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Speed engineering Y pipe with dual cutouts project
Wanted to post some before and after pics of the speed engineering setup.
Here are some pics of the car when I got it:
It had pacesetter long tubes, Y pipe with cutouts, and a borla catback.
Location of cutouts on old setup was very ideal, offering great ground clearance.
The new setup is:
Speed Engineering LS1 Longtube Headers 1 7/8" & Off-Road Y-Pipe
Walker 53061 I pipe
Walker 54064 I pipe
Exhaust Cutouts welded on Y-Pipe - 3 stainless" (10300)
DMH electric cutouts
Magnaflow 14419 resonator in I pipe
Dynomax, Ultra Flo Welded, muffler #17227
CME Exhaust tips and elbows
6ldesigns valence
walker 33272 exhaust clamps (6)
I wanted to have the SLP center mount look, have the car be quiet when the cutouts are closed, loud when open with increased HP. These parts enabled me to do this. Looking at $1650 for the parts, plus the cost to paint and install the valence and to weld the cutouts in place on the new Y pipe.
The following pics show the new setup being installed, prior to installing the cutouts. I will say that the speed engineering headers are excellent quality. The bottom of the headers are parallel to the bottom of the oil filter, giving excellent clearance. Great steering shaft clearance also. The Y pipe had to be trimmed at the end where it meets the I pipe, as it was a bit too long for my setup. I have the MWC tunnel mount torque arm and the double drop cross member. The exhaust where the Y merge is very close to hitting the double drop, and modification was needed to get better clearance and even then, it's still a pretty tight fit. Those with full length torque arms should have no problem or clearance issue like I have.
Next came installation of the cutouts which involves cutting up the Y pipe.
The first attempt at installing the cutouts on this speed engineering Y pipe resulted in very poor ground clearance on the drivers side. I can't even fit a tape measure under the bottom of the cutout... so back to the exhaust shop we go next week. If we can't get the needed clearance, then a single cutout in the I-pipe may be the only option. I think we just need to position the cutouts further down so that they can be rotated upward towards the body of the car. In their current location, there's no room to rotate them higher.
Last edited by 5.7stroker; 10-20-2017 at 05:03 PM.
Cool setup and looks great. Im curious why 2 cutouts instead of 1?
Dyno numbers on some setups that I've seen shows that 2 cutouts picks up 10 more hp, having them right after the long tubes vs having a single cutout in the I-pipe after the Y merge.
When I bought the car, it had 2 cutouts on it already, so I purchased 2 electric cutouts for it as seen in the 5th picture above. With this new speed engineering Y, getting dual cutouts on it has been a royal PITA, resulting in very poor ground clearance as seen in the last pic. Again, this was just a first attempt at welding in the cutouts while also having to deal with the clearance issue of the Y merge near the MWC cross member.
It may come down to having just a single cutout just after the Y merge if I can't get the new setup to tuck in nicely like the old setup was.
In order to have dual cutouts using the speed engineering Y pipe and get good ground clearance on a lowered car, you would have to make 45 angled cuts into the pipe and weld in your own cutout. You simply cannot buy some QTP cutouts like these and weld them in if your ride height is 27 inches from ground to bottom of fender lip.
I tried to do this and I couldn't even fit a tape measurer under the bottom of the cutout as seen in the pic above.
Because of my ride height, I opted to go with a single cutout after the Y merge. Here's pics of the new setup. I have 3 inches of ground clearance just after the driver side header. So to determine how much ground clearnace you will have, measure the distance from the ground to the inside edge of the wheel well as seen in the pics below, and subtract that number from 30 inches. Normally only 3 inches would be concern, except the bottom of my MWC double drop cross member isn't any higher so as long as my exhaust doesn't hang lower than the cross member, I'm fine with it and will raise the car up if more clearance is needed. So far, no scraping when pulling into my driveway on this new setup.
