First time replacing exhaust and catalytic converter?

It's time to replace my old rusty exhaust system, including the catalytic converter and o2 sensor on my 96 XJ. Believe it or not, it's the original system, so I definitely got my moneys worth out of it. Anyhow, I took it to the local Meineke shop to get replaced. I knew I'd pay a bit extra, but I figured it woul be worth it as it's cold out and wrenching in 30 degree weather sucks. Well, when I bring it to get checked out, the quote me a price of $778 installed!:shocked: I immediately told them no thanks and drove away as fast as I could. At that point, I decided to tackle the project myself. I ordered all the parts from Auto Zone and the total came out to about $350 for a Dynomax cat back, Magnaflow catalytic converter and NGK o2 sensor.

My question is how difficult is it to replace these? I'm pretty good with tools, but I have to admit I'm a bit intimidated by this project. The one thing I'm really wondering about is removing the old catalytic converter. As I mentioned, it's the original, so I doubt it's going to come off easy, if at all. Should I just cut it off on the manifold side? What about when I put the new one on? Do I need a sleeve to connect the cat converter to the manifold pipe? What about clamps? Are the standard clamps OK or would I be better off with band clamps like these > http://www.summitracing.com/parts/BOR-18004 ? I'll probably post more questions as I think of them, but for now, any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Not unusual to have the original exhaust on a used XJ.

The OEM Cat is held on with a normal exhaust clamp and may have a spot weld on it to locate it before they clamped it. Cat, Muffler, and pipe are all welded together as an assembly.

Cut the down pipe off as close to the CAT as possible. You will end up with a pipe inside a pipe. Slice the pipe up that one layer and peel off. Slide new CAT on and exhaust clamp away. I usually weld it on.

Same with the muffler side.

Same with exhaust pipe side.

You may want to look at Iron Rock Offroad. I think they have a cat back system that is pretty reasonable on the pocket book.

http://www.ironrockoffroad.com/Merc...=IROR&Product_Code=IR-X_IEK&Category_Code=XPA