Hi, I have a 1986 Trans Am that originally came with the 305 H.O. TPI(vin F),and was just wanting to know if the Hooker cat back 16823 is truely a bolt on system? I have read somewere that a guy had to cut his I-pipe to length to get it to fit,and something about his exhaust hangers? I would have thought that the pipes that come with it,would have been the right length,and maybe have to modify the hangers. It currently has the stock 2 3/4" I-Pipe,with the cat gutted,and an 80 series Flowmaster muffler,and dual 2 1/2" tailpipes. This is acually my dads car,and he does not like the sound of the Flowmaster muffler,the problem isn't that it is to loud,it has a cracky sound at a certain RPM(2000-2500),makes it not sound very good. We have read that the hooker Aero Chamber sounds alot better than the flowmaster,and flows better too,is there any truth to this? We just want a system that is mostly direct bolt on(don't want to have to cut the pipes or anything). Wouldn't mind the hanger mods if they had to be done. This car has a 383 with AFR 195 heads,Victor Jr. intake,CSU 750 Blow-Through carburetor,Comp Cams NX 274 hydraulic camshaft,230/244 duration@.050" .488"/.501" lift,113* lobe sepereation,Intercooled D1SC Procharger 10-12 lbs. boost,Edelbrock TES Headers and Y-Pipe. It has a 2004R with billet input shaft,and billet forward drum,billet servo,TransGo recalibration kit,3000 stall 10" Continental Torque Converter,Spohn Performance crossmember,driveshaft,and adjustable Torque Arm,Moser 9" ford rearend with Detroit Tru-Trac,31 spline axles,and 3.50 ratio U.S./Strange gears. UMI lower control arms,and panhard bar. I know this car needs more than just a single 3" exhaust,but I can't afford the 4" mufflex system,they are to pricy,and don't know for sure if it would work with my Moser 9" ford rearend anyway,because of the bigger axle tubes it uses. It will still make plenty of power with just a 3" singe exhaust,this is just a street car,never raced. I have seen cars running in the mid 10's with a single 3" exhaust.We just figured that the 3" Hooker system would be better than the stock 2 3/4" we currently have,and he wants a better sounding muffler anyway. What do you guys think? Thanks

nobody?

From what I have heard, Hooker catbacks sound great! For me it was between Hooker and Magnaflow. I went with Magnaflow to hide my lopiness in my cam....sometimes I wish I had Hooker, other times I'm glad I have Magnaflow.
From what I understand, the difference between the hooker catbacks is that one of them (i would assume the more expensive one), has a cat delete pipe in it.

From my memory, the only differences in the Hooker cat backs is the flange where the cat is bolted too. Im not sure that in the 4-5 years since I bought mine if they changed the designs or what have you.

Im not too sure on the specific application for each one. I just purchased the lowest price one, cut the flange off, and welded an extention pipe to fit the cat.

We bought the Hooker 16823 cat back kit with the Aero Chamber muffler,and already got it installed,and it sounds way better than the flowmaster that came off it!! You can see why the Aero Chamber flows better than the Flowmaster too,you can almost see through the Aero Chamber!! It was really easy to install,it bolted right up to the factory hangers,although we did have to slot the bolt holes on the passenger side hanger,but it was no biggie. The tailpipes took the longest to get right,because you have to cut them to length to get the stainless tips to sit under the bumper right,without sticking out to much(they stuck way out at first),but it wasn't even a big deal at all. We put it all together with DynoMax Stainless Band clamps,(instead of welding), so we could take it apart when we wanted.(No Welding at all).The whole project only took 4 hours to do,including removing the old exhaust. Anyway,just wanted to let everybody know that we decided on the hooker kit,and it sounds excellent!! Thanks Guys

some cases a slight mod of the i pipe where it meets up is needed, BUT i sawzall and clamps will take care of it until you can get to a shop to weld it if wanted, and it wont cost much. Ive had hooker on my 92 350 GTA for 4 yrs and its holding up great and sounds mean. i even have it on my 02 LS1 T/A and its great.....

thats the typical response somebody has when they switch to hooker Areochamber. I only wish they made a Aerochamber in the 4"in/4"out style

I have the Hooker supercomp catback on mine....simular to yours except I have a 4 bolt cat. I had no issues (like you didn't apparently) going around the 9" rear. I've always loved the way it sounds, but like you - a 4" Mufflex pipe would work better.

Mine was actually pretty quiet when I first installed it, but it seems to have gotten a bit louder nowadays - could be the change in engine setups since then too though...