andrewhake

Using the above method o2, and cat codes cleared no problem. I still show an Evap code but Evap doesn't matter for CA smog test.

Kenny_Stang

I had a lot of issues getting mine to set last year, and it ended up being some parameters in my FlashPro tune that were keeping the car from getting to the optimum range needed. Thanks to Gernby I got it all sorted, but it took a couple of months to work out the kinks

SeanGPW

I was having the same problem with this, I just eventually took it on a 120 miles trip to work and when I checked it again the codes were cleared and I could take it to emissions.

uh0h50

That's odd. My berk made it a lot raspier just before the vtec engagement point.
Although mine is 70mm berk.. but still strange that a few mm would be so different.
[/quote]

What exhaust do you have? I'm talking about the Powerhouse Amuse Dual Euro 60mm.

It's worth noting that the Amuse Euros have resonators in both OEM locations. (The large resonator and the Helmholtz) I've seen/heard exhausts without both of these resonators respond better with test pipes, but on exhausts that have both resonators the HFC mellows everything out. I can only assume it's because the Helmholtz is tuned to cancel a specific frequency of sound and removing the cat from in front of the exhaust changes the incoming sound enough that the Helmholtz ends up doing more harm than good.
[/quote]



I don't think the helmholtz has anything to making things raspy at all. My Amuse Euro 60mm with helmholtz didn't really have any raspiness with a 60mm test pipe. Not compared to the EVS. The EVS 70mm with no helmholtz and 60mm or 70mm test pipe both produce a good amount of rasp on the VTEC crossover. I think the helmholtz mainly is quieting down the exhaust at lower rpms and if anything it probably helps reduce raspiness. The EVS is much louder down low. With the OEM cat the EVS has absolutely no rasp and is significantly quieter at high or low rpm, and cruising speeds is a little bit quieter.

With any type of cat it is going to act similar to a resonator and generally quiet things down. I am actually kind of curious about the effects of adding a 90 degree helmholtz to the EVS and see how it sounds with a test pipe. My guess is that I would still get some rasp but it would quiet down at lower rpms a bit.
[/quote]
Maybe I'm not reading this correctly, but did you remove the helmholtz on the EVS before? If so, do you have a soundclip?

andrewhake

That's odd. My berk made it a lot raspier just before the vtec engagement point.
Although mine is 70mm berk.. but still strange that a few mm would be so different.
[/quote]

What exhaust do you have? I'm talking about the Powerhouse Amuse Dual Euro 60mm.

It's worth noting that the Amuse Euros have resonators in both OEM locations. (The large resonator and the Helmholtz) I've seen/heard exhausts without both of these resonators respond better with test pipes, but on exhausts that have both resonators the HFC mellows everything out. I can only assume it's because the Helmholtz is tuned to cancel a specific frequency of sound and removing the cat from in front of the exhaust changes the incoming sound enough that the Helmholtz ends up doing more harm than good.
[/quote]



I don't think the helmholtz has anything to making things raspy at all. My Amuse Euro 60mm with helmholtz didn't really have any raspiness with a 60mm test pipe. Not compared to the EVS. The EVS 70mm with no helmholtz and 60mm or 70mm test pipe both produce a good amount of rasp on the VTEC crossover. I think the helmholtz mainly is quieting down the exhaust at lower rpms and if anything it probably helps reduce raspiness. The EVS is much louder down low. With the OEM cat the EVS has absolutely no rasp and is significantly quieter at high or low rpm, and cruising speeds is a little bit quieter.

With any type of cat it is going to act similar to a resonator and generally quiet things down. I am actually kind of curious about the effects of adding a 90 degree helmholtz to the EVS and see how it sounds with a test pipe. My guess is that I would still get some rasp but it would quiet down at lower rpms a bit.
[/quote]
Maybe I'm not reading this correctly, but did you remove the helmholtz on the EVS before? If so, do you have a soundclip?
[/quote]

Ah sorry. I am referring to the little 90 degree bit near the inlet of the exhaust like the OEM exhaust has. The Amuse has something similar. The EVS does not.

uh0h50

That's odd. My berk made it a lot raspier just before the vtec engagement point.
Although mine is 70mm berk.. but still strange that a few mm would be so different.
[/quote]

What exhaust do you have? I'm talking about the Powerhouse Amuse Dual Euro 60mm.

It's worth noting that the Amuse Euros have resonators in both OEM locations. (The large resonator and the Helmholtz) I've seen/heard exhausts without both of these resonators respond better with test pipes, but on exhausts that have both resonators the HFC mellows everything out. I can only assume it's because the Helmholtz is tuned to cancel a specific frequency of sound and removing the cat from in front of the exhaust changes the incoming sound enough that the Helmholtz ends up doing more harm than good.
[/quote]



I don't think the helmholtz has anything to making things raspy at all. My Amuse Euro 60mm with helmholtz didn't really have any raspiness with a 60mm test pipe. Not compared to the EVS. The EVS 70mm with no helmholtz and 60mm or 70mm test pipe both produce a good amount of rasp on the VTEC crossover. I think the helmholtz mainly is quieting down the exhaust at lower rpms and if anything it probably helps reduce raspiness. The EVS is much louder down low. With the OEM cat the EVS has absolutely no rasp and is significantly quieter at high or low rpm, and cruising speeds is a little bit quieter.