We did have to cut the driver side Y pipe in order to make it fit properly into the Y merge as seen here:
The driver side area just after the header collector is going to be the low point on the speed engineering exhaust. The single cutout tucks in nicely. Speed engineering is working on a setup that will have even more ground clearance and this piece we are told will be available in 6 months.
The driver side area just after the header collector is going to be the low point on the speed engineering exhaust. The single cutout tucks in nicely. Speed engineering is working on a setup that will have even more ground clearance and this piece we are told will be available in 6 months.
I just installed the Speed Engineering headers and y pipe today. Very disappointed with the y pipe. The quality of the the headers and y pipe are great. The fit of the headers are great. The fit of the y pipe just stinks. The header/y pipe combo is so close to being a grand slam. What makes the y pipe a fail is the pipe that comes off of the driver side header. It dips down to clear the brace in the floor. You can't dip the pipe down on these cars right there. Its barely off the ground if you do. The proper way to achieve clearance is to flatten out the pipe like the pacesetter y pipe. Also the merge while it is a good merge, it needs to sit higher. The pipe coming from the driver side should angle upwards toward the merge instead of remaining parallel if that makes sense. Take the kooks y pipe for example. It will fit inside of a straight body mount torque arm brace. It doesnt need a drop down brace. Its not difficult to do. Im going to probably sell the y pipe and make my own
I just installed the Speed Engineering headers and y pipe today. Very disappointed with the y pipe. The quality of the the headers and y pipe are great. The fit of the headers are great. The fit of the y pipe just stinks. The header/y pipe combo is so close to being a grand slam. What makes the y pipe a fail is the pipe that comes off of the driver side header. It dips down to clear the brace in the floor. You can't dip the pipe down on these cars right there. Its barely off the ground if you do. The proper way to achieve clearance is to flatten out the pipe like the pacesetter y pipe. Also the merge while it is a good merge, it needs to sit higher. The pipe coming from the driver side should angle upwards toward the merge instead of remaining parallel if that makes sense. Take the kooks y pipe for example. It will fit inside of a straight body mount torque arm brace. It doesnt need a drop down brace. Its not difficult to do. Im going to probably sell the y pipe and make my own
Agree with all of this. Speed engineering needs to push the merge toward the front of the car and flatten out the pipe like the pacesetter Y.
The 2 cutouts make more power than 1 because you're running two 3" pipes into one 3" pipe then putting a cutout on it. You should have done dual 3" merge into 4" pipe with a cutout and then reduced the 4" pipe into your 3" axle back.
Then you would be dumping about the same as if you did 2 cutouts on each individual pipe
For the complaints about the Y pipe dropping under the frame, almost all low cost y pipes do that, take it off and have and exhaust shop heat the pipe and squish it down (nicely so it retains it's surface area and flow). Or cut a notch in the body and brace it with sheet steel. There's several easy options here.
Or find a 3" pipe that ovals and have it installed..
The 2 cutouts make more power than 1 because you're running two 3" pipes into one 3" pipe then putting a cutout on it. You should have done dual 3" merge into 4" pipe with a cutout and then reduced the 4" pipe into your 3" axle back.
Then you would be dumping about the same as if you did 2 cutouts on each individual pipe
For the complaints about the Y pipe dropping under the frame, almost all low cost y pipes do that, take it off and have and exhaust shop heat the pipe and squish it down (nicely so it retains it's surface area and flow). Or cut a notch in the body and brace it with sheet steel. There's several easy options here.
Or find a 3" pipe that ovals and have it installed..
A custom made Y with dual cutouts such that you don't need a drop down cross member is the way to go. Not sure why no vendors sell dual cutout Y pipes with good merges and good ground clearance anymore. A good merge eliminates the rasp when the cutouts are closed.
Last edited by 5.7stroker; 11-06-2017 at 07:51 PM.
The 2 cutouts make more power than 1 because you're running two 3" pipes into one 3" pipe then putting a cutout on it. You should have done dual 3" merge into 4" pipe with a cutout and then reduced the 4" pipe into your 3" axle back.
