i hope this is the last system i build for my car for a long time, lol! it's had a lot of different type of exhaust on it. this one looks promising on paper though, and should support some big big horsepower.

only picture i have at the moment, i will update as i go:

 

Why didnt you go stainless ?

That 3.5 or 4" ?

 

Cause I can easily MIG weld this, and I ain't made of money. It's 4".

 

You can mig stainless too just fine.

Shouldnt have cost much more in stainless, what was the total on that ?

 

I have like $300 in what's on the work bench there. Yes, you can MIG stainless, but stainless wire is pricey (especially for just one job) and you need 100% argon, I am currently setup for argon/co2. The stainless is about 30% more expensive, and is heavier too. This is all aluminized so it should hold up really well, which is the only real advantage to stainless (durability of material).

 

$20~ for a spool of wire, and most people who have done MIG with stainless find C25 works better than straight argon anyway.

Just so you know for the future.
Wouldnt have spent much more for all 304ss.

 

Link to $20 spool of wire? Cheapest I have found locally is $50...

I'm starting to get weary of your pretentious attitude though man, what gives?

 

Looks nice, post pics when. plz

 

I'm just offering up info man, figured it might be useful later, if you're building a replacement, you'll likely do something else later, doesnt hurt to help out.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/023-ER308L-R...item5d34a962a0

$30 shipped

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-GENUINE-...item3cca27bcb7

$20 shipped

Trust me, after thinking the $50ish at northern tool for the 308 wire was reasonable and having used some of it, then seeing 308 for under $20 a spool at my local welding shop, I wasnt too happy, figured why let others pay too much also.

 

On the Y merge you can easily cut two pieces of 2.5 or 3" at the angle you want in a band saw, then weld together, flush cut the end and weld on your 4" pipe.

End up with your 2-1 merge for nearly nothing.

 

Sometimes the time taken to build some of this stuff is better of used somewhere else. I have used a bunch of those flowmaster ycollectors and they make things quick and easy. I'm taking 6 classes this semester so finding time even to do this is tough.

 

I know what you mean on the time thing.

 

I think you have put together a system that going to work great and sound even better and am hoping to hear/see a video when you get it done.

 

System looks good. Not sure if it comes up often with your drag racing, but do you often find the need to remove sections of the exhaust? I always thought it would be cool to do an exhaust with a bunch of v-band clamps so you could quickly and easily remove sections of the exhaust. They are however quite expensive and more labor intensive to install.

 

A bunch ? or 3 ?


3 is plenty and would be $120 total, not too bad, I guess if you wanted real easy removal of the rear section a 4th would be required and up the cost to $160

 

I guess it really depends what section(s) needs to be removed. To remove everything including the y-pipe pipe it seems like you would probably need 6 with a cat or 5 without a cat. Without the y-pipe and without a cat I agree 3 would do it.

I have not really looked at the v-bands closely for price. The set I was looking at was $80 each IIRC. I think it was from Vibrant. Plus I don't have a welder so more for installation.

 

Yeah vibrant is pretty highly overpriced.

I'm not seeing where you're planning for 5 without cat ?

1 at each header flange, one right after the Y merge, theres 3, or 4 if you added one right near the over axle bend to make the entire thing easily removable.

Good source for vbands, other than jegs/summit having them for around $40ish: http://www.mandrel-bends.com/catalog/

 

I was thinking:

Including headers and with a cat
One on each header flange (2)
One after the merge and before the cat (1)
One after the cat and before the i pipe so you can easily remove the whole cat assembly, and maybe have a straight section assembly ready to slip in its place.(1)
One right before the pipe bends over the axle(1)
One right at the muffler inlet(1)

That way, removing any section would be pretty easy. To me this is the ultimate setup. But it adds a lot of cost and more leak points. The Vibrants have an impeccable reputation, that is why I was looking at them.

 

Dynatech isnt exactly new compared to vibrant:

http://www.jegs.com/p/Dynatech/Dynat...53318/10002/-1

As I said, they're just ripping people off.

 

i do plan to make the y-pipe/intermediate pipe one piece, and make the OA piece and muffler section another piece. that would make it easily removable. i haven't decided what i'm going to use for the clamp/vband/collector yet for the part right before the axle though

 

Cool. Just throwing out some ideas. I hate when I finish a project and see something that would have made the project more pimp.

 

i understand! i appreciate constructive ideas!

 

Cool.
What headers do you have to mate to this?

I did a 4" exhaust and it's great for sound and clearance.

Check the Ed Quay thread for clearance pics I posting up today

 

Headers are hawks Lsx swap headers, 1 3/4" primary.

 

Hey Matt, why changeto 4" single after all these years.

