Alright, here's my problem. I did my muffler a few weeks ago, since the old one fell off. Just when I think i'm done, th eexhaust starts sagging under the car. No biggie, I'll add a hanger to pull it back up. Then it started sagging again, this time up by the cat. It appears that there was a hanger up at the cat that rusted the hell off, so nothing is supporting the exhaust except the hanger at the rear of the car. Also, the pipe is starting to rust out too. I'm left with no choice but to do some more repairs. I've been holding off to get a header so I can install the cat I have too, but I can't keep waiting anymore. My question is this: Where the factory manifold merges into a single pipe there is a flange for the down pipe, which goes back to the cat, right? How would it work if I left the stock manifold in place but replaced everything from the downpipe back? I know a header would be the best choice, but I can't afford one right now. I'm sure if I take the car to my buddy at Car-X he can make it work, but I just need some opinions.
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Should be perfectly fine as long as you match the pipe to the manifold properly. You might want a flex pipe or something after the manifold but it should be perfectly fine to do it as you are talking right now. You would just get better performance from a header but you already know that.
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Yeah, this I know. Just to make things worse, I went home for lunch, on the way there the pipe just in front of the cat rusted completely and the whole fricken exhaust fell completely off when I left the parking lot. The good news? I got my muffler off the pipe and threw the rest in the dumpster. I can still use it. I'm half way thinking I'll just get a header off eBay and have my buddy fab the rest at his shop. Shouldn't cost more than 100 bucks to bend up all new pipe behind the header.
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Okay, I fully know that you get what you pay for, but I also understand that I can't afford to drop a grand for exhaust at this point. BThen again, I have a desparate need to fix my car and it makes no sense to replace factory parts with more factory parts when I fully intend to replace them with performance parts anyway. I know that there are headers are on eBay for under $200 shipped, and a lot of them are stainless steel. I could care less about wether the label says DC Sports or Pacesetter or Pimp Sauce or Suzy Q for that matter as long as it works. That said, I'm wondering if it would just be better to buy a header and a cat-back and just go that way rather than buy a header and have a cat-back bent. I managed to find this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Chevy-Cavalier-2-2L-95-02-Exhaust-Sys-header-Catback_W0QQitemZ8039962437QQcategoryZ33630QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
It seems like a good deal for the money. I'm betting it would cost just as much to buy a header and have a catback custom bent. Any thoughts on this???
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i wouldnt trust any product with no name on my car IMO, especially something as critical as the exhaust
If I had to take a guess, I think it's an OBX exhaust, or atleast it looks like OBX. I sent an e-mail to the selling company to find out for sure.
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If your going to do an exhaust you need to do it right the first time and youll haev no problems. Go and buy a header, high flow cat, 30" or so resonator, a muffler, and some mandrel bends( buy a u-j bend which consists of a straight piece, a 45 degree and 2 90 degree bends) and take it all to an exhaust and have them fab it and weld it up. I had mine done for about 500 bucks total. Im going turbo now so im going with a 3" exhaust. Just my 2 cents. If your going to do it, do it right the first time.
I just want some opinions on the above referenced product. I have every intention of doing it right but I don't have more than 350 to spend. The above referenced product is stainless steel, I have a Magnaflow cat at home, so the whole exhaust would be stainless.
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i am not positive but regardless if the j had dual exhaust or not a single exit system should still be able to be applied. i personally would stay away.
if you already have the muffler ;
then get a header 239.99+ shipping or less costly and the do it yourself coating 179.99 +shipping
and res # 289-24203 19.99+shipping
this cat 67.51 + shipping
then all you need is a couple feet of 2 1/4" piping bent to fit and welded into place
shipping will be minimal for the res and cat but i don't remember what the header would cost from Jim to you ( ibought mine with a bunch of junk to save on the shipping in one shot) but overall you can get much better quality parts for the same price give or take $25-30.
only costing $30 bucks to ship a whole cat-back and the header of which the ID of the piping i did not see (didn't scour either) and it isn't Karo seems a little fishy.
check with your friends too, maybe they know someone who is a competent welder that can help you out too. if you were close by i would weld it for you, won't be the dead sexy but definitely won't fall apart on you
good luck whatever you choose
oh yeah plus with that system you would still need a cat unless you re-use the stock one, that will take that kit well over the $400 mark
Blue Splash wrote:If your going to do an exhaust you need to do it right the first time and youll haev no problems. Go and buy a header, high flow cat, 30" or so resonator, a muffler, and some mandrel bends( buy a u-j bend which consists of a straight piece, a 45 degree and 2 90 degree bends) and take it all to an exhaust and have them fab it and weld it up. I had mine done for about 500 bucks total. Im going turbo now so im going with a 3" exhaust. Just my 2 cents. If your going to do it, do it right the first time.
Is that really all you need a U-J (plus some straight pipe) to do a Mandrel bend setup on a 3rd Gen J?? I would have thought it would require more... I'm a Newb though so I have no clue... Can someone tell me what I would need in the way of bends to do a proper mandrel setup? I was planning to do my exhaust Mandrel but recently was getting leaning towards just getting it done in a single piece of compression bends but is that is all I need I think I might just go that route after all...
I'm looking at Turboing my car in the next year or so, which is why I am interested in doing Mandrel. And yes I know to use 2.5" now so I don't have to redo it later and that I will possibly have some drop in performance right now as a result on a N/A 2.4L motor.
Thanks.
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I bought a stainless header, stainless cat, stainless resonator, and 2 stainless mufflers, with stainless clamps and hangers, and had it installed for under 800 bucks total for everything.
I don't have $800 though. I have a cat in the garage from Magnaflow. All I need is a header, resonator, and rear section if I use the muffler I have. The other option was get an OBX header and flex pipe and have the rear section bent . I honestly have no idea what that would cost if I bolted everything in place from header to resonator and drove it to the shop to just have the rear section done. The guy I know at Car-X is out of town and won't be back for a few weeks so I can't ask him.
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