or anything. Very old school business.

Dale

GUITARJUNKIE28

the o2 sensor isn't in the stock location anymore...it actually looks accessible now

Herblenny

iTrader: (13)

By my understanding, there are 2-3 company that make dp for rx7 on ebay.
I have one that is far superior in quality and fitment than pettit or any rx7 vendors sell. It was bought thru ebay 2-3 years ago. And I bought one about a year ago thinking its the same one, but fitment was really bad. I ended up just not using it.

I would stay away from ebay ones and start supporting rx7 vendors such as RX7store.

ArmitageGVR4

iTrader: (13)

I was worried there'd be some clearance issues with the o2 sensor and the rear turbo's hard pipes but actually it all fits in there without any problems.

point5chink

It looked like there were going to be clearance issues on my car, but it ended up not being a problem at all.

ArmitageGVR4

iTrader: (13)

Well for starters the ebay stuff is really more like $60 for the downpipe AND midpipe + shipping. That being said, the mandrel bent stainless costs a chunk of change for the material and custom bending, then you have to add the labor involved in welding the flanges just right and the o2 sensor bung. For the brand name stuff, the material and fitment is typically higher quality and they're dealing with a pretty low volume so the price is higher. I think I paid $160 for just a SS/mandrel downpipe for my GVR4 from a respectable vendor so the prices are pretty consistent and reasonable IMHO.