I got one of those eBay catbacks and everything bolted up nicely until I got to the muffler section. I was excited that it was easier to get over the crossmember than the stock piping but then it didn't make it to the rest of the piping.

Has ne1 else run into this problem or am I just not doing something right? This is the first catback exhaust I've installed, the rest I just go to a muffler shop and have them fab me up one. I tried unbolting on of the hangers on the cat side but that didn't work. There's not anymore room for it to maneuver.



I'll probably end up going to a muffler shop and have them finish the job

I notice that the part before the tip the it goes from 3 inch at the inlet of the muffler and gets smaller right before the tip. I notice that there's nothing behind where it so I'm probably going to port it out to 3 inch again.



So far I'm giving this catback a thumbs to the side

I got it from this seller:
95-99 ECLIPSE 3" TURBO STAINLESS STEEL CATBACK EXHAUST:eBay Motors (item 180425823593 end time Nov-27-09 17:05:35 PST)

thought all the ebay catbacks were the same guess not... I guess you get what you pay for I bought the cheapest one I could fine =P

Going to have to agree with your quote of "you get what you pay for" - this is always true

Your profile says you have a 420a that is turboed. If that is so you bought the wrong exhaust and that is why it does not fit. You should have bought an exhaust for a 420a not a gst. It even says on the link you provided turbo model only! Your car might be turboed but it is a differnt engine than the turbo models come with.

If your going to make it work you are going to have to take it to a muffler shop and have them modify it.

oh this is for my GST not my RS. I haven't updated my profile don't think it allows more than one car. Its on my sig though.

But yeah I'm going to the muff shop tomorrow and get it fixed. Hope it doesn't cost too much I already paid a shop to loosen my O2 sensor 15 bux, it would have driven me mad without a lift '

You need to un-hang the muffler, And the rest of the exhaust. Jack the car up REALLY HIGH, And then bolt that section together. Then, Hang the exhaust all up. You should have NO problems. It's NOT the exhaust... The whole you get what you pay for on ebay is getting really played out. I've installed many of these exhausts on cars already for people who did not have alot to spend.

OH, And PS: If you did not get THEIR downpipe, What downpipe are you using? Not all exhausts, Bolt up to all downipipes/cats..... You are blaming this exhaust for not working, When in reality the problem is probably not there. Do what I said, And it should bolt right up.

1993eclipseGS said:

OH, And PS: If you did not get THEIR downpipe, What downpipe are you using? Not all exhausts, Bolt up to all downipipes/cats..... You are blaming this exhaust for not working, When in reality the problem is probably not there. Do what I said, And it should bolt right up.

Click to expand...

Very true. I bought an ebay cat back, it came with a reducer to fit up to the stock downpipe. Because I had a Megan downpipe and did not need or want the reducer, the cat back was too short and would not bolt to the downpipe.

I solved my problem by cutting my downpipe and welding a highflow cat in making up the length difference.

I saw a extension piece on ebay for those. let me see if I can find it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/89-94-MITSUBISHI-ECLIPSE-GSX-TURBO-CATBACK-EXHAUST-4G63_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem4ceaf51006QQitemZ330359443462QQptZRaceQ5fCarQ5fParts

See that small piece, maybe it was missing that? On the other hand, in my experience sometimes, well most of the time, you got to "make" it fit when working with metal.

nuclearr said:

Your profile says you have a 420a that is turboed. If that is so you bought the wrong exhaust and that is why it does not fit. You should have bought an exhaust for a 420a not a gst. It even says on the link you provided turbo model only! Your car might be turboed but it is a differnt engine than the turbo models come with.

If your going to make it work you are going to have to take it to a muffler shop and have them modify it.

Click to expand...

FYI, I used a GST cat back on my RS, then bought the HKS Carbon Ti exhaust for a GST and it bolts up perfectly on the 420A platform.

GST cat backs bolt right up, hangers and all, to the 420A cars.

