Hi, I bought my Z28 (1999) a few years ago in the UK and asked my dealer to upgrade the stock exhaust from a single pipe back end to a twin, they fitted a GM exhaust and charged me about $1000, it looks nice, sounds a bit louder and I am no sure if there is any more power because the car is so powerful anyway (compared to other UK cars) , we do have 2 or 3 importers that can get most things from the US so I am looking to see what I can get that will make a real difference.
The dealer said that ½ of the cost of the upgraded exhaust was fitting, this was because the axle had to be dropped because of the shape of the pipe.

Please can you give me some advice on what to buy and how easy it would be to fit, because of the law in the UK I can’t remove the cat.

 

if you have a good exhaust, i would look iinto a ram air system like the Super Sucker Ram Air, and a good aftermarket lid

i beleive there are liinks to both in my signature below

 

Thanks but I wanted to sort out the muffler first, when I said that the new one was a louder I meant just a little bit, what I wanted was a lot louder without being over the top.
Because of the high price (rip off) of servicing in the UK I wanted to know how easy it would be to remove the old muffler and fit a new one, do I need to lower the axle like the garage said? and what to replace it with?

 

$1,000 for exhaust installation is just crazy. If your shop needed to lower the axle just to put a replacement muffler in, they have no idea what they're doing.

If you want your exhaust to be louder, don't go the muffler route. I did that and mine was barely louder than stock.

I just bought the TSP Rumbler and the exhaust shop had it welded in in no time at all. Mine costs $200 and sounds great. Very deep and loud when you get on it and reserved when you don't. If you want to really stand from the rest of the cars in the UK, get this exhaust.

 

Thanks for the advice, I found some more info on the TSP Rumbler and a sound file, it looks good and sounds about right, from the pictures it looks easy to fit but you said that your garage needed to do some welding?
Because of the GM upgraded exhaust that I have the only way to get it off is either cut the pipe or lower the axle. How much would you expect to pay in the US for a garage to lower the axle, remove the old exhaust and fit the new one?
I want to keep the old exhaust because it is quite new and I may have to put it back if it fails its MOT.

 

Pardon my ignorance but what is "MOT?"

In some shops, they would charge anywhere from $100 to $250 american dollars. I had mine done for $100 and the work was excellent.

Good luck!

 

Go to www.ls1sounds.com and listen to the Rumbler files where the car has a lid (red TransAm on a dyno) and is stock (navy blue Z28 revving). In my opinion, both sound files don't do this exhaust justice because it sounds much deeper than the cars in both files, but, it could be because I have an SLP Y-Pipe and the other cars don't.

The guy that installed mine did the welding instead of using the clamps that came with the exhaust because the welds will prevent exhaust leaks better than a clamp will, and will save about 3 pounds in weight.

If your car is a Z28, you don't have a GM upgraded exhaust. The only Camaros with upgraded exhausts are the SSs with a better flowing muffler made by SLP (the company that makes the upgrades for the Camaro SS).

Tell your shop to forget about lowering the axle, it's NOT needed at all to install a cat-back exhaust. All they have to do is cut the inlet pipe that goes into your muffler, remove the muffler and its outlet pipe with exhaust tips, make another cut for the main pipe where the hanger is and just remove all the piping up to the factory y-pipe (if you choose to leave that in).

Go to your local muffler shops and explain to them what you want done and just go with the guy with the lowest price that knows what he's doing. I'm guessing MOT is some type of emissions inspection over in the UK. You won't fail emissions unless you touch your catalytic converters. So tell the shop not to touch them during the installation.

Lastly, tell the guy doing the work that the axle doesn't need to be dropped, this is a Camaro, not a Vauxhall.

 

Ministry of Transport - it's the annual inspection for emissions and roadworthiness. Loud exhausts don't necessaraily fail, I has a single silencer with a side exit of around 6' total length on my old Cortina, and it passed, but the cops may keep stopping you.

If the exhaust is jointless dropping the axle is the only way to get it out complete, it's not difficult but it is fairly time-consuming. with a couple of tall stands under the budy it can be done at home well enough.

 

a cut right before the muffler and and cut at the cat is all you need. The i-pipe of the stock catback will slide over the axle towards the front of the car. Average price around here for installing a catback is about $150 or so. Thats removing the old one and installing the new one. About $250 for the most exspensive shop.

 

Well I almost placed the order but I think I need something else because it rains a lot in the UK and this exhaust does not come in stainless steel.
The next one I looked at was the Loud Mouth but Texas-Speed say "The Loud Mouth exhaust system does NOT have a muffler. It is very free-flowing, but it is going to be VERY LOUD!" - I want it to sound loud and mean but not too loud.
Any more recommendations please?

 

anyone with a set of deep sockets, a ratchet, a hacksaw and some exhaust clamps can install their own exhaust in about 90 minutes. Shops will almost always take advantage of someone who isn't in the know. Having a compressor, impact wrench, and a sawzall makes it that much easier.

 

The LoudMouth and the TSP Rumbler are almost the same exhaust that both utilize bigger piping than stock and a bullet muffler/resonator, but here's the difference.

The LoudMouth's muffler is where the car's regular muffler would be and the Rumbler's is just behind the y-pipe and parallel to the driveshaft. The location of the Rumbler's muffler cuts down on rasp and results in a deeper sound, when compared to the LoudMouth. There is very little rasp and resonance with the Rumbler on the highway, and like I said, it will get quiet when you let off the accelerator.

Don't worry about it not being stainless steel. My old Magnaflow muffler was aluminized steel and it was on my car for just under a year and barely rusted. The Rumbler comes painted in a light silver paint, which will aid in protection against the elements. If you get something made in stainless steel custom, it'll be expensive. The exhaust shop that did my install quoted me $400 for a custom-built stainless steel y-pipe, so I just bought SLP's for half the price.

Have you thought about an electric cutout? With the flip of a switch you can go from super loud to stock sound, or in between if you like.

 

loudmouth's resonator is just beside the transmission. No difference there.

 

Basically the MOT is a safety inspection. I don't see why you would fail an MOT over a loader exhaust. As long as there are no leaks. I've seen some real bangers pass. Then there are always the places that don't care.
It's not that hard to drop the axle if you wanted to keep your exhaust. Take the wheel off, unbolt the lower control arm, unbolt the sway bar, and the unbolt the shock. The spring will drop out. You will also have to remove the PHR and the top support. In about 1.5 hours with a set of axle stands and a jack, you can do it yourself. I have done several this way. Just make sure everything is back on tight.
Also check out www.fbodyeurope.org . Someone on there may have something that you can use and are already in Europe. Most in Germany and alot of Americans, so they may be able to hook you up.

 

Get a Cutout!!!! Mine was $27 shipped! When its open its not really "over the top" and if i do need quiet i can just cap it. although the only time i did was during a 6 hour drive on the interstate!!!