Then you would be dumping about the same as if you did 2 cutouts on each individual pipe
For the complaints about the Y pipe dropping under the frame, almost all low cost y pipes do that, take it off and have and exhaust shop heat the pipe and squish it down (nicely so it retains it's surface area and flow). Or cut a notch in the body and brace it with sheet steel. There's several easy options here.
Or find a 3" pipe that ovals and have it installed..
it would have been so easy to design it like that. When starting from a clean slate why not design it that way? If you notice the driver side section from the header to the x on their dual system you can see they designed it that way.
I can fix it myself. I have built dozens of exhaust systems for these cars. Duals and y pipe setups. The reason I bought the y pipe is the price I thought made it not worth my while to build. Guess I was wrong. I will probably just sell it and make my own.
A custom made Y with dual cutouts such that you don't need a drop down cross member is the way to go. Not sure why no vendors sell dual cutout Y pipes with good merges and good ground clearance anymore. A good merge eliminates the rasp when the cutouts are closed.
On your car, since you couldn't do 2 cut outs, you should have done 1 4" to get the flow you wanted out of the 2 that you didn't put on it
I have no idea why you typed that above. I was offering a solution for you for not being able to use 2 cutouts. I wasn't referring to what is good and what isn't, we can talk about that all day. What the "way to go" is is to have a good enough exhaust system that you don't need cut outs. The speed engineering duals would get you that. And also goes with my next point.
Vendors don't sell them (high end y pipes with cutouts and high end bad *** merges) because they aren't in high demand. There aren't enough people out there seeking high end y pipes for nearly 20 year old camaros. And there are even less that want a Y pipe with cut out attachments built on. Most prefer to buy the pipe cheap and opt to put 1 cutout on the car. Or they buy exhaust that flows good enough that it doesn't need a cutout.
I have no problem with 4th gen cars, I love them, but from a company standpoint, they could make more money putting their efforts elsewhere.
On your car, since you couldn't do 2 cut outs, you should have done 1 4" to get the flow you wanted out of the 2 that you didn't put on it
I had 2 electric cutouts originally on a modded pacesetter Y, but that's because the Y pipe was designed with good clearance to be able to have cutouts on it. I switched to the speed engineering headers and got their Y pipe because the Y pipe was cheap. I can still do 2 cutouts, it just needs to be a different Y pipe or completely custom to get the ground clearance I'm looking for. I'm using an electric electric cutout that is 3" so going after the Y into a 4" and then reducing to a 3" after the cutout isn't possible unless I bought a new 4" electric cutout. I was trying to use what I had.
Originally Posted by 00pooterSS
I have no idea why you typed that above. I was offering a solution for you for not being able to use 2 cutouts. I wasn't referring to what is good and what isn't, we can talk about that all day. What the "way to go" is is to have a good enough exhaust system that you don't need cut outs. The speed engineering duals would get you that. And also goes with my next point.
That's "one" way to go but not what I'm looking for. I'm wanting my exhaust to be quiet as possible when cruising around with cutout/s closed. A speed engineering true dual setup (or any for that matter) would be louder than I'm wanting. Also the speed engineering duals don't offer the best ground clearance. They are redesigning it for better clearance. ETA is 6 months.
Originally Posted by 00pooterSS
Vendors don't sell them (high end y pipes with cutouts and high end bad *** merges) because they aren't in high demand. There aren't enough people out there seeking high end y pipes for nearly 20 year old camaros. And there are even less that want a Y pipe with cut out attachments built on. Most prefer to buy the pipe cheap and opt to put 1 cutout on the car. Or they buy exhaust that flows good enough that it doesn't need a cutout.
I was looking on ws6store. There's a selection of over 25 different Y pipes from various vendors for nearly 20 year old camaros. All these options, but the solution I'm looking requires a custom Y pipe. Demand certainly is low for this type of setup, probably why the the QTP Y pipe with dual cutouts so it's no longer made. Why the demand is low I don't know.
