Capristo Headers Only

Hi Richard,

I think that it should be fine as you're removing weight by removing the muffler and one of each exhaust pipe is still attached to the catalyser. But I would leave at least one unscrewed bolt from up to down through the muffler joint and bracket holes, on each side to make sure that the exhaust brackets are not moving away from the muffler joint while you're exchanging the mufflers.

The ideal would be to support the catalyser from under the car but then you'll have to remove the diffuser.

 

Support the end pipes in the openings with some old blankets or magazines.

//Anders

 

2009 Scuderia Headers. By the way I'm selling them as I doubt I'm ever going to remove my Capristo headers.

Lighter, and less restrictive than either version of the regular F430 headers. They fit the regular F430, but the air rail inlets have to be closed.

Last two pics from the end connecting to the catalytic converter.
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No Precats indeed on the Scud! Cool photos, thanks !

 

Considering the car is tracked, that Scuderia header looks like it's in pretty good shape. If Ferrari got the Scuderia to pass emissions without pre-cats, I wonder why they fitted the 430 with them.

 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LniPG5J3nos[/ame]

I don't understand how you are not a fan of Fabspeed's products. They got 467 hp at the wheels with headers and sport cats with stock muffler. With test pipes, their new X-pipe exhaust and 100 octane race fuel they got 500 hp at the wheels. Even at 467 hp at the wheels, that is more than the new 458 Italia which puts down 450 hp at the wheels.

 

I love my stick-shift but the sound and speed of the up shifts on that Scud are terrific. Lovin' it!

 

I’m back with some good news

Some members reported that they struggled with the Capristo exhaust brackets, especially the LHS bracket. It was my case too as the LHS bracket springs where well too compressed. The main issue is the metallic tip as described in previous posts.

I reported this problems to Antonio Capristo. As always, he heard these comments and started working on a new version of the exhaust brackets. I just love this guy who is always ready to improve his products Try to report something to Ferrari, no chance to be heard…and no chance to see an improved solution unless it’s security related. Anyway, back to our brackets. Capristo sent me the new version to test them out on my car. So that was my today weekend job.

First, I had to remove the diffuser, muffler and old brackets. I really struggled to get the bolt out as the bolt threads were quite damaged. Not a good sign. Something needs to be improved here as these bolds are exposed to very high temperatures (more to come later on that subject). Even if the entire exhaust is holding by itself, it’s careful to put some supports under the cats as you can see on the picture. I put also come thick towels under the exhaust pipes so that they won’t scratch the paint (good practice even if soon my rear bumper will be changed – accident related).
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On these pictures, you can see the difference between the “old” and new version of the exhaust brackets. The new version has been improved in such way that this “leg” will not touch the exhaust tip anymore.
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I mentioned that the bolds had suffered seriously from the heat. It was a real pain to get them out. To avoid such situation in the future, I covered them entirely with Permatex ante-seize grease. This grease can resist up to 1600 F – 870 C. It will avoid oxidation because even Inox bolt will eventually rust with humidity and lot’s of heat. The picture shows the bolds which go through the spring, one is treated with grease.
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Putting everything back together was a piece of cake. No more issues on the LHS and the spring are not compressed anymore.

The leveling between the LHS and RHS is perfect. I just had to slightly adjust the LHS to obtain exactly and identical alignment between the LHS and RHS exhaust tips (2 cm gap between the inner pipe and the upper edge). Did you know that stock, both exhaust lines are not aligned in the same way? The result of it can be seen on the LHS heat shield which protects the E-Diff hydraulics. On the LHS, this rounded shield is completely burned as the cat is much closer to it than on the RHS. Grace to the Capristo exhaust brackets, such differences can be absorbed without putting any pressure on the exhaust line and headers. This wasn't possible with the stock exhaust brackets and makes me thinking even more how much the headers can suffer from the pressure.

On the picture you can see that the exhaust is now sitting perfectly well on the exhaust brackets and there is enough play in the springs so that they can efficiently do their work.

Now I'm very happy with this perfect product

Stef
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Excellent stuff, maybe I too should try contacting them to see if I can get the upgraded parts?

 

I would not hesitate to ask them. The improvement is really good. Although, I haven't test drove the car yet and can't yet validate how these new brackets are dealing with the heat, torsion etc. I will let know here the results after several test drives.

 

Another picture which shows how the holes are perfectly aligned with the new brackets without forcing. The brackets (springs) must be adjusted at the right height before screwing the "legs" on the exhaust side in such way that their is no force between the exhaust and the legs but simply sit on them.
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Stef, I am having issues here. The online site does not show any brackets. Where do I get those from? This is all it shows.

http://www.capristoexhaust.us/category-s/129.htm

Also, do I need to take it back to the F shop for a ECU reprogram? DO do I even need to do that?

Thanks.

Viraj.

 

Hi Viraj, I couldn't find them neither on the US website but the exhaust brackets are briefly mentioned here : http://www.capristo.de/en/exhaustsystems/ferrari/ferrari-430-twinsound.html

The best would be to contact them directly by email : [email protected]

No, there is absolutely no need to reflash the ECU's. The only thing that need to be done is a classical reset by switching off the main switch and leave it overnight. Then do a entire relearn cycle as I described here a couple of posts ago.

Let us know how it goes
Stef

 

Thanks buddy. I will keep you posted. Viraj

 

Well,

I went back to my stock Scuderia muffler. I really miss the high pitch sound of my x-pipe muffler.

My current setup: stock muffler, stock cats, Capristo headers, capristo silver header insulation.

Car feels very strong (fast), I don't know why, but it feels faster compared to the x-pipe muffler.

Next modification, Capristo Scuderia exhaust brackets. My X-pipe muffler cracked in 7 different places, all of them support pieces of the custom exhaust, so there is really a lot of movement on the exhaust due to the mounts being over the transmission, bad design from Ferrari if you ask me, because engine and tranny have different vibration patterns.

So, I need to contact someone, somewhere to get Capristo to send me the brackets. They are a little hard to reach, I'm still waiting (3 months) for the insulation for my Scuderia test pipes (not installed as they are too loud combined with the x-pipe muffler).

Great post Stef, thanks for the follow up with the Capristo Muffler Brackets.

 

Have you tried http://www.nicksforzaferrari.com/ http://www.capristo-usa.com/ and/or [email protected] ?

 

After checking this topic with Capristo, they explained me that they use self-locking nuts. That's why it is difficult to remove these nuts afterwards and the bolts of course can not be reused. Capristo installed such self-locking nuts since some clients complained of vibration noises coming from screws that have loosened.

 

Richard, the nuts are slightly deformed at one end to make them bind as you install them so that they resist loosening. That's why you don't see any nylon ring which anyway wouldn't be suitable for exhausts. They are indeed difficult to remove.

I will order some copper plated steel studs and nuts with build-in washers so that they will resist better high temperature corrosion.
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Richard, I attached two pictures of the Capristo nuts and bolts used to lock the exhaust brackets on the exhaust. As you can see, the nuts are clearly self-locking nuts. This didn't came to my mind first but then I looked more carefully since you got the same problem. So finaly nothing is wrong here. They are even copper plated and thus heat resistant.

With the right extended wenches and some grease, the hex bolts and self locking nuts can be removed but you need to apply a lot of torque on them. That's how I got them out.

You just need to use new bolts once you removed these self locking nuts or "rethread" the existing bolts with a non-self locking M8 nut (worked for me).

The new copper plated nuts I will order as posted above will be used to replace those which are OEM and holding the muffler (2 on each side).
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