The search for headers and a catback exhaust system.

While driving around and doing my work-related errands yesterday, I noticed something very strange. My car was a bit louder than usual when idling. It could have been because of the -40°C weather, but I decided to take a look when I was done and back at the office.

The tip was hanging out of the muffler and almost touching the ground. It looked as though the rust had eaten away at the juncture and it broke off.

As a result, I did some researching and discovered that since I would have to replace the entire muffler, I could also replace the headers and the entire catback exhaust system. Now, I’m no expert at auto repair, but I’m slowly learning bit by bit how everything pieces together and works. If anything, I’m a boon for online research. The only problem is that I don’t have a hoist, otherwise, I would do all the work myself. Unfortunately, this means that I’ll have to leave it in the hands of the shop.

You may have noticed that there’s a new category tag this post is filed under called Nissan Altima Kuruma. I just created this category to sort all future posts (starting with this one) that pertain to the eventual upgrading and education of my car. (2009.06.23 EDIT: The Kuruma tag replaced the Nissan Altima category.)

I’m not looking to be a mechanic of any type, and I’m definitely not here to flaunt my car. My goal is to learn everything there is to know about my car so that I can troubleshoot by diagnosis, but leave major repairs to others. Also, my upgrade plan is to keep everything as stock as possible, and do everything I can under the hood to create a custom sedan in performance and comfort. Comments from experts will be welcome (but please, no trolling or off-topic posts)!