Reasonable cost for custom exhaust

[1st Gen]

I went to the DEQ today to try and get my tags renewed. As it turns out, I don’t have enough exhaust gases going to the tail pipe. I knew it was leaking but, I just didn’t know how much until now. So it just seems like a good time to upgrade the whole system.

Here is what I’m going for.

2 ½ “ from the down pipe back, mandrel bent

High flow cat and a flowmaster stainless steal muffler.

The guy quoted me $537.00 for the whole system installed.

Reasonable?



91 pro lx with future gtx swap

[1st Gen]

I think I'm just going to go with it. The shop came recommended and the guy seemed real decent. I’m sure that he’ll give me everything that I pay for.

Thanks.

[MazKid]

Well I did 2.5" exhaust downpipe back...cost ~$55 Moroso spiral core resonator, ~$100 Magnaflow dual outlet muffler, $20 Probe GT HKS mandrel-bent tubing(works well for the Protege, bend-wise), then prolly $20 for misc pipes from autozone.

Then came the welding and the several nights of work to get it "acceptable", which I've finally done. It's a pain, let me tell you, to do exhaust work yourself...in the end I'd prolly have a pro weld it up, but it does give me pride that I did what many other people won't - a completely custom exhaust, amature welded, and right now the car sounds pretty good...bassy as all hell though from idle to about 4,500, above that it's great IMO. I'm prolly going to add another small resonator to quiet it down, but for now it's ok, and there's definately a good power gain over my very bad stock piping + custom test pipe + custom fitted 3rd gen muffler, which was so restrictive up top I ran faster 1/4 mile runs shifting at 6K and not 7K. Now I get wheel spin in first(meaning from a roll, not dumping the clutch) fairly often(where as next to none before) and my 2nd gear scratches are a lot longer...also can fly on the highway, actually making it into the redline in 4th and still pulling...before it wouldn't want to accelerate past 6K in 4th.

While people say 2.5" is too big, if done right it's fine. That's how I see it.

[1st Gen]

Well I did 2.5" exhaust downpipe back...cost ~$55 Moroso spiral core resonator, ~$100 Magnaflow dual outlet muffler, $20 Probe GT HKS mandrel-bent tubing(works well for the Protege, bend-wise), then prolly $20 for misc pipes from autozone.

Then came the welding and the several nights of work to get it "acceptable", which I've finally done. It's a pain, let me tell you, to do exhaust work yourself...in the end I'd prolly have a pro weld it up, but it does give me pride that I did what many other people won't - a completely custom exhaust, amature welded, and right now the car sounds pretty good...bassy as all hell though from idle to about 4,500, above that it's great IMO. I'm prolly going to add another small resonator to quiet it down, but for now it's ok, and there's definately a good power gain over my very bad stock piping + custom test pipe + custom fitted 3rd gen muffler, which was so restrictive up top I ran faster 1/4 mile runs shifting at 6K and not 7K. Now I get wheel spin in first(meaning from a roll, not dumping the clutch) fairly often(where as next to none before) and my 2nd gear scratches are a lot longer...also can fly on the highway, actually making it into the redline in 4th and still pulling...before it wouldn't want to accelerate past 6K in 4th.

While people say 2.5" is too big, if done right it's fine. That's how I see it.
You make a do it yourself project sound real attractive. I’m looking for reliability though, and I’ve found from past projects that my first try usually sucks. I think paying a pro to do it right the first time, and to have it done in a couple of days is worth the extra, what, $342.00? Hmmmm!

Do you have lift or something? I’ll take another look at how much I could pick up a welder for. I’m sure I could find the parts cheaper too. I figure if I could save $300.00, I could work on it for a long time and still come out ahead.

Thanks again Mazkid.

[mike_moss]

2.5" is too small. 3" is a must, IMO.

[1st Gen]

2.5" is too small. 3" is a must, IMO.

How much whp are you talking about with an exhaust like that? I've been trying to answer this question for a while, that is whether to go with 2.5 or the bigger 3"

[MazKid]

I have access to lifts, yes, but I didn't use them(as they are at the dealership and I didn't want to ask my dad to go up there with us to do it on a tuesday or thursday night, plus I figured it would take several attempts to get the exhaust right.

