Frankenstein exhaust.

[Burkey]

Like the rest of you, I spent far too many hours listening to sound clips, trying to make an informed decision - mission impossible.

So I bit the bullet and bought a Magnaflow Comp AB. It ticked all the boxes, particularly with an H pipe installed.
Here are my thoughts for those who're interested in achieving something different/cheaper and I'm hoping to gain some ideas from those who've spent time on custom exhausts in the past...
Any comments, opinions, experience that can be shared would be greatly appreciated.

Firstly, I have zero intention of investing more than $4000 on pipes and mufflers but I can fully appreciate why some will choose to do so.

So, I didn't buy a Cat back because I prefer the H pipe sound and I may end up with headers, meaning the centre section, regardless of brand, would be a waste of money. Yes, the H will give away a little power, I'm fine with that.

My plan, if I go ahead with it, is to jam some Pacemaker headers and high flow cats/sensor extenders under the front (approx $1500, maybe less) and get a shop to fabricate the adjoining mid section with H pipe.
Off the bat, that combo is going to be LOUD, which isn't the goal. I want a nice deep tone that doesn't wake the dead.
So, to cure that, I'm thinking some hotdogs should help to tame the beast. The benefit of custom build being that you start with a smallish hot dog and just play with it until it sounds right. My muffler guy is be able to accomodate this, it was actually his suggestion. Bolted flanges make it simple enough to do.
Basically, by doing it this way, I can get the car to sound nice on day one (fit AB) and then toy with the rest when I have the time to spanner the headers, get tune etc.
Basically, looking at the cost, I'd have $900 up my sleeve to play with the mid section, before I hit the price of the cheapest FULL system I can find on the market. In other words, it should be cheaper this way.

Can anyone see the flaws in the plan? Ideas?

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[Aus-MustangGT]

So for headers you are looking at 7 hours labour so thats
140 x 7 =$1050 for fitment (assuming $150 p/h)

So I doubt you are going to hit that $1500 target for headers and cats

 

[msweet]

If I were doing it that way I'd get the Solo AB, as it's got an adjustable J-pipe to cancel out the drone frequencies. That way you could adjust it once headers/resonators had been added into the equation, instead of changing out resonators.

Also I'm not sure why you think the centre section is a waste of money for catbacks? Most headers mate up to stock or aftermarket catbacks, and if not like you said, it's pretty easy for an exhaust shop to fab up some connectors.

Your plan is solid though, no doubt you will find the sound your after, just don't do what svtfever did haha

 

[Burkey]

So for headers you are looking at 7 hours labour so thats
140 x 7 =$1050 for fitment (assuming $150 p/h)

So I doubt you are going to hit that $1500 target for headers and cats

No, not paying someone to install the headers. Jesus. DIY.

 

[Burkey]

If I were doing it that way I'd get the Solo AB, as it's got an adjustable J-pipe to cancel out the drone frequencies. That way you could adjust it once headers/resonators had been added into the equation, instead of changing out resonators.

Also I'm not sure why you think the centre section is a waste of money for catbacks? Most headers mate up to stock or aftermarket catbacks, and if not like you said, it's pretty easy for an exhaust shop to fab up some connectors.

Your plan is solid though, no doubt you will find the sound your after, just don't do what svtfever did haha

What did SVT FEVER do??

 

[msweet]

What did SVT FEVER do??

From memory,

3 catbacks before headers
2 different brands of header
4 different catbacks with headers

Insane, I followed the whole process. Just could not get the right sound he was after. Ended up with full ARH I believe. I can't imagine how much he spent, went through both corsa systems, twice!

 

[Aus-MustangGT]

No, not paying someone to install the headers. Jesus. DIY.

Wow okay, good luck with that, it is a very difficult install

 

[Burkey]

From memory,

3 catbacks before headers
2 different brands of header
4 different catbacks with headers

Insane, I followed the whole process. Just could not get the right sound he was after. Ended up with full ARH I believe. I can't imagine how much he spent, went through both corsa systems, twice!

Holy goshness!
Ok, so to be clear on the "centre section is a waste" theme, here we go...

In the example of Magnaflow, the difference in price (AB vs CB) is approx $400 USD before you try and ship it. Then there's the potential that the whole thing attracts customs etc.
So, that piece of pipe might cost you $600 - $700 landed in oz but if it suddenly attracts customs, you've done the entire mid section budget BEFORE you start modifying it to fit your new extractors AND you still don't have a resonator/hot dog etc.
Now, without a car in front of me on a hoist, it seems that most of the headers with cats fitted are going to finish well past the X pipe. So the first thing you're doing is cutting off the most expensive part of the whole thing and then having to re-engineer it etc.
To top it off, from what I can see, the majority of the cat back systems have their pipes so close together that you wouldn't be able to slip a hot dog in there anyways...
None of that is FACT. I'm only reading between the lines as best as I can based on the pics I can see.
I guess what I'm saying is that if you're worried about over-capitalising/doing things more than once, like I am, we need to be careful.

 

[Burkey]

Wow okay, good luck with that, it is a very difficult install

Lol. Yeah, glutton for punishment. Having the skills and the tools helps but the real issue is time.
Working on cars can be therapeutic, but this particular job might see me at the therapists...:doh:

 

[Burkey]

Magnaflow axle back.
Note the 3" mandrel bent tubing that comes supplied. Reduces at the end in order to fit the stock system.
Should be much easier for the custom guy to finish the job.

 

[Burkey]

Borla AB. (as an example)
Appears to use standard vehicle size pipe.

 

[MagnaFlow]

No flaws in your plan; we often see people do something similar to this. We would recommend looking into a center resonator because without one, your car will be well over the AU legal sound limit.

 

[Burkey]

No flaws in your plan; we often see people do something similar to this. We would recommend looking into a center resonator because without one, your car will be well over the AU legal sound limit.

Thanks for the input. Yes, the plan includes some type of suppression. Not sure exactly what just yet. Cheers

 

[MustangScooter]

No flaws in your plan; we often see people do something similar to this. We would recommend looking into a center resonator because without one, your car will be well over the AU legal sound limit.

do you know how loud a cat back competition would be? and or how loud a competition AB would be with a H pipe?

 

[MagnaFlow]

do you know how loud a cat back competition would be? and or how loud a competition AB would be with a H pipe?

With long tubes like the OP, or with an otherwise stock exhaust system?

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