Hello, i have a 1986 Z28 camaro with the 305 v8 4bbl, i am 16 and bought this car as a project to restore. I was wondering what the best performance exaust system would be? to increase horsepower, and have a great loud sound? Also what cat converter produces the best power and flow? Any help greatly appreciated!

First off, welcome to the site! Check out the exhaust board, there is TONS of information in there about what your looking for.

Looking for a catback?
http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/ex...tart-here.html (Looking for a catback? Start here!)

Headers?
http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/ex...ion-chart.html (Thirdgen Header option chart - explained)

I personally have an SLP catback on mine and I love it. I also had a Magnaflow converter on it and was happy with that too. Catco and Random Technology also make some nice converters.

Try the search feature next time. There's literally everything you'd ever want to know about thirdgens a few key punches away Good luck with your project!

I recommend the flowmaster american thunder cat back its 3 in sounds amazing on my 305 tpi and has chrome tips which really stand out and look good. its pricey at almost 400 but i think its worth it

sounds like youll have fun with that thing!
im 18 and just bought my 89 iroc for the same thing, although its a wee bit meatier than yours.
the guy i bought it from stuck edlebrock smog legal headers, a random technologies cat, and borla exhaust on it and it sounds f**king amazing.
its loud, but not intrusively so.
which will be nice as a daily driver. (i have yet to take it off non op)
i dont know about the other brands of catbacks or converters, but thats whats on mine and i love it.

back to topic. i replaced my entire exhaust in march. i did headers cat and catback. you would have to research headers for your application. i went with the magnaflow direct fit cat 3" in and 3" out. then the new magnaflow cat back system which has become very popular because it out performs the flowmaster. it isnt as loud at idle but screams at WOT! and it has 3 1/2" tips. polished muffler and tips stainless everywhere else. looks and sounds great. you may want to check into the hooker catbacks too i heard they flow great and may be louder. just my 2 cents have fun with YOUR project. with exhaust it always needs to come down to what you think in the end.

Blowmaster,,, i mean, Flowmaster is the worst flowing, Annoying sounding, Heavy, rusty. POS, IMHO.. If you actually plan to keep this car, and not wreck it like most youths.. Do it right the first time. Get a quality cat back, Go with Borla, GMMG, Corsa, Magnflow, Hooker. That order IMO, is the best performing and sounding.

Thank you for all the help! and no i do not plan on being a typical youth and wrecking this car. Im not an idiot, i have a love for these cars and a love for working on them. Plus it is not my daily, i have a truck haha, anyone know how expensive borla or magnflow is? just in general

I love my Hooker.

i made an offer at banditexhaust.com for their magnaflow catback and they told me the cheapest is $315

yea, i love it.
i looked up some videos of other exhausts and i think borla sounds the best.
deep and throaty, but not annoyingly loud.
and from what i hear it has the best flow as well.

Yea but the cat back are also around $800

true...
well you get what you pay for.
you might be able to find an older model or one used for cheaper.

I love the sound of my hooker cat-back, but if you want/don't mind something a bit louder, there's nothing like a GMMG chambered exhaust

Well i just finished my exhaust recently, im 19 and ive had this car for a little over 2 and a half years, i threw on some edelbrock smog legal headers, the 3 inch y pipe, a dynomax cat i fabbed some triangle flanges to (so i can pull it out and put in a pipe when im not running emissions), a 3 inch intermediate pipe to a flowmaster 80 series muffler with 2.5" exit pipes, i like it, you notice an increase in power by just stepping up to a 3 inch, its not too loud either

I would have loved to just throw money at a brand new exhaust but i managed to get mine from header all the way to the tips for about $250, just a matter of finding the right part at the right price

Good luck!

Have to give a bump here, like GMMG, Classic Chambered Powersticks are great, no rasp when letting off the peddle after a WOT run, just great sounding deep tones. They do scream

The american thunder uses a delta flow muffler so its not loud until u get on it, ur thinking of the crappy 40 series that sound like crap the exhaust performs very well if u would actually research on the high end flowmaster mufflers not just the pepboys special 40 series

deaaaad thread back from the grave! WOO!

I happen to have a 40 series muffler and i dont mind it, ive got edelbrock AIR tube shorties to a 3 inch dynomax cat, 3 inch I-pipe back to the 40 series and its not a bad muffler, not the greatest but i like it, the only thing ive seen is that its got a backfire, kind of a hollow one when i down shift

Its better than stock but you can always do better lol

All flowmaster are the worst flowing mufflers you can buy, they are complete junk. Been proven many times over.

mmyers_417 NO.. American Thunder uses an 80 series muffler.

