I have my Vantage in the garage on jackstands having stopped for the night on it - have a question for those that have replaced the rear muffler themselves. I have my fully loose and ready to come out, but it appears I should have both rear fender inner liners removed before I attempt to pull it off the hangers. Do the fender liners need to be fully removed or is it enough to undo the first three to four screws to allow it some play and slip the stock exhaust past it?

I'm installing a Mansory Rear Sport Pipe and RSC Hi-Po Cats on the car....

TIA,
Duane

 

From what I've been told the rear valance and both rear liners need to come off too. Dunno about v8 vantage but for DB series this seems to be the case.

Already starting to modify your car so quickly, looks like pizzafest enthusiast Duane is back!

 

HA! I can never leave well enough alone....I shall farkle until the day I shuffle off this mortal coil. And of course I like to do my own work which I realize is not as prevalent among Aston owners as it is among say BMW guys. Its FUN to pull stuff off the car and see what's under there, and the under-pinnings on an Aston are impressive.

I did pull the inner rear fender liners off this morning and YES - they do have to come off along with the rear valance before the pipe can be pulled. Man, that stock pipe is one heavy sucker. It was cool to see that Aston puts noise insulation attached to the top of the molded fender liners - haven't come across that before on other cars I've owned.

 

It's weird, isn't it? They look like giant fender pillows.

 

^^^ Lol I remember seeing that too and thinking to myself...what the hell is this! Goes to show attention to detail in an exotic supercar, always the slight differences that go a long way. I was super impressed to see the bottom of my DB9 sport package with the sport running gear, sport aero-underpanels etc...and the bonded Alum and composites chassis and super clean structure with the orange epoxy beads and lines and how tidy and deliberate everything was on the car's underside.

 

No, you do not need to remove anything other than the small rear diffuser strip (and even that may not be 100% necessary). Simply unbolt the tips from the muffler and everything should slide out once in the correct orientation (may have to rotate it a bit).

 

thats how it was on my DB9, I did not have to remove anything but the tips to swap the muffler.

 

I will have to try that. I did pull the rear inner fender liners and that makes it easy, but thats two wheels and liners I don't have to pull if I don't have to do it.

After I buttoned up the whole car its too loud for me. So, the Mansory Sport Exhaust has to come off and I get to do it again! I'll pop an ad up here shortly, but if anyone is interested Vivid Racing sells these for $ 3,499 plus shipping and I'll do this one with a total of 5 miles on it for $ 1,500 plus shipping. What shame, its beautifully crafted in Germany and a work of art. Also - if anyone has a 'quiet' Quicksilver or other 'low level noise' aftermarket pipe, I'm open to a trade.

 

Duane...RSC makes a nice setup, quicksilver is good too, and there's Lorini which is a little higher pitch sound....at least for the DB series V12's ...DB9/DBS... you may like to look for sound clips on each, prior to purchase.

 

Drop me a line, I have our 'Touring' system in stock. It is the go-to option for most people that are running High-Flow Cats.

 

You guys that are doing these swaps without pulling the inner fender liners and that rear lower valance panel must really have arms like Hulk Hogan and the nimble fingers of a young seamstress. I cannot see how you can maneuver all that hardware around in that very limited space. That stock pipe is so heavy that I can't imagine turning it this way and that. But hey - if you can manage it then my hat's off to you!

For anyone that wants to do their own, here's my recommended procedure, having done it twice now in 72 hours (this will go MUCH faster if you have a 1/4" air ratchet and several extension lengths as well as wobble extensions):

1) Jack up the rear of the car from each side, place jackstands under the car at rear strut points.

2) Remove both rear wheels.

3) Remove inner fender liners (Torx and Phillips screws)

4) Remove decorative ABS valance (Hex head screws)

5) Remover plastic rear pipe shield (Torx)

6) Completely remove the rear tailpipe extension clamps - one per side - and pull the shorty pipe through the chrome tip. (13mm Deep well socket)

7) Disconnect small vac hoses to the baffle opener/closers

8) Remove main rear exhaust bolts (13mm x 2 per side), these are spring loaded and far easier to take off if you use long extensions and work from the area in front of the brake hub.

9) Do not break rear pipe off the car yet. Before you do, remove the 10mm screws that hold the rear muffler hangers on the car (2 per side). Place a floor jack under the muffler if you are working on the ground. Once these are undone, a slight tap will break out the pipe and then pull it straight back, then down to clear the car.

10) Use silicone spray to lube the rubber muffler hangers so you can transfer them over to the new pipe. WD-40 will work, but Silicone is better.

Reverse all the above to put it back together.

 

Does anyone have a video or run the car without muffler to hear the difference? I'm curious and I cannot seem to find a video of a muffler delete of the 4.7 cars. I may remove my muffler for a week and see what I think about the sound.

 

there's so much sound insulation in my vantage that i've found that i must turn down the audio volume and occasionally quiesce the 'auto' mode on the air/heating system to gauge the RPM when reversing. over the years i guess that i have become dependent on noise level to precisely control release of the clutch when backing. ... suppose the RPM gauge could be useful.

 

I have straight pipes no muffler... sound is glorious. recordings can't do it justice... however you need to make sure you exit the exhaust past the bumper... not sure you should take off muffler without straight pipes

 

Thanks a lot. The thing is, I do want to hear it prior to taking it to an exhaust shop. Would rather go the custom route as opposed to paying $1,000 for, what two feet of welded tubing with hangers?