Last edited by 5.7stroker; 11-06-2017 at 08:59 PM.
it would have been so easy to design it like that. When starting from a clean slate why not design it that way? If you notice the driver side section from the header to the x on their dual system you can see they designed it that way.
I can fix it myself. I have built dozens of exhaust systems for these cars. Duals and y pipe setups. The reason I bought the y pipe is the price I thought made it not worth my while to build. Guess I was wrong. I will probably just sell it and make my own.
What are your thoughts on a custom stainless Y pipe with 3" dual cutouts on it done properly for good clearance with a Y merge that is moved closer to the front of the car so that a double drop cross member doesn't have to be used? Think similar to the pacesetter Y, but stainless with the custom cutouts welded in like my original setup. Then after the merge past the cross member, going with a resonator in the I-pipe and resonators after the muffler on a CME type setup like I have? That would be very quiet cruising around, until it's time to press the button that opens up the cutouts.
I had 2 electric cutouts originally on a modded pacesetter Y, but that's because the Y pipe was designed with good clearance to be able to have cutouts on it. I switched to the speed engineering headers and got their Y pipe because the Y pipe was cheap. I can still do 2 cutouts, it just needs to be a different Y pipe or completely custom to get the ground clearance I'm looking for. I'm using an electric electric cutout that is 3" so going after the Y into a 4" and then reducing to a 3" after the cutout isn't possible unless I bought a new 4" electric cutout. I was trying to use what I had.
That's "one" way to go but not what I'm looking for. I'm wanting my exhaust to be quiet as possible when cruising around with cutout/s closed. A speed engineering true dual setup (or any for that matter) would be louder than I'm wanting. Also the speed engineering duals don't offer the best ground clearance. They are redesigning it for better clearance. ETA is 6 months.
I was looking on ws6store. There's a selection of over 25 different Y pipes from various vendors for nearly 20 year old camaros. All these options, but the solution I'm looking requires a custom Y pipe. Demand certainly is low for this type of setup, probably why the the QTP Y pipe with dual cutouts so it's no longer made. Why the demand is low I don't know.
I hear ya on reusing what you got and wanting quiet exhaust. Now I understand a little more. If you want the high flow in the future, check out the flow master dual 3" to 4" Y and sell your 2 cutouts to help fund the one.
What are your thoughts on a custom stainless Y pipe with 3" dual cutouts on it done properly for good clearance with a Y merge that is moved closer to the front of the car so that a double drop cross member doesn't have to be used? Think similar to the pacesetter Y, but stainless with the custom cutouts welded in like my original setup. Then after the merge past the cross member, going with a resonator in the I-pipe and resonators after the muffler on a CME type setup like I have? That would be very quiet cruising around, until it's time to press the button that opens up the cutouts.
If I'm being honest I think the better option would be a good fitting stainless y pipe that does "not" drop down off of the driver header and the driver side pipe has flattened areas where needed on driver side and the pipes angles upward toward the merge to position the merge higher. The merge would then have a dual 3" in and single 4" out. I would do a 4" cutout then reduce it back to 3" to connect to the catback. I have already built that y pipe out of aluminized years ago.
5.7, that nice *** kooks y pipe will fit inside of a straight tunnel brace and that crappy speed eng y pipe that you and I have will barely squeeze into a drop down brace. Thats pretty sad
If I'm being honest I think the better option would be a good fitting stainless y pipe that does "not" drop down off of the driver header and the driver side pipe has flattened areas where needed on driver side and the pipes angles upward toward the merge to position the merge higher. The merge would then have a dual 3" in and single 4" out. I would do a 4" cutout then reduce it back to 3" to connect to the catback. I have already built that y pipe out of aluminized years ago.
This but with a 4" outlet
Looks like the ARH Y-Pipe. They will do a 4" outlet same price as the 2.75" stock outlet.
10-20-2017, 04:22 PM
Speed engineering Y pipe with dual cutouts project 
