so my third gen has v8 with shorty headers, two 2inch pipe, true duals cut off just before the cat. lol thats it. pretty much open headers. im not looking to get any quiter nor spend bookoos of cash on pipe.

so i go to a muffler shop and i tell them wat i want: I want my pipes cut off, thats 2 cuts at my headers. Then 2 welds of 3inch pipe, elbowed straight back and dumped before the rear end. .... thats it.

Now,...in my mind thats not much or hard to do. i have a lil welding experience and pipe fitting exp. myself. just no machine tools to work with. (or obviously id be doing this crap myself) But the fella i talked too said "CANT BE DONE". and i said "the hell it cant, im not worried about ground clearance" he then said he suggest 2.5inch pipe insted of 3. i said ok. then he tells me the price...

ok, for 2 cuts, and 2 welds and an elbow bend.... i figured in my mind eh maybe 75-80$ max 100$..... this damn guy said 300$... and my jaw droped.

i asked y so much and he said its roughly 3 hours of work. my jaw shut and now im aggrivated. i argued with him that there is no dam way its a 3hr job. he went on and said he was going to have to use 2 different joints of pipe and i had to pay for them. which i could understand... but 100bux each joint and 100 labor for a max time consumeing of maybe an hour???
please someone tell me if im wrong or if this guy was just an @$$ not wonting to work!?

300$ for 2 cuts 2 welds 2 bends. NO cat, No muffler? seems hi if u ask me. and does anyone have any underbody pics of there 3rd gen for exhaust routing ideas? im trying to keep my exhaust before the rear end. i dont want to go over the rear really. i like my exhaust hidden. food for thought on this anyone?

 

That is ridiculously high. I haven't had any exhaust work done on my 85 except had the cat removed and a pipe welded in place for $10 but i had my exhaust done on my z71. For all the piping, flowmaster, and tips it was $270 and thats with buying the muffler and bending it over the rear axle.

 

ya, i dont understand this guy. im prolly gona go back there tomorrow and talk to the owner insted of him. id go to another shop but closest one to me in bout 30miles on down the road. i think this guy i saw today just didnt wana work. i pulled in and was the ONLY customer in the parking lot. it was around 2pm today, no where near quitin time either

 

Full true dual exhaust for my truck, with rear passenger side exit was 100 bucks... I installed headers and "ypipe" and had my muffler guy install an x-pipe and piping out.

 

It is roughly 2 hours worth of work. I wouldn't say its 3. Price isn't that bad. Here in new york the NYS labor is 87$ per hour. Then plus about 25$ for each 5ft length of pipe. And about 10-15$ for the elbows. That's roughly 250$ Not including cushion for labor time and that's just simply retail price on 3" pipe. Most shops charge 70% to 100% markup on parts, I know I do. Consider 300$ on the lower end of the spectrum, Its not some simple bolt on exhaust. It has to be carefully cut and welded for proper clearance ect. No one is going to risk their name or their shops name just because you want some half *** b/s done. To weed out customers who want some bogus half way job we usually mark the prices up as high as possible, Because in my shop its going to be done right the first time and the only time.

 

i have a 92 rs. i got the muffler shop to install a walker 3" preformed pipe from the cat to the muffler. magnaflow muffler for a 4th gen (same). 2 tailpipes 2-1/2 inch and 2 magnaflow 3" stainless tips all for 350.00

 

I wasnt askin the shop to do all that. I can see if i was asking for a y, h, or x pipe to be built, and some type of performance muffler, flowmaster, borla, magnaflow...etc and some pipe ran out the back with chrome tips... i can see all that costing 350 to 400bux.

But i wasnt asking for that. i wanted plain, simple, pure flow, TRUE duals, and annoying the neighbors kinda loud! as far as "Shops" in NY "Weeding" the bs customers like me, i say eff them cuz customer is always right and if this customer is asking for Plain and simple for cheep, give em wat he/she wants! as far as shops sticking ther name out there, i understand if it was my shop id be cautious too. BUT, its not like they are stamping they damn name on the pipe. a customer can go to one shop have something done there and go around saying some other person/shop did the work. ur sticking ur name out there either damn way u look at it. its all Hear-say.

i just wanted 2 cuts, 2 welds, 2 bends. MAX spending 100$.

 

If a customer walks into the shop and really wants something done, and is dead set on it they will pay to have it done. Done the right way. In my shop we charge to even to an estimate, this fee comes off the total price of the labor once the customer agrees to do the job. This eliminates 90% of false business, people who just want their car looked at by a professional so they can either A do the job themselves, or B get it done by someone else. I have nothing to worry about as far as business because our work is always spot on and clearly stated fair prices. Match prices as well as long as the shop is NYS registered and goes by legal NYS labor.

As far as doing something custom. I wouldn't do a job or put my name on it unless when someone asked who did it, I would be proud to say I did..or we did.

Listen. If you want a 100$ job done, buy the pipe yourself. That will eliminate any price mark up. Next, mock it up under the car make the cuts, or mark the pipe. Then, bring it to a shop and have them weld it. That's the only way you are going to get something like this done cheap enough to fit your budget. Unless you source out another shop. I don't know what rates are out there in LA but I do know that anytime something is custom its more money. Period. Most mechanics would rather bolt up a pre-bent formed pipe into place then weld something custom up.

Either way having an exhaust half finished, with no mufflers, dumped under the rear is illegal. Not sure what the laws are by you, but here it will violate noise laws and pose a health risk by means of fume inhalation. I dont have mufflers, or cats on my iroc but I do my own work and wouldn't expect a shop to risk doing so either.

 

Well first off, if i could do it myself i sure enuff whould. lack of welder n cuttin tourch can cause that. 2nd i could buy the pipe myself, but then the shop can just charge me watever they want, there labor by the hour isnt posted anywhere. so ill prolly just scout out another shop. and i know for a 99% fact that i can get it done less that 100 around here. that shop employee was just having an off day

another thing, idk about ur shop, sounds like if i was in the area and wanted a top of the line exhaust system did id come to you. but thing is my car like many others arent computer driven and so we can do very simple exhaust setups. i choose to go old skool and go str8 pipe. that should be the easiest less costly thing for a shop to do. also this shop has a big red n white sticker saying "Custom Fab work done here!" different shops have different prices. i know that, but for something this simple, 300$ is way out of the park.

ive goten my opinions on here, thro fam and friends, but tomorrow ill be priceing with other shops. ill repost tomorrow or the next few days, n get pics of my new exhaust up soon, and a recipts showing price i paid. atleast this way we will know if LA gets it done cheeper or not

 

Cutting torch!? Not necessary nor could you use it to do an exhaust, it would never make a clean enough cut you would have molten slag covering the ends.

All you need is a sharpie marker, tape measure, and an angle grinder with cutoff wheel. Harbor Freight has the angle grinders for 20$, and they will work fine for you. Or you could use a sawzall. Who doesnt have one of those?

Have a shop weld it up even if shop was charging 100$ an hour you know and they know it will take less time than that to make a couple of welds.

Either way from the way it sounds, fitting up some custom pipe is not in your bag of tricks. You are right your better of finding a shop or person that will do it for you, shouldnt be to hard just keep looking. Good luck

 

I had a new intermediate pipe put in with new hangers ect for $100 and that as attaching a muffler and hanging it all. Sti workin good to this day