Ok everyone.

I'm totally ignorant to finding good deals.

I have to replace my fuel pump. I decided though, since I have to pull the exhaust out I might as well do a cat back.

Questions:

1. Whats a decent, inexpensive cat back? I was looking at loudmouth, but I do highway driving alot and am afraid it'll be too loud.

2. I figure if I do catback, I might do headers also. I'm considering long tubes. Whats a decent set run? What else will I need (y pipe, plug wires, etc...)

3. If I do catback now, can I still do headers later without any problems?

4. Where can I order this stuff? I would like to order from just one place if possible.

5. What else do I need to consider when doing any of this?

Please give me as much info as possible. Talk to me as if I have no car experience

 

no one has anything??

 

I think Edelbrock and Flowmaster have the most inexpensive ones... Summit racings in-house brand is also pretty cheap. I have borlas but thos suckers are loud if you go with the smallest baffle... and they're expensive, about $700 for the catback and $400 for the reer section only.

I really like the Borla, it's nice and bassy at the low RPMs but absolutely screams at the higher RPMs. Also, the full cat-back has removable baffles so you have a degree of how quiet or loud they are.

 

The Hooker cat-back sounds great and it`s cheap.

 

I had always been told that the Edelbrock, Flowmaster and Hookers weren't great for our cars because there was absolutely no back pressure and they caused a loss in HP and Torque. I dunno, I might be wrong, thats just what I was told.

 

are you replacing the fuel pump yourself? have you considered doing the "access panel" method, much easier....actually im in the middle of swapping in my walbro 255.....it only costs $150 btw
1. loudmouth is a ticket waiting to happen, hooker for the price has the best sound, borla and corsa are great too but pricey $600-700
2. headers.....it all depends, is your car lowered? do you have to worry about emissions?
3. yes, although its easier to do it all at once (thats what i did)
4. www.thunderracing.com should have most everything you need.
5.emissions, $$$$, (you can spend as much as $2000 on your exhaust system), do you plan to mod the car?

hope this help, sorry to answer your questions with questions...

Jesse

 

1. I think Im going to definantly go with hooker
2. Car isnt lowered and emissions isnt a a problem
5. I want as cheap as possible with decent quality products. I guess what I was asking here was what other parts do I need to consider.. I know I'll need over the valve spark wires, but is there anything else if I do headers? I'll need a new Y-Pipe, right?

 

if you want good quality, get ceramic coated headers, i would not go with shorties, you could get a set of RK sport headers they are 1 3/4 primaries ceramic coated and they include the ypipe for around $600, jet hot longtubes are a good product but dont include the ypipe. i think around $800 for coated longtubes and ypipe.

new plugs/wires $100

might as well buy new o2 sensors right? thats $100

you dont want to restrict those headers and catback with a catalytic convertor right? an off road pipe will cost you $100

over the valve cover looms, so you dont burn those new wires $50

as you can see the total adds up quickly

 

You don't need over the valve cover wires. I've had mine in the stock location with headers for years. Never had a problem with burning the wires.

The headers in question also happen to be RK Sport, btw. Pretty decent set up for the $$. The only rust problems I've had are areas where I've scratched or nicked them. Otherwise the coating is holding up fine.

 

On the headers, I have a question.. I know ceramic coating is better, but also a bit more expensive.

Can I do black painted headers and then wrap them in heat shielding? Will this keep enough heat out of the engine compartment?

 

2. headers.....it all depends, is your car lowered?

My car has been lowered - does this mean I am limited to which headers I can run.
I would really like to go with the long tubes if possible?

 

If its lowered, and your looking to get long tubes you should look into ones that hug the frame. Some hang lower than others. I have a couple pictures comparing ground clearance of Hooker LT's and Jet Hot LT's that somebody on this board provided me with, I decided to go with neither of them and get mac midlengths. The Hooker LT's hung alot lower in those pictures, but Ive also read somewhere that they have a newer style that dont hang so low. I might have been misled though. Some people with stock ride height and long tubes bottom out all the time.

 

Well I see you want good product quality for a catback. So I suggest getting a Stainless Steel Catback or you may regret it later. Hooker, Edelbrock and Flowmaster are aluminum which will show wear(rust and such) after time especially in a seasoned environment. Your stock exhaust is SS so why go backwards with quality? From your description you want quality and the best price, plus it never hurts to have good performance either. So here is my analysis for you:

Best bang for the buck quality/performance

1. Magnaflow catback: All Stainless Steel construction and is also a great performing system which will not be to loud for highway crusing but will give your car attitude with some applied pressure to the gas pedal without sounding obsene. Cost: less than $300 at the right place. (I think they were selling on Ebay for 280 Make a search for it on here) (someone dyno'd a Magnaflow cat back with the SLP CAI and gained 26rwhp) This was my second choice to GMMG but I got a great deal on a used one so went for the GMMG which is heavenly.

2. Mac Headers: 1 5/8 primarys which will support up to 350rwhp these midlengths will stay in pristene condition unless you are in a seasoned area (get them coated if you are) Midlegth headers with y-pipe include for no additional cost. Off-road pipe costs $85 and eliminates the cat. Quoted by company to give 28 rwhp gain to your LT1 (slightly generous in my opinion maybe closer to mid/low 20's) Cost: $400 at the right place $550 all parts coated add $85 for the off-road pipe if you want to lose the cat. Easy install and supposedly the best plug access.

Now you could spend $800 on just long tubes and y pipe or you can spend less than $700 on your whole exhaust... It is up to you but I can tell you after months of research this is what I would do and what I would have done if I had not found a barely used GMMG for almost half the price new. Trust me on this one you'll like it. Although I recommend LT's if you plan on getting into ported and polished heads and a cam.

Also do a search on these two items and find out what other owners think about these and what they have compared to these... Trust me it will help a ton. If you have any questions just PM me and Ill get back to you. Hope this helps Good Luck and pick what YOU want not what others want you too. This is just what I would do based on my research.

I also have sound clips of many exhausts so if you want some just specify which in a PM with an email.

Dustin