Day 1 was at my friend's house, in his garage...back of the car on ramps, front of the car on jacks...we basically created a "mock up" exhaust, and it sucked horribly. Poor planning(on my part) led to a completely leaky system, held up by an electrical wire going across the 2 rear bolts of the midsection heat shield, then the muffler supported by(don't laugh too hard) 2 loops of wire ties, 1 around the right tip to the tow hook, the other around the left tip to the hanger I think it was, or something around there. 1 hanger actually worked, and that was the one on the right side of the car at the 90* bend...worked perfectly, lol. The rest of the exhaust went something like this:
Downpipe-stock flange(because it was the only thing that fit, and was completely not welded because of the rust coating), 2.25"-2.5" coupler, another coupler, my moroso, flex pipe(a huge no no, you can't weld to aluminium, and I'm a moron, so it was completely just on there), autozone tailpipe section, HKS section(we had to take out the HKS resonator because it won't fit under the car, gah), HKS S pipe section all the way back to the flange, then a stock flange from that to another bit of flex pipe(what the hell was wrong with me), and to the muffler.

I didn't drive it to school the next day for fear of it flalling apart on the highway...though on my drive home from my friend's house I noticed a lot more power already. :)

Then Day 2 was fixing the rear section. My brother picked up the HKS muffler for the rear flange(we didn't take it from the junkyard because it was kinda smashed). We cut about 2" out of the section going up and over the rear suspension so it wouln't hit the bottom of the car, and rewelded. Then we cut the flange off the HKS muffler and marked where the magnaflow should go, and welded accordingly. Marked for hangers, then used 2 KL head bolts and welded them to the muffler case. Works great. So I was able to drive it to school, but was still loud from the front section.

Day 3 was fixing the front section. Ground off the rust on the front flange, took out the flex pipe and welded the correct sized piece of pipe there. Welded the moroso in, then just went back and welded everything that wasn't welded or was welded poorly. That worked, however what we found out was that we welded the flange wrong and it pulled the downpipe striaght down(instead of at an angle like it should be) at the header, and opened up the pivot joint, and leaked really bad.

I put it on a lift at work(when we were slow one night) and checked out the leak. It was big...I also noticed that the moroso was smack up againsted the shift linkage(not the moving one) because we welded the slight bends the wrong way. I assessed how it should correctly be for day 4.

Day 4. Cut one of the tailpipe sections at the inner diameter part where it went over a smaller section, rotated it, spot welded for accuracy(what a good idea huh), then took the midsection out and welded it properly. Unfortunately both bends were wrong, so I had to cut before and after the other bend to rotate that, It worked however, and the downpipe joint doesn't leak, and the rest of it doesn't leak, except the downpipe-midpipe flange because we're using my stock flange there and it's rusted and warped. I'm going to work on that eventually.

I'm also going to add another resonator so I can fix everything else then. Also need 2 tips for the muffler...

So in theory, if you plan the project you won't screw up as much as I did. Should go a lot smoother.

The welder we used(actually 2 identical, my friend's and my brother's) were bought from Harbor Freight for $129. Works great.
I also recommend a chain-style pipe cutter...you can rent them from AutoZone for free, or keep it for $40 something. A lot better than hacking the pipe.

It's a very do-able project if planned correctly. Save yourself some money. :)

[1st Gen]

It sounds like you had a lot of fun with this project. I don’t think I’m going to be nearly as involved with it. I’m pretty sure that I can buy several of the pieces already bent and cut to size. I haven’t done any looking yet but am hopeful. If it turns out that I can’t, then I’ll go ahead and do the welding myself but, I’ll have the pieces pre-bent at a shop that does that kind of bending. I’ll just be driving my pickup for a while is all.

[mike_moss]

How much whp are you talking about with an exhaust like that? I've been trying to answer this question for a while, that is whether to go with 2.5 or the bigger 3"
Depends what you're boosting.

There have been credible accounts of jumping up 90hp on the GTR from intake and 3" exhaust alone.

3" is where you wanna be.

[1st Gen]

Depends what you're boosting.

There have been credible accounts of jumping up 90hp on the GTR from intake and 3" exhaust alone.

3" is where you wanna be.


Wow, that's impresive! That would certainly put me in the whp range that I'm looking for. I would probably have to have a new downpipe too since the one I have is from the GTX. 2 1/2"

[mike_moss]

Yes, get a full turbo-back exhaust.