hey guys. i was talking to some of they guys in Cascade Crew at our "Crazy Canadian Mountain Rally Challange" this weekend. i was discussing plans for my V6s exhaust. i have patched a few leaks in it's current muffler and think it is not in good shape. i want to redo the "catback". less then $100 is my budget (i hope to spend less). my goal is to get a little bit of better performance out of the car. (gas mialge mostly) while also reducing weight. i DO NOT want to make the car sound any louder, but if that happens it happens. car is allready almost as loud inside as my GTA (i know, weird). i also WILL NOT remove the CAT. my car must pass Oregon DEQ Emissions, and they look to see that you have a cat. also, this V6 does not flow enough exhaust to bottleneck at the cat.

right now the car is set up as follows:
Stock manifolds with new gaskets.
Stock downpipes into stock "T" pipe.
one year old catalitic converter.
Stock catback into "el cheapo" dual exit muffler.

supplies i allready have:
1X 3" single exit Flowmaster 40 that i pulled off of my GTA when i put the Aero-Chamber on.
2X 3" Catalitic converters. need atleast one for the GTA next time i DEQ.
1X 3" 3bolt copper flange gasket.
1X stock catback sized CAT. on the 2.8 now. practically new.
welder capable of "tacking" the exhaust. should be pretty cheap to have 5-7 welds done at a shop with the whole thing off the car right?

my plan is to hack off the stock "T" and make a "Y" out of two 90* mandrels and a 2:1 collector. at the end of the collector there will be a 3 bolt flange. on the other side of the flange will be the CAT, then i plan to take the 3" single exit Flowmaster 40 seires muffler that i have and attach it to the back of the cat and run a side exit before the rear wheel.


so on to the questions:
do you think there is a better way to go about this? i am open to ideas.
if i dump the exhaust before the rear of the car will it get too loud? others have said "no".
how should i make a rear hanger for this? if i let it hang it will bounce everywhere and scrape the ground. i planned to just bolt one of the stock muffler hangers somewhere and use it.
what size collector should i go with? i have alot of supplies to make it 3" after the "y".
will 3" from the y back be too big for the 6? will it make a difference since it is a 3" muffler anyway?

also if anyone has any pictures of home-made Y-pipes i would not mind seeing them.

THANKS

 

I've gotta say, by far, that the best option is the one that you already know; the wrecking yard.

My last f-bird, a 90 with a 3.1, I got a complete V8 system that was stock and in good shape for cheap. You show up with a hacksaw and you can get everything you need.

I paid an exhaust shop 25 bucks to fit that system to my cat's output and to fix the hangars that I hacked up.

It did just fine, wasn't that loud, and it still looked good with the twin tailpipes.

I got my last flowmaster system from an '86 T/A the same way!

I know it's not the preferred method, but you said you're on a budget. Usually that means that you have more time than money.

 

that is a good idea. i can raid the yards for stuff. however, V8 cars have the same nasty "T" junction where the two banks meet. unless i find an fbody with an aftermarket y-pipe i am not going to get much help.

i am sure however i can find a flange on somthing in the yards... that will save me like 14$ right there. if only i had a battery powered grinder....

 

My 90 bird with the 3.1 had a pretty decent y-pipe as I recall...

Maybe you just need to scavenge newer stuff...

Good luck!

 

just go and have a muffler shop weld on a "turbo" muffler...i.e. dynomax, or knock off of dynomax. other wise save the money, and buy a catback, and dynomax makes that as well. exhaust's are a thing that its all up to preference, i have two glasspacks on my 2.8 rx-7. sounds mean as hell, but its louder than even hell would even allow. now back to my honda days, we usually used some "turbo style" muffler on them, not loud, but deff a different sound. so ......good luck on the decision.


Leo

 

normally i would save up for catback, but this is not my performance car, my GTA is my performance car. this is my gas mialage car. weight reduction is a factor. while full catback would be nice it does not satisfy the goals of this undertaking.

 

as said personal preference....g/l

 

hey tony, i got a wire welder, at my dads shop, u find out what u wanna do, id be glad to weld it up for you, and find some way to help hold it up, just gimme like $5 and we'll call it good, since you've given me much advise on cascade

 

hey wow, thanks danked. that is super nice of you. you are a little far for me to take you up on that but i sure do appreciate the offer. gas out to toponish would blow my budget. twilightoptics is a little closer and can usualy be conned into doing some welding for prety cheap. so if i come across anything i can't do i would probably call him.

most of it i can do myself actualy. my dad has a small wire feed in his garage that will work for tacking and such, and i think once i pull all the stuff off the car i might be able to finish it up without having to outsource anything, which would be great because i could keep my costs low.

i have been under the car for the last few days (clutch, gone wrong) and have noticed my intermediate pipe is bent and dented beyond recognition. i am verry surprised it is not leaking. looks like i will need to replace that length of pipe. good news is that since i will be removing most of my catback i will have alot of axtra tubes, and most of the rest is not bent/dented so i can re-use alot, and save cash.

i think i am going to try and make a clone of my SLP y-pipe that is on my GTA, that thing has some nice lines, and looks to me like it would flow verry well.

 

hey no prob, i consider you a good advice-giver.. if there is such a thing.. anywho, if u ever need anything, u can ask me, im sure i can get it, dont be a stranger. and one of the next gatherings, if you attend, count me in