With any type of cat it is going to act similar to a resonator and generally quiet things down. I am actually kind of curious about the effects of adding a 90 degree helmholtz to the EVS and see how it sounds with a test pipe. My guess is that I would still get some rasp but it would quiet down at lower rpms a bit.
[/quote]
Maybe I'm not reading this correctly, but did you remove the helmholtz on the EVS before? If so, do you have a soundclip?
[/quote]

Ah sorry. I am referring to the little 90 degree bit near the inlet of the exhaust like the OEM exhaust has. The Amuse has something similar. The EVS does not.
[/quote]

Ok got ya. Thanks for clarifying. Love this build thread.

andrewhake

Yeah I am glad I found the recommended routine in the owners manual. Just decided to refresh to stock tune since I needed to reflash anyway to re-enable secondary o2 sensor. All around it is just around an hour to swap the cat and the OEM intake on. With the header it will be a little more annoying but luckily I have plenty of friends with shops that can do this sort of thing quickly since they have done it countless times.

andrewhake

Soft top deleted

Big thanks to Mike (s2k_born) for coming down from Sacramento to help take care of the soft top removal. Mike has a ton of experience doing this after removing/replacing many soft tops so I enlisted his help to get mine removed. While he did is thing and handing me interior panels I got them all cleaned up and got the car all cleaned up inside once everything was removed. (sorry for the crappy photos they were taken in a rush)



With someone with a little experience doing this it can be done pretty quickly. Doing it on my own it would have taken me all day for sure.



Since the soft top motor brackets are removed along with the top Mike re-used some 12mm bolts that were removed with the top and used nuts on the other side to maintain all 4 mounting points for the hardtop catchers. Normally just the front 2 would remain but this way maintains those other two points. Without the soft top bracket these points aren't as strong but helps keep the catchers more secure still.





Still looks great with all the interior panels back in. The total weight of the parts removed was 67.4lbs. I decided to remove the black metal brackets that mount around the edge since they weighed a few lbs. Those brackets as well as the little soft top hold down brackets that mount to the back of the hardtop weighed in at 4.7lbs. And .9lbs for the little side rain gutter panels that have the outer brushes on them. So entire soft top assembly with motors and mounting brackets is 61.8lbs not including those other parts.

I weighed it on a very accurate large shipping scale and total weight with everything you see here is 61.8lbs. I weighted myself at 206.5lbs (I am about 6'2", fight me, I wish you would) and then weighed myself holding everything I removed (including a few small additional brackets and panels) at 273.9lbs.





The additional brackets and panels were the metal brackets that go along the edge of the rear of the tub and the plastic side brushes/rain gutter as well as the soft top hold down brackets that are on the rear of the hard top (5.6lbs) for a total weight savings of 67.4lbs compared to having both the hardtop and soft top installed. I think this would be a pretty standard method of removing the top and maintaining the interior panels. It maybe be possible to remove additional small brackets but there is no way you would get anywhere near 97lbs (that I saw in another thread) without also removing the roll hoops (which actually aren't that heavy) or something else. Would probably need to remove the roll hoops and the bulkhead to get there as well as all of the rear interior panels.

I will be getting the weight of the complete hardtop with all interior and OEM mounting when I go in for a corner weight of the car and will update this thread again.

andrewhake

Just wanted to say after reconfiguring my estimated weight savings spreadsheet I am now at -210.3lbs from the OEM curb weight. And that is with the EVS 70mm exhaust which is 11.4lbs heavier than the Amuse. Should lose another 10lbs with the header so I have now easily removed my own weight from the car. My data isn't perfect as I have only weighed so many parts and only have estimates for some OEM parts but within the margin of error I am still well covered at pulling the 200lbs I was hoping to from the car so very pleased with that.

Also just by sheer luck the rear ride height is now exactly where I was aiming for visually with the soft top removed. It was sitting a little bit low after the springs settled in a bit and I was planning on adjusting but I will now be able to just make some fin adjustments to get it all dialed in before I go in for the new front arms, alignment and hopefully a corner balance.

Also decided to set the rear sway bar back to the middle setting to try it out with the new wheels and tires on the car. My rear AD08Rs were definitely more worn than my fronts so I was losing a little rear grip with the Weds and AD08s. Going to go out and see how I like that car with the extra weight removed.

andrewhake

It's going to start getting really fiddly with the suspension now too. I still want to try a little additional roll center adjustment up front. I am going to try one of the 4mm plates that J's offers and see how that effects the front and overall balance. I would really like to try a large additional amount as well so I might end up getting some of the 12mm plates to compare.

I understand the theory so just want to actually test to see how it effects the car. I like the idea of always addressing the lowest level things first when trying to dial something in as small changes at the low level (like suspension geometry) tend to produce a more noticeable overall affect with less downsides, compared to changes at the higher levels (like sway bars). So will get all that posted when it happens.