I have Edlebrock Headers and a Borla Catback. As far as the headers I'll be changing them when I do my engine this year and looks like I will get a set of Dyno Don's coated headers. The Borla system will stay in the car because I love the sound. You can tell who is running Flowmasters and who's is running Borla when they're side by side.

The reason Borla is so damn pricey is because they use T-304 stainless steel. The t304 and t409 are stainless steel production systems. The t304 system is more expensive because it is made to be more durable and it is a higher quality of stainless steel. The t304 system is generally used in equipment that requires more strength and durability like in cars and machines. The t304 has so much chromium and nickel content and very little ferrous material that magnets will not stick to it.

My system has been on my car for 9 years now.

IMO the best exhaust you can have, is one that is custom made... find a good shop that does custom welded exhaust systems, get the type of muffler(s) that you like, stainless steal piping and have them fab up an exhaust that fits you and your car. I think it's well worth the money and will last a long long time.

I have a Flowmaster American Thunder cat back (80 series muffler) 3 in. pipe with a Magnaflow high flow cat and I get compliments all the time. I like it allot. Hears a link to a page of all Flowmasters mufflers and it also shows the internal components. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...atAOJi8D1Awand And here's a video link to a 80 Flowmaster http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDDJiJhEJJM&NR=1 and here's one to a Magnaflow http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi40rYz2lPU here's one to a Powerstick http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TkhsB3TGio&NR=1 and here's one to a Spintech http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...ew_Exhaust.swf Heres Borla http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLfLbFlG2dQ Enjoy. By the way I did not like the Flowmaster 80 series muffler tips sticking out from the rear of my car so i cut them back about 3in. and they tuck in nicely now.

yes and you can see all those baffles are blocking the flow.

http://www.broaderperformance.com/mu...flow_tests.htm

The Mufflers
MAKE MODEL Part No. COST
SUMMIT Turbo 630125 $14.75
THRUSH Magnum Glasspack 24214 $16.50
THRUSH Boss Turbo 17718 $23.95
HOOKER Competition 21006 $25.95
DYNOMAX Super Turbo 17733 $28.50
DYNOMAX Race Magnum 24215 $31.95
HOOKER Super Competition 21106 $35.95
SUMMIT Fully Welded 630325 $38.69
FLOWTECH Afterburner 50322 $39.95

MUFFLER FLOW TEST

MUFFLER Flow at 28-in H20
DynoMax Race Magnum 528.64 cfm
Thrush Magnum Glasspack 507.40 cfm
Summit Fully Welded 343.38 cfm
Flowtech Afterburner 342.20 cfm
DynoMax Super Turbo 333.94 cfm
Hooker Competition 232.46 cfm
Hooker Super Competition 320.96 cfm
Summit Turbo 331.16 cfm
Thrush Boss Turbo 297.36 cfm

MUFFLER Idle dB WOT dB
DynoMax Super Turbo 89 123
DynoMax Race Magnum 94 133
Flowtech Afterburner 92 124
Hooker Competion 92 122
Hooker Super Competion 90 125
Summit Turbo 89 124
Summit Fully Welded 92 125
Thrush Boss Turbo 90 123
Thrush Magnum Glasspack 92 128

DYNO TEST
All mufflers were dyno-tested on a 355-cube SBC with 10.0:1 compression, Air Flow Research 190 aluminum heads, a CompCams 292 hyd. a Victor Jr. intake, a Holley 750-cfm double-pumper, and 1 5/8 Headman headers.


MUFFLER HP TORQUE 2,500-6,000rpmAverage
Hooker Competition 397.4 381.1 286.8hp/351.9 lb-ft
Thrush Boss Turbo 407.1 384.9 292.1 hp/357.5 lb-ft
DynoMax Race Magnum 409.5 394.3 298.8 hp/366.9 lb-ft
Flowtech Afterburner 409.7 391.2 294.8 hp/361.7 lb-ft
Thrush Glasspack 409.5 389.8 297.7 hp/365.3 lb-ft
Summit Turbo 411.5 386.3 291.5 hp/357.4 lb-ft
DynoMax Super Turbo 412.7 387.2 292.6 hp/358.6 lb-ft
Hooker Super Comp 413.8 387.2 292.8 hp/359.0 lb-ft
Summit Fully Welded 415.4 390.7 295.6 hp/362.4 lb-ft



more numbers for ya'll who like numbers.

