Amrish

I went to an American Muffler Shop the other week to get prices on installation and other things(which is all the piping...)

I was talking with one of the guys there, and i told him i would bring him headers (SLP 1 3/4), a cat, and a muffler of my choice, and i asked if he could do the rest of the piping and installation...

He told me, he could install the headers for $400 and make the rest of the piping for my exhaust for $300...

That is expensive, but i have no other choice in installation ... no tools, no experience, and no experience help either..


He said he would make all the piping 2 1/2 inches...
Is this a good setup? or would it be better to buy hooker cat-back exhaust or something similar and just get that installed.. ?

USA-1

NO!!!! Don't waste the much needed mula! Go with the Hooker cat back. I just put one in and I had ZERO experience with exhaust installs before that. I had my 16 year old brother-in-law help me do it and he's pretty much as useless as **** on a bull. All I needed him for was a second set of hands.

Here's the install:

1) Remove bolts from cat. - this is tricky. Mine were rusted and I snapped the heads off of both but was able to remove them by using a vice grip on one and drilling the other one out.

2) Cut the old pipe. - If you don't have a sawzall you'll need a hacksaw and some time. You'll need to cut the old pipe pretty close to the muffler to get the muffler out of the bracket on the passenger side.

3) Remove bolt on the driver's side. - this should free up the whole rear assembly (muffler and exhaust tubes). Chuck the old system to the side and take a break.

4) Bolt new pipe to cat. - Slide the new brace over the new pipe and bolt it to the cat but do not tighten all the way. You want to be able to move it pretty easily.

5) Lay new pipe over rear axle. - this is the pipe that will connect the cat pipe to the muffler.

6) Attach the exhaust tubes to the muffler. - do this off of the car but don't put the tips on yet. You can tighten up the brackets that hold the tubes in but just enough to keep them from freely moving on their own.

7) Raise muffler assembly. - have your helper attach one side while you do the other. The real PITA is going to be the bolt that holds the cat piping to the muffler. There's a bolt at the top of the assembly that will give you fits but you'll get it. You're going to have to rig this side up. An "L" bracket should do the trick. Just copy what the old system did. Also, tighten the clamp attaching the 2 pipes running from the cat to the muffler.

8) Tighten everthing up. - now you'll see why you shouldn't have tightened everything right away. By leaving everything lose you should have been able to twist and slide everything to fit. Here's where you make you're final adjustments and tighten everything up.

9) Attach you're tips. - pop those babies on and adjust the exhaust pipe angle to your desire.

10) Start the car up and enjoy that sound!!!!!!

The whole setup ran me roughly $280 with shipping from Thunder Racing. I don't have air tools or a lift or anything like that. I put the front end on ramps, the back end on jack stands and used a ratchet set and some elbow grease. It was really easy to do. Take my word for it. This is my first project car and I was able to do it. You'll save yourself some money for other mods. Besides, what's the worst that could happen? You can screw it up and pay someone to fix it. You were willing to pay them before, right? If you get it right you save some money!

Amrish

Thanks for the help, i think i might concider this and save $700

Can someone also give me a guide on installing headers... I am getting SLP 1 3/4in. What to remove, in what order and how to put it all back together... I have NO experience what so ever, i am only 18, and trying to learn this stuff...

Are there any sensors or anythign i have to worry about? Cause taht stuff really scared me, and when i order the headers, what is the A.I.R. options and do i need it?

Another thing, i think the owner before me had the muffler welded on to the gas tank or something up there...how can i remove this?

ALL information will help alot! tools needed, step by step intructions, hints, tips, whatever...

Thanks alot, saving $700 can get me some more stuff....


One other thing... For a complete exhaust change, Headers to the back, can someone tell me exactly everything i need to get...
all i have in mind so far are SLP headers, and hooker catback exhaust, what else is needed?

Amrish

One other thing, i dont have the stock exhaust on right now... when i bought the car, the guy said he had flowmasters installed on it, but the system is terrible and the cat is gone and the muffler looks like its falling apart... Anything to keep in mind about this?

ME Leigh

I agree do it yourself I did mine with miniaml experience and a lot of hope. It just takes some time but follow the directions and its really easy with hand tools and a jack.