I was just wondering what kind of power increase I'd get from a new exhaust setup on my '84 LG4:

-Hooker Competition headers, #2460 (do I need to buy a y-pipe separately?)

-3" pipe from headers to muffler

-No catalytic convertor, which I'm almost certain is legal where I live. My car is not required to have an emissions inspection. If not, a high-flow cat.

-Spin Tech muffler, #343sc

I'm not expecting any huge gain. I might be new here but I'm not stupid... well maybe I am, so if anything in this setup seems unrealistic or whatever, please tell me.

 

1st, nobody makes a ready-to-install y-pipe for the 2460 headers. A shame, but that's the way it is. You'll have to have one custom fabricated.

The 2055 headers, however, come with a very nice y-pipe. You can hook a cat or straight pipe to it and connect to the I-pipe.

What were you going to do for an I-pipe? Spin Tech doesn't appear to make a 3rd gen cat-back system.

Your ideas are on the right track. The power gain will be noticeable, but probably not substantial. The nice thing is the system will support future upgrades.

 

Ok, I can have a y-pipe fabricated. I was actually thinking of getting a custom bent i-pipe. Do exhaust shops do that? Would it be expensive?

 

You'll have to talk to the shops in your area, tell them what you're doing, find out what they say.

There are exceptions, but most people find shops cost more than bolt-in parts will cost you. If you get all your parts for '86-'90 TPI single cat application - headers, cat, cat-back - you can bolt it all in yourself, and it'll cost you about $750 (using Summit prices, including a Catco high-flow direct-fit cat & Hooker cat-back). Those parts will be mandrel bent, which you aren't likely to get at an exhaust shop.

It's up to you, but I prefer going with high-quality parts that I can bolt in rather than leaving my car at a shop.

 

I'll do that then. Looking at the Summit website, I'm guessing you're talking about the Hooker 16823 cat-back system. They didn't really have any info on the muffler that comes with the system, though. Is it any good?

 

im a flowmaster guy, i bought those cheapo hedman headers that came with the y-pipe for 200$ but it was such a freakin bitch to install and it didn't come with a o2 sensor housing. Its fed into a gutted cat and a 2.5" intermediate pipe into a flowmaster 80 that sounded quite well on my lil stock LG4. heres sound clip I still think flowmaster has one of the best sounds.

http://www.buddyleex.com/mybird