All tests via an independent lab
All tests @ 15” wc

2 “ Straight Pipe 283 CFM
2 ¼ “ Straight Pipe 365 CFM
2 ½ “ Straight Pipe 521 CFM

2 ¼” Typical Bent tailpipe 268 CFM
2 ½” Typical Bent Tailpipe 417 CFM

2 ¼” Inlet/Outlet_ Glass Pack Tips- No Louvers- Smooth 274 CFM
2 ¼” Inlet/Outlet- Glass Pack Tips-Louvered 133 CFM
Same as above set for reverse flow 141 CFM
2 ¼” Cherry Bomb 239 CFM
2 ½” Cherry Bomb 294 CFM

2 ½” Inlet/Outlet Dynomax Super Turbo 278 CFM
2 ½” Inlet/Outlet Ultraflow Bullet 512 CFM
2 ½” Inlet/Outlet Gibson Superflow 267 CFM
2 ½” Inlet/Outlet Flowmaster ( 2 Chamber) 249 CFM
2 ½” Inlet Outlet Flowmaster ( 3 Chamber) 229 CFM
2 ¼” Inlet/Outlet Thrush CVX 260 CFM
2 ½” Inlet/Outlet Maremount Cherry Bomb 298 CFM
2 ½” Inlet/Outlet Hooker Aero Chamber 324 CFM
2 ½” Inlet/Outlet Hooker Max Flow 521 CFM
2 ½” Inlet/Outlet Borla Turbo 373 CFM
2 1/2" Inlet/Outlet Magnaflow 284 CFM


Standard OEM 2 ¼” Inlet/Outlet 138-152 CFM
Standard OEM 2 ½” Inlet/Outlet 161-197 CFM

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http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/....php?p=1891671


+ Edelbrock 5501 492 scfm 2.25"
$ Flowmaster 42440 483 scfm 2.25"
Race Magnum Welded 17216 711 scfm 2.25"

+ Edelbrock 5511 579 scfm 2.50"
$ Flowmaster 42540 352 scfm 2.50"
Ultra-Flo SS 17263 1133 scfm 2.50"
Race Magnum Welded 17218 1000 scfm 2.50"
# Borla 40600 836 scfm 2.50"

+ Edelbrock 5505 708 scfm 3.00"
$ Flowmaster 43040 392 scfm 3.00"
Ultra-Flo SS 17296 2200 scfm 3.00"
Race Magnum Welded 17220 2200 scfm 3.00"
# Borla 40450 1400 scfm 3.00"
# Borla 40575 1100 scfm 3.00"

@ Edelbrock 5535 562 scfm 3.50"
$ Flowmaster 435409 576 scfm 3.50"
Ultra-Flo SS 17268 2200 scfm 3.50"
Race Magnum Welded 17224 2200 scfm 3.50"
# Borla 40615 854 scfm 3.50"

@ Edelbrock 5537 1400 scfm 4.00"
* Flowmaster 54040-10 634 scfm 4.00"
Race Magnum Welded 17225 2600 scfm 4.00"
# Borla 40741 1450 scfm 4.00"

+ Edelbrock General Application Series
@ Edelbrock Victor Series Race
$ Flowmaster 40 Series ( 2 Chamber)
* Flowmaster Delta Force Race Series
# Borla XR-1 Racing Series (Round or Oval)

I know i said that the crappy flowmasters is the 40 series if u would read my post u would know that

In your first example, there isn't even a Flowmaster in the test. I see Flowtech, which is Edelbrock I hear.

Your other examples provide no real detail in the data. I see Flowmaster 40 series in the last test, which people have said in this thread over and over is NOT a well performing muffler because it's a cheap value series muffler.


I have a Flowmaster cat-back on my Camaro. It sounds great and it performs great. I have ZERO complaints.

Tekkitan completely agree with the no complaints on the three inch cat back but i believe flowtech is holley or at least was bought out by holley im sure someone else knows for sure

You are correct. That is what I get for reading someone's post in another forum and not checking

hi sorry for being lait for the ride as you probaly already decided or what not but here is what i think would be a good nice sounding combo. i'll include headers while im here, ok your probaly want these http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HOK-2055HKR/ as they are suppose to be very good headers and also include a y-pipe which your need for a nice power upgrade. for exhaust and cat i would go with both magnaflow on those as they sound super nice and not to loud and like advised go to banditexhuast.com as they got really nice prices. so with these 4 parts the total will be around $891 which i think is pretty dang good respectable price for a compete exhaust! just the magnaflow parts will probaly net you atleast 20hp and some good amount of torque but thats just a guest. this is the setup im going be doing so if your still on this board when i do all this which may be quite a while tell i get the money and you probaly have something else on there by then anyhow! good luck!