Fabspeed fit problem? - Page 2

Mike Feinstein · Mike Feinstein's Garage

Just received my Fabspeed muffler. Man...that thing is gorgeous! Looks like jewelry with tasteful "911RS" embossed in muffler and oval, double thickness, slash cut tips. Took 2 months to get it but the quality is definately there. Brackets are made by Brey-Krause and clamps are heavy duty as well. Entire system is adjustable as intake and exhaust pipe(s) are clamped on for fine adjustment (not welded). Can use as single or dual outlet as you prefer...will try both.

Out of town now so I won't get to install it until Sunday. Will try to take some pics and post my impressions shortly after. Can't wait to get at it!

91C2wrencher · 91C2wrencher's Garage

FWIW, I think Cargraphic has some options on the pre-muffler thing...$0.02....

jhugh · 03-12-2003, 02:37 PM

For what it's worth at this point..

My Fabspeed premuffler is a little off too. The flange that attaches to the muffler seems to be rotated a titch, so that if you're looking at the back of the car, it's rotated slightly counterclockwise. It's not a problem with the stock single-tip muffler to have the far end cocked up just a little bit. But I anticipate a bit of a wrestling match when I move to a dual outlet. At this point, since I'm having the dual outlet built from a stock muffler, I'll probably just have the shop compensate with slightly different tips. We shall see.

Wavey · 03-12-2003, 02:46 PM

I'd Say fabspeed definitely has jig problems. And the problems seem to be inconsistent - some are angled too far to the passenger side, some are angled the opposite way, some are angled down, some have exit flanges that are angled or rotated. I don't have much confidence that mine's going to fit right, but we'll see.

stealthn · 03-12-2003, 04:52 PM

And...and...how did it go?

dickster · 03-13-2003, 01:01 AM

i had the same issue with a dansk premuff.

the two out muffler was moved slghtly to the right to accommodate it.

MotoSook · 03-13-2003, 03:45 PM

ckelley: Anything to report ...Fabspeed's findings?

SK · 03-13-2003, 06:46 PM

Do they use the jig to tack weld the flange, then remove it from the jig to seal weld the total bead? If so, the heat might be causing the thing to warp. It does not make sense to me how all of these can be so different.

ckelly · 03-13-2003, 08:05 PM

I'm not sure how they're welding it, I'm assuming it stays in the jig.

I spoke to Joe again today and offered to keep the second pre-muff he sent me and re-weld it for him correctly, then return it. I just hate to cut on it, it's really a beautiful thing.
I'm building a simple jig of my own using my stock cat as a pattern, so I'll see what happens then and see where he wants to go at that point. Joe knows now that there's problem and he's trying to get to the bottom of it.
I've heard some negative things here from some members about their customer service, but I haven't had any trouble with his service whatsoever, Fabspeed has bent over backwards for me so far and I would still recommend them to anyone.

RickM · RickM's Garage

This reminds me of a Monza exhaust I purchased for a 924 many years ago. The product just didn't fit. I had a welder correct the mismatch and sent it back to them. They changed their manufacturing process to replicate the changes.

MotoSook · 03-13-2003, 08:15 PM

ckelly, I am very interested in the out come of this issue. Fabspeed is near the top of my parts list, and I would like to know that when I buy, things have been worked out. I shouldn't worry so much since my muffler will be custom fab'ed but I still would like a $200+ part that will work with my stock exhaust if I need it to. Nice work.

Wavey · 03-14-2003, 06:45 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by SK
Do they use the jig to tack weld the flange, then remove it from the jig to seal weld the total bead? If so, the heat might be causing the thing to warp. It does not make sense to me how all of these can be so different.

From what I've observed, I don't think it's a warping problem. It appears that the parts aren't correctly aligned when the welding starts, and the misalignment varies from pipe to pipe. For example, I've seen them where the inlet flange appears to be misaligned, and where the outlet flange appears to be misaligned. On mine (not installed yet) it looks like the outlet flange is square to the short pipe it's attached to, but the short pipe looks like it's crooked.

There are a total of seven pieces, and it looks to me like they have a hard time aligning everything the same way every time. I suppose as long as the inlet flange and the outlet flange are in the correct position, the rest is just aesthetics.

I hope to get time to install mine this weekend - will post pics right away.

Wavey · 03-16-2003, 09:19 AM

OK, just tried to install my Fabspeed pre-muffler, and I have exactly the same problem that started this thread.

CK, did you ever get anything worked out with Joe at Fabspeed? I'm going to email him this pic and call him tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, I guess I'll reinstall the original cat. At least all the old hardware is gone and the swap will be much easier when I get a part that fits.

Trying not to be pissed here - but I have limited time to work on my car and it's really agravating when you have a problem like this that totally stops the project.

MotoSook · 08:42 PM

Wavey (

), that bites! I hope Fabspeed fixes this soon, as my parts budget may dry up soon. Good luck and keep us in the know, please.

ckelly · 03-16-2003, 08:41 PM

Haven't heard from Joe again yet, I told him I'd get back to him on Monday with my findings of the jig construction. I got the very simple jig completed using the stock cat as the pattern, both pipes I've received are off almost identical, minor differences are evident, but with the larger bolt holes he provides it's not going to cause enough of a problem to worry about. The problem appears to be at the inlet flange or maybe even the junction of the y connector to the muffler portion. A very small error here will produce large results on the other end. I've found that if I have the inlet flange machined about an 1/8 inch, it will fit perfect, looks like the two inlet pipes are welded at an incorrect angle to me, about an 1/8 inch off, coincidence??? I think not.

I'm going to email Joe some pics of the jig work and see where that leads.

Wavey · 03-17-2003, 06:17 AM

Well, I didn't have to call Joe because I had an e-mail from him first thing this morning. He's offered to pay whatever it costs me to get this fixed locally (which I really don't want to get into), or send another pipe, which I've asked him to do. I just hope the replacement is from a different batch and doesn't have the same problem.

Clay, my pipe appears to be "off" exactly like yours is, and you got two of them the same way.
I think it's very magnanimous of you to fabricate a jig for him, more than I'm willing to do. For $250 I'd just like a pipe that fits and let him work out the problem.

I do have to say that Joe is being a first-rate guy about this, and that's the real measure of the situation. It's OK to make a mistake, it's how you handle it that matters.

CarreraCat · 03-17-2003, 10:02 AM

Thank goodness for Pelican BB! I was planning on ordering a Fabspeed Premuffler. I will hold off buying until they fix this problem. Thanks guys. Let us know of any new news about this.

Wavey · 03-17-2003, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by CarreraCat
Thank goodness for Pelican BB! I was planning on ordering a Fabspeed Premuffler. I will hold off buying until they fix this problem. Thanks guys. Let us know of any new news about this.

Will do. At this point I'm still cool with Fabspeed, assuming Joe does what he says he'll do, which I have no reason to doubt. Other than this fit problem, the quality of the part is excellent, and his customer service has been great so far.

CarreraCat · 03-20-2003, 08:57 PM

So any more news on the Fabspeed pre muffler fit problems? I have as itch to by one. I just installed my Dansk 1in2out and it sounds great! Not too loud, in fact , not loud enough. The Pre muffler should be just about right.

ckelly · 03-20-2003, 09:12 PM

Last time I spoke to Joe he was having a new jig built, said he was going to try to take care of the stock he has for now. I will be sending my jig to him as well as soon as I get the call tag.

Should know something soon I'm hoping.