Are you sure the exhaust is supposed to go over the cross member like the factory setup? Most aftermarket system go under the cross member.

I'm pretty sure its suppose to go over the cross member its got a pretty big bend and the rest of it points upward. I guess I can try unbolting everything and connecting it like that one guy said but its already a tight fit though if not its off to the muffler shop. Or should I just work backward, connect the muffler first and work my way to the cat?

And I connected it to a stock cat, it has the reducer built into the catback so I'm pretty sure its for the stock cat, I had to port out the stud holes on the exhaust to get it to fit the cat.

I will post some more pix I took when I installed it later.

I agree that "you get what you pay for" is just becoming a chiche that only applies in certain situations. If you're that close, as mentioned you should start at that point installing and work your way back . . .

Yea on the GST its like stock, it goes over. ont he GSX is goes under.

Did you guys see the picture on the auction that this was bought from:



that is definitely not the same ebay catback we all have been raving about in the ebay exhaust thread.

look at the weird flange and gasket on one connection. Is the one pictured EXACTLY what you got?

The "GOOD" ebay exhaust is the N1 style. This is a definitely a foreign exhaust then the one we all are expecting when someone mentions "ebay catback"

The funny thing about the "good" ebay N1 catback, its actually BETTER than the "REAL" APEXi catback, because 1) its full stainless steel, and 2) it doesnt have a neck down in the muffler that will hurt performance, similar to what you are showing us in the picture.-- I believe thats what owners have found out, correct me if I'm wrong.

this is the one most are familiar with


95 96 97 99 MIT ECLIPSE GST BBP TURBO CATBACK EXHAUST:eBay Motors (item 170346388424 end time Nov-15-09 17:57:25 PST)

Perhaps you got one that is an entirely different animal
Here is the original ebay exhaust thread to reference all the ones that people have worked with:
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/app...y-exhaust-systems.html?highlight=ebay+exhaust

more pictures

Well its official it does not fit. I tried working my way from the muffler unbolting stuff as I went along and I eventually got it all to bolt in.... yep sounds like problem solved but the exhaust didn't move at all NO PLAY WHATSOEVER. Plus I had to unbolt the downpipe and I took one of the bolts holding the cat up. The muffler was up agianst hte crossmember didn't look so happy. I was able to tighten all the bolts but the muffler one in the end because it was touching the cross member and the bolts were very tight so tight that if I had kept on trying it would have dented the muffler pipe on the crossmember or bend the flange. So I gave up there and bolted everything up except the part where the midpipe connects to the cat end because it looked like the best place to get it to mate up, it was close really close but no worky. So its off to the muffler shop tomorrow.

Either this is a not very well made product, I got a bad unit, or there's something up with my car. Wish I just got a custom made dealie now. To bad it is really nice.

Oh yeah, yep the picture in auction is definately not the same one that I got but the one I got looks exactly as the ones in those pictures.

Anyway here are somemore pix of it

Yep that's the muffler that came with my car, some wierd brand (Neutron) muffler welded to the stock exhaust.



So close



More pix here:
eBay Catback Exhaust

Frustrating huh, wasnt a brand i heard of neutron that may explain your non fitting issue.

I had the same problem, A few years back.

I had to jack the car up REALLY HIGH in order for me to almost stand the exhaust and muffler straight up, And then manuever them through the tight hole, To bolt up. You're even closer in that last pic, Then the pic you first posted. I hope you get it taken care of and the exhaust shop could install it without hacking it. I'm not going to keep posting here saying it fits, it fits... because you are going to start getting angry and post that you cannot get it. Either way, I'm sure once on a lift, The exhaust shop should be able to bolt it right up for you. If you were closer, I would have done it at my shop for you. I have the identical one sitting out on my GST parts car on the side of my garage. Exhaust is still brand new. I remember installing it though and it were just very very tough to work it's way through that little section.

Maybe its the angle in the pic. But it looks like you're missing a piece. Or the bend is not enough at that point. . .

