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exhaust cost opinions

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one bad rambler View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote one bad rambler Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/07/2018 at 8:04pm
I don`t get why steel is so expensive...scape yards are full the price is down...fuel is down...labor is down...back in the day a custom exhaust meant 1 pipe from your header to your muffler and a tail pipe(each side)now theres 10 short pipes all welded together and for some reason people accept that as quality....It`s a shame but your est. sounds correct....
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote kenoshakicker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/07/2018 at 8:10pm
In Oct of 2016, on my '73 Javelin, I used the head pipes that were on the car when I bought.  The head pipes were probably put on 15-18 years before I bought it.  The guy who put it on the car years ago,  the best pipe bender I have ever seen, said the head pipes were made of a good grade of pipe and could be reused.  He added about 1 foot on each pipe to reach the mufflers.  The mufflers were the used Flowmaster 40's that came on the Hornet I bought for the engine.  I really want glasspacks but to save money I used the 40's. The tailpipes are short and exit right behind the rears tires, like an early Camaro.  I still had $140 in maybe 10 feet of pipe and 8 clamps. I would say I would have had at least $550 if  a complete system was installed
Last year I got a quote from another bender because the local guy died.  This is for my 2002 Gmc 1/2 ton 4x4. I have a set of Flowmaster tailpipes a friend gave me.  The price for a knock off FM 10 about 2 feet of 3 inch pipe and the labor to install was $450.  I am going to install it myself when the time comes.

I think this quote for your car isa little high. IMHO forget the H pipe and save yourself some money there. 




Edited by kenoshakicker - May/07/2018 at 8:14pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote billd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/07/2018 at 8:18pm
I've been through too many glasspacks in my life.............they never seem to last as long and with my type of driving, likely even shorter life.

I have to suspect the H isn't a big factor - but with headers and totally separate systems, you have that cackle and it's not as mellow. Also a slight power difference by allowing for the balance. 
The engine is built.........  and it has headers, no head pipes. (and from what I have been finding the engine is likely to get dropped out of it and gone through a bit in a year or two)

I had thought about having some sort of joint like was used on cat converters, some sort of a four bolt flange so I could drop the center out. The transmission may also come out some day, or even just to ACCESS things!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 73hornut Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/07/2018 at 8:23pm
My Javelin was $450 minus mufflers with tips, 2-1/2in,  and my gremlin was $500 minus mufflers and tips, 2-1/4in.These were manifolds to rear valance.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote kenoshakicker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/07/2018 at 8:27pm
IMHO This is something I would use if I had full length headers.  It offers a better seal than regular collector gaskets and it offers easy on and off capabilities.  I would chose this over an H pipe but then I like the cackle. :) 

https://www.jegs.com/i/Hedman/500/21152/10002/-1?CAWELAID=230006180001370482&CAGPSPN=pla&CAAGID=44693592161&CATCI=pla-177238949831&CATARGETID=230006180039218666&cadevice=c&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrrXx1fn02gIVzUsNCh2v3QgUEAQYBSABEgIMD_D_BwE
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Red Devil Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/07/2018 at 8:27pm
Assuming price includes R&R current system, or is it just the pipes and new mufflers and tips?   If you had a welder, could do it for less depending on how you cost your labour ... but you already mentioned that wasn't the plan. 

I had Flowmaster 40s with LX tailpipes on my Hornet.   Got them for free from a Mustang guy updating his system.   Fit ok and lasted several years including winter salted roads.    Sounded sorta like every other Mustang with Flowmasters, if you like that kinda thing. Cool with the Burger-King crowd when in your early 20s.  Droned a bit during cruise. 

Suggest check Summit or Jegs or favourite mail-order house for pipes, mufflers and tips. Jones Max Flow seem to be an economical performance muffler if you like a big-case, straight-through glass pack rather than a tinny, drone-prone Flowmaster. 

Aluminized pipes last a long time - especially with a bit of high-temp paint.   For easy disassembly, I've got stainless band clamps just before the mufflers, so support mufflers, remove band clamps and collector bolts and drop out the mid-section w/ X-pipe.   Have a transmission jack to hoist it up for easier alignment and reassembly (tired of trying to muscle things into place). 

Hope this helps, RD
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote billd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/07/2018 at 8:40pm
I have a welder and have a torch and made my Eagle's very complex front pipe, but nope, I'm not taking on a whole system. I'm not that good, don't have a lift, and time is a factor. I can gas weld exhaust but then my eyes have always suffered very very badly after-  migraines for a day after gas welding as well. 

I checked out eBay for complete systems and with shipping honestly it's not that far from their "without even seeing the car" wide estimate. Seriously, a stainless system shipped would be about 900. Then I'd have to put it on.
Even the non-stainless systems weren't that far blow their lower price level - and I'd have to do it myself.

So I'm starting to wonder if that isn't close to the "new normal"?

Anyway, NO, to doing it myself....... 

By the way - I like the mellow sound of the SIDEPIPES on my 70 so if I could approach that sound......
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Red Devil Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/07/2018 at 9:29pm
I didn't mind the Flowmaster sound - that was the heyday when everyone had them ... and the price was right.   But the drone gets tiring for long trips.   

Have big-case glass packs now (Hooker Max Flow) and like the sound better.   But they are old and glass packs tend to get louder as they age.   The Jones Max Flow mufflers are a similar design for about 1/2 the price, stainless steel case and longer case options that should be a bit quieter.   

But you have the Flowmasters, so if the car is mostly for fun and short cruises, seems simplest and most economical option just to refit them with reducers if needed.   Can always get new mufflers later if you find you don't like them ... assuming they are a standard case size and inlet/outlet arrangement.

Hope this helps, RD
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AMXFSTBK390 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/07/2018 at 9:42pm
The local muffler shop that has been in business three generations quoted me $600, last Friday . The exhaust system the shop installs will be 2.25" aluminized pipe, SS Magna Flow mufflers, over the axle and out the back. The shop is three miles from my house. I see classic cars being fitted with exhaust systems every time I pass by. The grandpa drives an Edsel, the father drives a 56 Chevy truck, and the son races in autocross and dirt track. Failed to ask if the quote included a "H" pipe. Seven years ago they installed the same system on my 68 Camaro with Z28 tail pipes for $480. I showed them the free-flow exhaust manifolds that would be going on the 68 AMX, and he is very familiar with AMC. The son asked me to provide the exhaust manifold pipe flange gasket/ seals. Bought a pair (Victor Reinz F7201 for $4.74 a pair @ Rock Auto ).
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote addic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/07/2018 at 9:50pm
ebay has ss exhaust 2.5 or 3.0 for under $300  16 pieces
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