 

this will be the second 4" system i've had on the car. you know as well as i do that they can support big power. i don't anticipate slowing down much, if any at all with this system. cool thing is, i don't think i'll have to take anything off the duals to build this system, so i'll hold on to them.

 

I'm hoping to build my own 4" system in the upcoming years, so this thread will be very interesting to me. I hope you post lots of pics of your progress. Will you be making your own y pipe as well, or mating the system to what you already have?

btw, you even picked the same muffler that I want to use on mine.

 

i will be using a flowmaster y-collector, dual 3" in, single 4" out. i am hoping to climb under the car tomorrow afternoon and start on the y-pipe itself. building the y-pipe is easy, and i can probably do it in 30 mins. it's the "over-the-axle" part that kicks my ***.

 

Your right about supporting big power, I've had mine for 7yrs. and I love it.

 

System looks awesome post pics as you go!

 

i started to do a little work on it today. the trans crossmember is in the way a little bit on the driver's side, so i'm clearancing and reinforcing the crossmember tonight. i'm hoping i can get the y-pipe itself done, but no telling if it will happen.

 

here's some pics of tonight's progress:

started out by modding the crossmember on the driver's side to help with a "rattle" issue. not much to see though so i'll try to get a pic of that later.

here's the y-pipe tacked up:


and off the car all welded:

 

oh, i opted to go with the vband assembly from mandrel-bends.com or whatever...i just realized they're in Oregon...vband isn't slated to be here till next tuesday...wonderful...

 

OTA axle pipe is starting to take shape. it's not done, but it's getting there. i still have to build some heat shields for all that fuel stuff sitting there...

 

To get more clearance, did you think about using oval pipe? (I know, its pricey)

Also, can you share some pics of the crossmember when you modify it? Are you going to put "humps" in it?

I am going to be doing the same thing (3" y-pipe to a 4")

 

more mockup pics. keep in mind, i still have a lot of work to do, and it's only tacked right now.





side shot

 

Looks good man as usual!!

 

a little bit closer this morning. i have the entire system mocked up and (mostly) hanging on it's own. i need one more hanger, a couple clamps, some time to finish weld and clean it up, then paint.

 

Looks just like mine, nice work! I havnt found any ground clearance issues thus far. Ill be redoing my Y with all mandrel bent; planning TT's not too far down the road.

 

I am looking forward to sound clips or a youtube video looks great man

 

Matt if we were closer I just bring you my car and let you build my y pipe lol. To always have top notch work. Although my cheapo
Welder works the welds aren't always pretty with it being flux only.

 

lol, well thanks man! i may be closer by this time next year as we're planning to relocate to MD once i complete my degree.

no real progress to speak of. i still need to put a hanger on the i-pipe so it doesn't try to hang once going down the road. the plan now is to make this 4 pieces total. y-pipe, i-pipe, ota-pipe and muffler/tailpipe assembly. that way i can service each part easily, and uncorking it would only mean taking the i-pipe off and i could leave the ota pipe and muffler/tailpipe section in the car. with my school schedule, i have to work a job on the weekends, so i get less done during the weekend typically. i have two tests next week so i can't promise anything till next weekend or later.

 

Looks awesome!

 

no humps in this. the collectors are pretty low, so no real need to. the crossmember is above the plane of the original crossmember though. i'll get some more pics of the transmissions crossmember at some point when i pull all this back off to finish weld and paint.

 

Thanks!

Nice work btw

 

got some more work done tonight. all welded and hung up on it's own. this was my first time using v-band assemblies, and i'm pretty impressed so far. i can see the huge benefit from them now that i've used one and i hope to use them again.

here's the i-pipe all welded with the vband half on


all back on the car


vid

i'll get a better video during the day when i'm not fighting the clock to keep the neighbors happy.

still gotta take it back down to paint it, and build my heat shield. i also think i'm going to wrap the OTA pipe.

 

Looks and sounds amazing!

 

Working late on the car? I know that all too well.

It's hard to tune a car with 4" exhaust at 1 in the morning with crabby neighbors.

Sounds very similar to mine

 

yeah, the days of working/tuning the car till the wee-hours of the morning are long gone. between this being my senior year of school and crabby neighbors, it just doesn't go down like that anymore, lol!

thanks for the words guys!

 

I cant start my car any earlier than 9 am and no later than 9 pm. Sometimes Ill start it up around 7 when I take it to work :P. I neighbors with babies I wouldnt care if they were just crabby but when they have youngins I feel bad lol.

I am curious on how much the dynomax quiets it down, Mine is straight piped and pretty loud. I have been looking at the hush power, magnaflow race, dynomax bullet, and the borla Xr-1. I cant seen to find a consistent theory on which is quieter.