people with exhaust work..

[franwake13]

hey
i have a question, i know i want exhaust for my car but i really cant find a website that is half cheap to buy it from, where did everyone get their exhaust from?? and how much did it cost? i got a 02 v6
thanks guys
frank

[Brandon]

i got the muffler at pepboys (flowmaster 80 series) paid 110 for it... i think...

i paid 45 to have the old one hacked off, new one welded on, 45 for new tips, and 30 for the resonator to be hacked off and a pipe welded in its place.so a little over 200 bucks is what i paid, and well worth it i might add!

[flan]

autopartswarehouse has borla for like 600 hundred i think it was when i got it very nice sound to it imo

[thegrimone]

I bought the SLP package but what Brandon said sounds like what every body is doing. Its cheaper and still sounds good, plus you can choose the tips you want.

[franwake13]

Originally posted by thegrimone
I bought the SLP package but what Brandon said sounds like what every body is doing. Its cheaper and still sounds good, plus you can choose the tips you want.

where can i get the package from and how much did it cost, i want to do a bolt on or the cheapest way, im in the navy and dont have much money

[bballr4567]

DO NOT DO A BOLT ON!!!

It not only cost more but you dont get to choose your tips. I got my system for around $250 and its exactly what I wanted.

[urweak]

Originally posted by bballr4567
DO NOT DO A BOLT ON!!!

It not only cost more but you dont get to choose your tips. I got my system for around $250 and its exactly what I wanted.

i wouldnt say DO NOT get one. Its up to that person. My Catback cost around $400 ($200 in parts and $200 to install, and thats with getting deals on my stuff) So for a little bit more, you can get a system that is 100% made for your car, and tested to make power, not a joe smoe job that might just make your car sound loud.

[bballr4567]

True but if you go to a good exhaust shop they will have a mandrel bender and youll get almost the exact same set up. The reason I didnt get a bolt on is because of the systems offered for our cars most of them are just too loud for me.

IIRC pacesetter just started offering a cat back for our cars.

[Matt95GT]

Originally posted by urweak
i wouldnt say DO NOT get one. Its up to that person. My Catback cost around $400 ($200 in parts and $200 to install, and thats with getting deals on my stuff) So for a little bit more, you can get a system that is 100% made for your car, and tested to make power, not a joe smoe job that might just make your car sound loud.

:iagree:

Originally posted by bballr4567
True but if you go to a good exhaust shop they will have a mandrel bender and youll get almost the exact same set up. The reason I didnt get a bolt on is because of the systems offered for our cars most of them are just too loud for me.

IIRC pacesetter just started offering a cat back for our cars.

True Mandrel bending is very rare... the machine is prohibitively expensive. Many confuse mandrel bending with pressure bending (which most shops do have) since a pressure bend with a mild radius often comes out quite close to retaining original inside diameter. If a shop does offer Mandrel-bent piping, they usually piece a system together using pre-bent piping. Even so, this usually costs more than most cat-back systems. I challenge anyone to obtain a true mandrel-bent, non-pieced custom cat-back that's cheaper than the pre-made cat-back kits.

My mandrel setup cost quite a bit, and I had to travel to another state to find a shop that had the capability beyond pressure bending.

[CARS GONE WILD]

and why is madrel bent better than pressure?

[Matt95GT]

Originally posted by CARS GONE WILD
and why is madrel bent better than pressure?

The inside diameter never gets smaller - even in tight bends.

[RocketFast321]

$80 for a f-body muffler. $120 for the tips and pipes. It looks like madrel bent to me.

[Houndawg]

I can pretty much guaranty that your local exhaust shop does not have a mandrel bender. They are just too expensive to be practical for most shops.

[Matt95GT]

Originally posted by Houndawg
I can pretty much guaranty that your local exhaust shop does not have a mandrel bender. They are just too expensive to be practical for most shops.

Exactly... that's the point I'm trying to make. Pressure bending isn't all that bad, but that's why the pre-made/bolt-on cat-back kits are a great value... you get mandrel bends plus a design that has been tested/optimized for performance without the costs involved of having a one-of custom system fabricated.

[VanishingImage]

thats why hot roders buy those pre bent pipe kits where it is mandrel bent. Might cost a few penies BUT they come with a variety of bends for you to use. Pretty much put together your own setup for around 250 or so and the piping will be or should be mandrel bent,most claim that their pipping kits are mandrel bends

[ChevelleSSLS6]

The grand am I had (yea it's been a while since I've visited!) was as follows...
2000 GA SE v6.

