muffler shop special vs. off the shelf
 

Hey dudes,

Just curious for opinions.

Right now I'm running an Apex'i N1 coffee can on my Pro, and since I got a header to put in finally, I decided to go ahead and look into a full cat back.

I was looking into ideas for the optimal way to do this. I was considering a muffler shop special, and just getting some 2.25 piping welded up to my apexi, while keeping the stock resonator, or collector, or whatever that tube thing is after the cat, or I was looking into a magnaflow cat back.

Pros and cons? Thanks !

Personally, I'd prefer a cat-back system over a custom job done at a typical exhaust shop.[list=1][*]It will be a bolt on system. You can install it yourself and save on labor costs. Many exhaust shops weld everything together, so if something goes bad, you have to go back to an exhaust shop to fix it.[*]Mandrel bent pipes – many shops will say they’ll do mandrel bends, but usually they are not. They cannot do mandrel bends at the shop. Mandrel bent systems are built in a factory. If the shop actually makes you a mandrel bent system, then it’ll be a hack job. They can buy mandrel bent stock then chop it up, piece bits together, and weld. This would mean more labor and more wasted material. A quality cat-back will have nice long smooth runs of piping. [*]Quality of material – most good cat-back systems are made of T-304 stainless steel. Aluminized steel and T-409 aren’t as good. Most shops will use Aluminized steel.[*]Quality of workmanship – if you go to a good shop this isn’t too much of a concern. However, with a cat-back system, there aren’t going to be as many welds, and the quality will be higher than your standard exhaust shop.[*]Sound – you can listen to other people’s cars and tell if you’d like a certain system or not. With a custom job, you can get an idea of what it will sound like, but you won’t know for sure until it’s done.[/list=1]
Now that I’ve stated all that, I have to admit that I recently had a custom system done on my truck. I wanted the cat welded on after installing a set of headers, but it was too long to fit between the flange and y-pipe. I went to a good shop and they didn’t want to weld past the flanges in case I wanted to change something in the future, since I still had the stock exhaust after the cat. I was tired of driving around with open headers and I wanted everything done then, so I went with a custom system. Despite not having mandrel bent pipes and T-304 SS, I’m very happy with the custom system.[list=1][*]It's custom! Everyone else isn't running around with the same system.[*]I got to choose the tips.[*]I now have outlets on both sides. All of the cat-back systems I looked at only had the exhaust coming out the right side.[*]New exhaust hangers were included. When I install cat-backs I usually skimp and don't get new hangers. The hangers used on my custom system were very nice.[*]In this application I did not want a loud exhaust. Now I have a quite exhaust with a deep tone.[/list=1]

I found by searching through the forums that a lot people with sedans have had problems with the magnaflow cat-back rattling around and rubbing. I've also heard of it rusting too cuz the SS is crap. I was going to go for the magnaflow but I'm just going to save up for the Racing Beat cat-back. Just my $0.02

there is a shop here in B'ham who can bend mandrel piping. The machine cost $12K but it works!



just buy a manufactured cat-back.

At $12k, it probably only does a certain range of bends and wouldn't be able to handle multiple bends and/or bends in different directions. The machine I looked at was in the million dollar range and took about 8 hours to set up. This is the type of machine that the manufacturers use.

oh wow! I didn't know that. I thought $12K was way steep!!


the guy who owns that machine told me he would make me an exhaust in stainless steel for my car using my exsisting muffler and it would only cost me.....$650. I told him no thanks and I'll go and buy one off Ebay for $250 shipped to my door!

This is the place I toured. I was getting an intake done and John Hack gave me a tour of the place after I placed my order.
http://www.mandrelbending-tubefabric...com/index.html

Here's an article on building a mandrel bent exhaust system using prebent pieces cutup then welded.
http://www.magnaflow.com/05news/magazine/htr.htm

Lastly, I might be wrong about the limitations of a smaller mandrel bender. Apparently this shop can do some fairly complex mandrel bends.
http://www.bobsmuffler.com/mandrel.htm be sure to check out the video. Don't know if the shop in Birmingham that that sophisticated of a bender though. That looks like it's worth more than $12k.

I guess a lot has changed in the years since I've had that intake made. Now I want to go out and buy my own mandrel bender
http://vansantent.com/mandrel_bending_machines.htm

I have put a magna flow cat back exhaust on my 2003 protege and love it. The deep tone is great and give me a few horse