Hi folks, thought I would pot some pics of this as I did the job recently.

Maybe of some help to folks who fancy DIY and saving some money.

The Job is not difficult really and quite basic. This all depends on weather you can get the car up in the air to a reasonable height to make it easier to work under the car and be able to remove downpipe that needs an angle of drop to pull down from the studs.

I did it on Trolley jacks raised up to there max and then supported by axle stands.

Before starting get all the relevant tools

Need 13mm, 14mm, 15mm, 16mm sockets depending on the size of bolts nuts used. 16mm is or the turbo downpipe nuts.

Need socket extension bars of various sizes to undo turbo nuts as the angle to get into it is a little cramped, but not impossible.

WD40 can of spray. Recommend spraying all the bolts, especially Turbo ones and leave for 2 hours or so to penetrate or over night. Mine came undone really easy after this.

New Exhaust Gasket is also a good idea. P/N 1J0253115R

Ok here goes.

First here is a pic of the new Blue flame Cell200 Sport cat/downpipe, Apparently made with new material which allows smaller cat to original one posted further down the thread.

Also have to credit Blue flame as there service was great and Chris actually stayed later that day to get my exhaust completed as he was on holiday the next day. Now that is service and I actually called Nigel to compliment his company.

New exhaust.

Pic of the design of Cat.(note extra O2 bracket,not used)

Pic of the post cat sensor(forgot to take the pre cat sensor).

Pic of downpipe nuts sprayed with WD40 to help undo them. This is the first part I tackled to make sure these could be undone, else rest of job would be a waste of time. I undid these just enough to make it easier to undo without socket wrench and to keep the pipe in place so to remove O2 sensors and center section before undoing nuts completely.

Next job is to remove the pre cat sensor(can't remember size but used adjustable spanner wrench). Note you can't get to the post cat O2 just yet, as it is between exhaust and chassis.

Then you will need to undo the nut holding the clamp around the centre section to cat, I sprayed amounts of WD40 around the join to help removal. Then undo and remove the 8 nuts holding the centre section mounting frame to the chassis.

You could then do with extra pair of hands to help assist you as you need to hold the rear box and wiggle the centre section apart from the cat, whilst holding the cat pipe. support the weight of the cat pipe which will not drop all the way to the floor as the flexi joint wont go that far. The centre section and rear exhaust can be also left to hang where it is.

Now you can get to the post cat O2 sensor and remove that.

All that is left to do is remove the downpipe. I would take off the drive shaft heat shield that is held in with 2 bolts to get better access to remove downpipe. Sorry no pics but is easy to see. Now all that is left to do is remove the loosened nuts from the turbo housing and remove the downpipe/cat.

pic of Turbo housing with downpipe removed.

Centre section mounting frame with O2 sensor held to one side with cable tie.

Comparison of old and new exhaust plus drive shaft heat shield removed

Now replace gasket and fit up new exhaust. Tighten up the nuts. Fit the Pre cat O2 sensor. Note I would twist the sensor anti clockwise so to cable starts to get bunched up so when you fit it to the exhaust and tighten it up the cable is wound back to the starting position(else you will have a twisted cable after tighten up). Fit Post cat O2 sensor in same way. Offer cat up to the centre section, and do up clamp nut loose. Then refit centre section mounting frame using the 8 nuts. Then get helping hand to wiggle back box and also hold the tailpipe level to the bumper and tighten up clamp nut. Job done

pic of cat in place.

Pre cat sensor installed

Turbo nuts tightened up and you can see the heat shield over the drive shaft

That it.

Hope this was useful.

Mind you, all this work was not needed :( as the MOT emmisions failure turned out to be a bad remap so original neally new cat is ok. (and in the for sale section it)

Excellent post. Moved to technical guides as I think it belongs there

Excellent post. Moved to technical guides as I think it belongs there

No worries Rob.

Getting quite a few guides up here now. Nice to put something back into club.

Looks good. Well done Nigel Good to see their service is improving and you got a happy result.

I may be wrong but i think the additional Lambda bung you have fitted just before the cat is to meet new FIA rules with regards to cars having a cat fitted. The regulations state that a access point must be present so scrutineers can remove the plate/plug and use a mirror to confirm that a cat is indeed present and its not just an empty shell Another nice touch by Nigel.

Kind Regards

Garry