Well, first off, let me state that wow. Wooooow. The mere sound of the Vararam... Pop the throttle and there's a whoosh as the throttle body flies open and air rushes in to fill the vacuum.
Installing the Vararam, though... Now THAT was a chore. Took all kinds of wiggling to get it between the radiator and the radiator frame, and I was afraid I was going to break something up front (I did, actually; a tab for holding a wire snap). But get it in I did, only now... I can't close my hood.
HELP!
Below are some photos I took of my installation. Everything here seem OK?
First pic. Should the slot in the front of the Vararam be filled by the tab on the radiator frame?
Second pic, passenger side radiator fitment. Vararam seems to be sitting right atop black A/C condenser
Pic three, sidelong view after going for a drive. It works fine during a drive, and it does tangibly pull harder. I've got the HSRK in there, and it really is an amazing difference. If I could just close the hood...
Final pic, showing the gap between the hood and the car.
The safety latch catches, so the hood stays down while driving. But the primary latch isn't catching, and at the point in the photo seen above, I am pushing on the Vararam. It feels like I might be able to force it shut, but I'm afraid of damaging the Vararam.
Any suggestions? Thanks for the help, all.
Also, the tube for the PCV breather that was provided with my Vararam was a tad short. I had to rotate the collar on the throttle body to get it to reach, hence the odd brass elbow placement in the pics above. I'll need to get a longer tube.
Magnaflows
I also installed the Magnaflows, and the resonance right around 2500 RPM when I nail it is ridiculous. The car just sounds ... more. It's epic. Not sure if I like the volume, but we'll see.
That said, is it normal for a new exhaust to smell a tad odd? The Magnaflows smell like there was some kind of adhesive or chemical inside that's burning. I doubt it's the intake. In fact, in the second pic below, you can see a bit of what looks like tar spatter inside one of the tips. So near as I could tell, it was coming from inside the muffler.
Of course, it could also be my plastic trim. By default, the Magnaflows are a little close to the plastic around them. I may have to find a way to drop them a tad to provide more clearance so the plastic doesn't suffer the high temps from the mufflers. Pics below.