Ok, here's the situation. You have at your disposal, a mig welder, bead blaster, tools and such...but no lift, and no mendral or even regular pipe bender. Ok, so welding would be basically free (in that you dont spend cash) and so would bead blasting something a little rusted. Construction labor is also free. You also need to buy headers and a y pipe (if needed in the system).

Now, given that, and having to buy pipe (not find it in junk yards or ebay) would it realistically be cheaper to build yourself a single or dual exhaust system or just buy say, a dynomax 180 dollar system. Would it pay to build a dual system (no need for y pipe) over a single system. Is there a prefabbed system that comes close to a custom system in terms of performance but not cost 800 bucks? I've searched online stores, local stores and thirdgen,fbody.org and others for pictures, other posts and such of peoples single and dual exhaust setups and suggestions for best exhaust systems and such but everyone seems to think that theirs is the best. I think a better question would be this:

If i have to buy headers back, what would be the ideal system for an under 350HP thirdgen while remaining under 400 bucks, (though i'll likely look for used headers and y to further lower cost). I'm assuming 2.5" pipe and components would be significantly cheaper than the 3" ones and i'm fine with that. But are there any systems that fit the bill, and if not, or if it's much better to do so, what components should i get to build something that's not going to hold me back if i goto a larger engine, but isn't going to get me pulled over. I'm also not opposed to single exit exhaust setups as they've got less bends and aren't restrictive until you get over 350HP (at 3" anyway). So any suggestions would be nice. Also, I'll be undercoating these parts from the Y pipe back and coating the headers with something that can handle the higher temps, so the muffler rusting off doesn't happen again for an extremely long time. So the material it's made out of doesn't need to be expensive stainless steel.

Thanks in advance.


Note: Right now i'm driving without anything from the cat back. The cat is the only thing muffling my car, so far so good with law enforcement, though, it resonates like a mother at idle. A system quieter than that would be nice to have.

 

Buy it. I don't care if your labour is free, it still isn't worth crawling around on your back to make something. Don't buy used headers. Most people are selling them because ther is something wrong with them. Look up summit or jegs for reasonable prices.

 

I dont see paying more than 160 on non-equal length non-coated headers reasonable, and from what everyone is saying, the only "good" brands of headers only come coated, the others use either too small of a primary pipe or too thin of a plate. And 100 bucks for a y-pipe, no, i think not. If i go ahead and buy everything off jegs or summit, I'm looking at spending at least 150 on headers, 100 on a y pipe assuming the cheapest y pipe can fit the cheapest header, at least 50 for a cat, 170 for the cat back and somewhere i'll have to find an intermediary from y to cat. It'l probably end up costing somewhere above 500 bucks after shipping and such. And that's for the cheapest of everything.


I want to remain under 400 bucks and i dont see that happening with store bought everything. So basically, I guess what i'm asking is, what premade exhaust system would you put in your car (under 350hp) that is mostly geared towards performance while making the attempt to remain legal... and any suggestions on what parts of that exhaust system would be easiest to fabricate myself. I'm going to be putting subframe connectors in so i'm gonna be on my back welding crap in anyway, before the exhaust gets put in.

It just seems that all the good stuff is coated and stainless, and i'd rather I worry about protecting the stuff from corrosion, since i'm fairly sure i can handle that for much less than 300+ bucks over the cost of non-coated. So if anyone has any previous experience with buying certain premade parts and making their own missing pieces, that would help. I'm pretty sure i'll end up buying the headers + y off ebay or somewhere used (nobody i've seen sells a decent set for less than 250 ) and I'll have to ask around what cat and muffler is suggested for a single out. Unless i see more pictures of single exhaust thirdgens that just look wrong ...haven't so far.

 

You are kind of contradicting yourself. You say you don't want to spend alot BUT you don't want too small a primary (1 5/8 is more than enough for 350 hp) or too thin a flange. Hooker does make a good header and they do sell it uncoated, made from CRS. What exactly do you think you will be able to build as far as headers and a Y pipe for less than $250?Have you priced a weld up header kit? Not cheap. The headers and Y pipe you won't want to try fab'ing unless you've done it before and have a tig (unless finished product appearance isn't an issue). Your sub frame connectors are going to force you to modify your Y pipe/convertor connection/location. Hedman makes a decent header/ y pipe set-up that will support the #'s you're looking at but again now your back to the cost issue. You can't have it both ways on these two parts. You can fab up the convertor, you can try the rear exhaust from cat to muffler but for what the walker 3" pipe costs why would you? Muffler is your personal preference as is tailpipe styles/locations and # of tails. So you know I'm not talking (er typing) out of my ***, I have run my own muffler shop for 14 years and I've done what you want to do on these cars a hundred times. Hence my comment, "why would you want to?" You time and labour has to be worth something(especially on your back!) and to most people (maybe not yourself, but most) people also are concerned about finished product appearance. If you like fabricating, as it sounds like you do, you will have fabricating to do around the cat area but most of these other parts aren't expensive enough to (in my mind anyway) justify trying to fab it all up for under $400.00. Its your call when all is said and done, I'm just saying when you add up all the time and bleeding F---ing around on your back,and look at the end result and look at how much you spent, was it worth it? Best of luck with your system.

 

oyou can have it both ways, by not buying it new. I didn't say i was going to fab up the headers or y, in fact, those were two parts i was specifically mentioning as buying premade. the hooker 2460 (i believe) is the 160 dollar headers i think we're both thinking of. I have no problem with those headers, i've seen threads where people do, in any case, that's why i said "more" than, those are the absolute max i'd consider paying for non-equal length shorty headers that aren't coated... Now I need a y pipe, which one would fit it, any specifically well suited to handle subframe connectors , and the 3" collector sizes to a 3" outlet. My guess is that at the price such a y pipe would cost (not even considering if it handles SFC's) i'd be spending well over 250 bucks on the combination. My point wasn't that I didn't want these parts premade, but that I wouldn't be going to a store to get them, not at that price, I'd have much better luck at personal sales.

That's not the point of the thread; where i get them. The point is just to get some ideas of combinations of premade parts (their part numbers etc) and anything that would be better off fabricated than bought premade. The question about if it'll be worth it or not has to do with the cat back more than anything else, if there is a kit that performs well and is not significantly more than just buying the same tube from a muffler shop.... that's what i was referring to by if it's worth it. I'm looking to get part numbers, specific items, of things that would just cost too much to fab up and have them in a combination that's compatible. I'm fairly certain i can pick out a muffler, cat, some headers and y and tube or some catback kit, but what i'm not very certain about is if it'll all go together well and perform well. That's the advice i'm looking to get. If you could fab up certain trivial pieces what parts would you get and what would you make to make an exhaust system that can handle up to 300-350hp without becoming a bottleneck. Or if you dont see the need to fab anything , what systems/kits would you use.

I'm not going to make the muffler, make the cat or headers / y because of the complexity of the parts. But the "straight" pipe in between is up for grabs if it turns out no premade system can deliver the intended parts at a good price. That's the question i'm asking, if you think it's better in the end to not fab up anything then what parts would you use... I dont have a muffler shop, and i haven't done this to hundreds of cars like mine, i'm just not sure I believe that buying everything is necessary and cost effective ...but i could be wrong. I just dont know which parts we're both thinking of.


note: headers and y i'd be fine with getting second hand. Muffler and cat would have to be new...

 

I'll be at the shop this morning and I'll try to put some part #'s together for you.

 

i'd build it, buy the headers premade from somewhere and build the rest, saves alot of money

 

cheap bastards, you gotta pay to play and you get what you pay for.