2.5" alumanized pipe catback- $125 from shop
Grand Prix GTX exhaust (made by SLP) from junkyard- free

I loved it, it was loud but not obnoxious... I sold the GA so I could get my Jeep. I sold the other muffler to another member. I think his username is ImportSound

[dandragonrage]

~$150 for Magnaflow muffler (Camaro style) and resonator, $300 for stainless installation... Can't beat that from a kit.

[Houndawg]

Originally posted by dandragonrage
~$150 for Magnaflow muffler (Camaro style) and resonator, $300 for stainless installation... Can't beat that from a kit.

My problem is that there's nobody around that will bend stainless. If there was, I'd go that route. It would cost me the price of a Borla cat-back to find somebody to do it and and to drive there and back. I also don't have that kind of time.

[coupe]

Originally posted by Houndawg
My problem is that there's nobody around that will bend stainless. If there was, I'd go that route. It would cost me the price of a Borla cat-back to find somebody to do it and and to drive there and back. I also don't have that kind of time.


Thats weird, all the muffler mans, lentz and meineke's ive been to all use stainless.

Here are my numbers, they are close but not exact, its been a few years.

Headers- $500 ceramic coated
woven flex- $20
magnaflow HF cat- $45
SLP cat-back- $400
Tips- free, if i had to pay they would have been well over $80 apiece
misc pipe and shipping costs- $60



As far as mandrel bent goes, your local exhuast shops wont have this as an option. The machine is insanely expensive and most all shops wont have it. I know of only ONE speed shop that offers it in my area (i dont exactly live in a small city) and they charge $150 an hour plus materials. Buying a pre-made cat-back is the best way to go. Pacesetter now offers a CB for 99+, both se or gt option, its around $260.

[Houndawg]

I checked out the local Meineke, Midas, and a couple other places, including an independent shop that has a good reputation for exhaust work. They all use aluminized. The guy at the independent shop told me he tried bending stainless with a regular bender and it kinked the pipe.

I just ordered a Borla cat-back P/N 14821 from Amazon for $670 shipped. I've seen it cheaper on different sites, but those places were untrustworthy. Amazon was the cheapest trustworthy place I found. By the time I bought the parts, found somebody to bend and install, drove there, and paid their rates, I would spend more money and waste more time than I want to. I can install the Borla myself in a couple hours and be satisfied that I have a top notch exhaust without all of the trouble, save for a couple bloody knuckles fron tearing down the old exhaust.

For those that ask why I don't just use aluminized, it's not a much better than raw steel. It'll still rust out, just a little slower. With the stainless, I'll have it for the life of the car and never have to get another exhaust as long as I own a 99+ GA. When this car dies, I'll use it on the next GA if I get one. If I don't, I'll sell it to somebody from here for cheap.

[dandragonrage]

Originally posted by coupe
As far as mandrel bent goes, your local exhuast shops wont have this as an option. The machine is insanely expensive and most all shops wont have it. I know of only ONE speed shop that offers it in my area (i dont exactly live in a small city) and they charge $150 an hour plus materials. Buying a pre-made cat-back is the best way to go. Pacesetter now offers a CB for 99+, both se or gt option, its around $260.

Mine does. I got my exhaust done there before they got the mandrel bender, but it's not a big deal as long as they're not doing like U bends. And any exhaust system with a U bend is improperly designed, period. (And besides, it can be argued that the 2.5" exhaust I got is more than the engine could ever need without fairly major mods, anyway)

[Ralph]

mine cost 450 custom from a shop. It was pressure bent but im happy with what i have. If it is too loud i just pop in the silencer. What it comes down to is you won't see another car with the same set up.

[sudden_impulse]

One major question to ask is do you want to do it yourself or have somebody else do it? On these cars I doubt there's a whole lot of difference between 2.5" mandrel bent or pressure bent, especially if done right. I'll be checking what type of tubing the local shop does, and if it's stainless or aluminized, I'll probably go that route. If it's regular rot-in-five-years tubing I'll either do a little more looking or go the cat-back route from online.

[wrpIIgt]

I got the s&s headers ceramic coated with high flow cat and flex pipe for $997.00
Got flowmaster 40 series with dual tips for $159.00
2.5" pipe welded from cat back for $100.00

People looking at my car and asking if it has a V8....Priceless.

[Vampyrate]

i got my flowmaster 40 series for about 75 at advance autoparts and had a shop do 2.5" piping from the catalytic converter back. all in all, 175 for the whole setup. when i get the money, i will be upgrading the headers and that comes with a new high flow cat, so im looking at maybe 20 in the install (i would do it myself, but im still pissed at my car about changing the spark plugs and wires)