Woah thats' weird, I did post but now it's gone aha. I think it looks like it's missing a piece because the muffler is not laying in the proper position. It should be flipped almost 180*. I know it's fustrating but you need proper ground clearence to do the install. If you do not have tall enough jack stands, You will not be able to move the exhaust correctly to get it to line up. I also have adapter pieces they sent me, But I never needed them . The adapter piece is usually to hook the catback up to the cat.

I think when the shop gets the car on the lift, It will go on without any problems, As long as they START from that section, First!

dsm-onster said:

Maybe its the angle in the pic. But it looks like you're missing a piece. Or the bend is not enough at that point. . .

Click to expand...

well no if you look at the hangers on it they are positioned different... i dont believe he laid them the exact way!

AND that "CAT" you have isn't a catalytic converter.... is actually a resonator!!
Once you go to a shop they will turn you away!!
You being in cali i know this... i tried this here in texas and not one place would weld it up for me!!
its not a true cat and they don't want to be a fault and fined for doing the job.... Inless you know the guy well and/or talk him into doing if for any reason!

good luck man!!

tight fight huh, its almost like they shorted you a few inches of pipe.

Foreign eh, no wonder I can't get a tig welding job anywhere around for a hundred miles.

My Apexi N1 on my 2g GST actually went under the crossmember....

Looks normal right up to the muffler portion. What is that black collar on the muffler? Maybe they sent you a muffler for a gsx instead of a gst? If you twist the muffler so the hangers work, does it fit under the rear carrier? Another option - most GST catbacks where it goes over the carrier it is flattened out for clearance. Yours looks like it is not flattened at all. Maybe you just need to flatten it for clearance.....

UN-HANG THE MUFFLER too! I just jacked my parts car up and tried to get it off with jackstands. It would not go. As soon as I jacked the car up much higher, It came right out, And instantly went and bolted right back up. I just wanted to check to see if it were a problem depending on how high off the ground the car is. I got it right back up, And on, Although if I hung the muffler, And then bolted it up, It was a no-go. My parts car has the same exhaust, Brand new that you have in the pictures.

Wow lots of replies. Anyway yeah it look funny in that picture becaues I don't have it the eaxact same angle as the other muffler. I sure hope thats a catalytic converter on my car


The guy I bought the car from smogged it before he sold it to me and I don't get a check engine light for no cat. But now that you mention it since I had the cat out in the open I should have inspected the guts and see if it was all there. ### hah funny story I was trying to smog my dad's supercharged MR2 one time. I just changed the headgasket on it and cleaned everything up real good and it wouldn't pass. The tech checked the AFR reading and stuff and he said it was all good just couldn't figure out why. So I figured its an old car and I need a new cat maybe. So I take it to a muffler shop to get the cat changed and then guess what the cat was hollowed out, I don't know if on purpose but that's why it didn't pass. Took it to the smog station again and passed no problem.

Anyway the catback was pretty easy to install it just didn't all fit perfectly. It didn't have any play where I would want it to have a little play, it just didn't fit well. Like look in this picture.

The hanger is pushed all the way to the sidewon't go anymore. But yeah like someone said it's very close, if one of the flanged was maybe little bit longer and rotated slightly I bet it would have fit perfectly. ' anyway I'll let you all know what happens after the muffler shop.

So wait, Did you get it bolted up where you were having problems, Or no? If not, You need to do like I said the past 5 times and unbolt it from everywhere, And start from that flange, First. I'm sure all the exhaust brackets are not going to be perfect, But what do you expect for such a cheap exhaust. The main thing is that it's a 3" exhaust with mandrel bends, And you saved a ton of money...

I hope you got it all worked out because I can't give you any other advice then what I already have in my past 5 posts in this thread........

If you're just bitching about stretched rubber hangers after you get it bolted up enough seal and clear speed humps, then there is no real problem. You paid next to nothing for it and it's all mandrel bent and no reductions. . . Go have fun. How does it sound?