hello. I recently purchased a L98 out of a 88 GTA, and a 89 Iroc-Z that is in need of a good engine. obviously, the L98 wiill be going in the Iroc.

heres the thing, this is a project. over the next 1-3 years, ill be pouring all extra money into this thing. Hoping to have the engine completed within a year and a half. thinking of stroking the L98 along w/ boring it out to get a 383. Later on, adding some nice heads and intake, and all the stuff that itll take to get somewhere between 400 and 550 RWHP and RWTQ (im not entirly sure how radical i want to get yet.). Also, im definitly thinking NA, but may go supercharger if i feel like it, so if that would change anything, i'd be greatful to know about it.

So i was wondering, what is the best exhaust for what i have planned. Im kind of on a tight budget, but i want to do the exhaust first before anything else, simply because its not entirly outrageously expensive (short on $ after buying the car and engine) and because it makes a big difference because of the sound. I was thinking somthing like edelbrock shorties, with a Catco Duel cat and some as of yet undecided cat-back system, but i honestly am very new to car building in general and only have a broad idea of what im looking at. So here i am. Im trying to get the best performing system, for the best price, that will work well as my engine begins to take form. Sound is based on opinion, so im not too worried what it sounds like at the moment. If there are a few good choices to chose from, then ill go on sound, but im looking for performance and price right now.

any thoughts, opinions, suggestions, insults, anything will be greatly appriciated. i really dont want to do anything stupid. Thanks alot guys!


Cliffnotes:
1989 Iroc-Z with 88GTA L98
will be building engine. 400-550 RWHP/TQ.
70% chance NA, possible supercharger
need full exhaust. headers/cat/Y-pipe/Cat-back
looking for best performance for the price. Sound only minor concern
all comments welcome. even negative ones!

 

Get in line for a set of Dyno Don's 1 3/4" headers with y-pipe. (PM him and/or search this board for details)

Either a single or dual cat setup.

Any 3" cat-back you want, Magnaflow, Hooker, etc, or you can get a 3.5" setup if you want.

 

dyno Don's??? never heard of him/them. whats so special about them??
/searches


edit: well i found him through search and sent him a PM. still not really sure what he does/has but i guess i'll find out

who has the best flowing catback btw?

and are the CatCo Duel Cats decent?
http://tinyurl.com/2msf5y

 

Those Cats are junk.

 

interesting.. PM sent


and since i'm sure he hs plenty to worry about other then me, anyone got a better idea on the cats?? i figure duels would always be better flowing but maybe i'm wrong?? that was the only duel cat kit i could find after some quick preliminary searching on summit. perhaps i should look harder and in more places, since i'll need a cat to pass state emissions.

 

Which state are you trying to pass emissions in? You never mentioned that.

TA

 

oops. sorry bout that. PA.


edit: so are these the cats i should be looking at?
http://tinyurl.com/32esrv

 

where at in PA? some counties only use visual, the county next to me uses sniffer. Doesn't matter if you get classic tags . Never mind you cant get classics till 2009.

 

my county uses the sniffer. and it IS available for classic plates (its only 15 yrs now.. or maybe it always was.. but i know it can have classic plates). However, once i start doing stuff to it, it'll be fairly obvious that its not stock anymore, and my classic plates will be void.

although, i am trying to figure out a way to make it a specially constructed vehicle, which is entirly exempt from emmissions. In which case, the Cats wouldn't be an issue. Though i'd like to think im not poisoning the environment as much as i could be, so i still think ill use cats.

 

We prefer Magnaflow cats, but you dont have to buy the complete dual-cat setup. (its dual, not duel) That setup is for stock engines.

What we have on our cars is Don's headers and y-pipe, then dual Magnaflow 2 1/2" cats. After that you run two more 2 1/2" pipes to a true y-pipe and then to the I-pipe.

 

thanks so much. that clears things up alot.

anyone out there that can gime like, a true testimonial to Don's headers? somone that has had other headers and or knows truly how good they are? just wanna talk to somone that knows for sure that they are better then other peoples. just like a confidence thing ya know?

 

is that for stock manifolds or headers??

 

Stock manifolds.

 

would it go onto shorties??

 

Almost all of us in SoCal are running Dyno Don's headers. Several other members on this board have bought them too.

No, the y-pipe for stock manifolds and each y-pipe for each manufacturer's headers are different and will not bolt up to each other.

 

Dyno Don's headers feature excellent fabrication and assembly, have excellent fitment, accomodate cylinder heads with raised / large exhaust ports, and do not use a gasket at the collector. And, they sound great. Take a look at them in the "1 3/4 header options" thread.
Bill
P.S: Great price, also.