So, I took a bit to update this because of what I thought was an exhaust leak, and I wanted to get the full scoop in before I posted, but more on that later.

Feel free to follow along with the pictures!

So, it was a rainy Saturday morn... err, afternoon, and Jac and I headed over to YOWRS. A quick stop at Bojangles for a couple of biscuits and some caffeine provided some much needed encouragement. We weren't hung over, but we were certainly lazy.

We *almost* got caught in a downpour, but managed to secure our spot in the garage just as the drizzle materialized, and I got to work taking the plastic guard off the bottom of the car and letting a fan go to work.

A quick snack later, and we were back out and started ripping the dash apart - always fun to play with wires and those damn little plastic clips.

After that, it was under the hood time and we got the boost gauge sending unit spliced in, and ran the wires through the firewall.

Well, excuses ran out, and it was time to go under the car. I'd had some experience in removing the exhaust manifolds with my car and Dean's, so it started out fairly normally. Then, as it always happens, a bolt got jammed, and then another. Duane, at the parts store already since I'd forgotten my drop light, answered the call for penetrating fluid.

I juiced 'em up, and tried again. No dice. I wound up pulling the entire exhaust manifold down with the cross pipe in place, and went to task breaking the grade 8 bolts. Two broken bolts, one mashed fingernail, and an aura of blue profanity hung in the air, and the One had become Three. I tasked Jac and Duane with acquiring a pair of bolts and returned to the interior of the car and began soldering the connections for the gauges in place.

Jac and Duane returned, and I hopped back under the car only to discover the bolts were just a wee bit too short. Bugger. Jac and Duane headed out again. I drilled a hole in the exhaust manifold shielding in order to access the exhaust gas temperature (EGT) probe, and awaited their return.

Once back I set about bolting things together, and torquing to spec. A quick hop inside the car had the dash re-assembled and ready to go. Jac hopped in for the test drive, and away we went.

A noise. A funny noise. Fft Fft FFT FFFT FFFFFT. Increasing with RPM and Boost.

Shit.

Exhaust leak.

Ah well, nothing to be done - I'd had to re-use the cross pipe gaskets as it's apparently a non-stocked item. Oh well, some Bubba Burgers and beer went a long way towards removing frustration.

Fast forward a bit.

I ordered the gaskets and OEM bolts/nuts from subaruparts.com, and they showed up today. I hopped under the car and did the deed, and went out for a test drive.

Same. Fucking. Noise.

Well, I googled up grimmspeed exhust leak, and wow, what did I find but a post on nabisco saying it's a common sound. And that it diminishes with time. Well, cool, I can live with that. So now I know it's all done - all new gaskets, new bolts, everything is just right.

Next up I'll install the WBO2 sensor.