i've had my headers in the box for around two months now, and all i'm running into are problems...

first off, i placed an order with speed inc. for O2 extensions, header gaskets, plugs/wires and AIR blockoff plates two weeks ago, but they haven't even shipped yet. they are all out of O2 extensions, and they think they might get them in next week. at that point, they can actually ship the order

but that's not even the real problem. i wanted to get custom TD's rigged up for my car, and i went to the exhaust shop today to talk it over with the guy. the guy that owns the shop is my friend's brother. he's the only guy in the area i'd even consider taking my car to for exhaust work because frankly, everyone else sucks. everyone else does bastardized crush bends and gets you out the door as soon as possible. people take their car to see him after they've already had their exhaust screwed up by the other guy.

he refuses to rig TD's for my car. he claims he's screwed around with this stuff before. he put a procharger on an f-body and said he took off the cats. the car made less power than stock. he said it made no boost with the cats off. they swapped the pulley to add more boost and the car made 460 rwhp. he says TD's on my car, or running catless in general, is a very bad idea for my car because it takes away all the backpressure and the car will be slower after TD's than before. he doesn't want to drill any holes in my floorboards either to mount the TD's. i even told him i'd buy a crossover pipe and all he'd have to do is mount it. he won't do it. so i'm kinda stuck, as i'm not driving to north jersey to get TD's put on my car. i'd have no ride home and i have to work. if he doesn't do it, i have absolutely no way of getting TD's on my car

so it seems i have to get a custom y-pipe made. any ideas what route i should go with this? i was thinking of getting 3" cats off the ends of my collectors into a 2.5" y-pipe, then into a 2.5"/3" flowmaster merge. either that or 3" pipe out of the cats, then into a 3"/3.5" flowmaster merge into a 3.5"->3" reducer. which sounds better to you guys?

i'm really not in a good mood right now...i really, really don't want to run a y-pipe....ever....because they all sound like **** compared to TD's with single chambers.

 

well my boy it sounds like this is your turn and your time to do it yourself....

he wont mess with the cats not because of the "boost" or "power" problem, hes just not going to mess with them because shops get closed if they get caught dealing in exhaust without cats...

dont lower your standards because SOMEONE else wont do something for you...

order a dual set from TSP or something and put it on yourself, its not hard and it sounds great....besides anyone saying your car will be slower with duals on it, then a stock system im not sure id take it to them anyway

 

3" pipe out of the cats, then into a 3"/3.5" flowmaster merge into a 3.5"->3" reducer

That's the one I would do. There aren't any sponsors anywhere near you that would fab some duals up for you?

 

^
l
l AMEN BROTHER!

 

Make it yourself. It's not hard. Or just buy the TSP kit, which is easy and sounds awesome.

 

definitely dont give up on duals. your exhaust guy needs to pull his head out of his ***. show him pics, and tell him you dont ******* care if he thinks they wont perform well.

 

Where are you located Taco? I read North Jersey in there somewhere. Take your car to Mufflex.

 

You could always bring him some Hi-Flow cats and the x-over pipe.... I understand why shops don't want to do catless exhaust stuff since it is against the law, but to tell you he won't do it because you'll "lose power" is just rediculous.

 

I got a friend that puts his cats on once a year for inspections. Then he takes them off and puts in a short pipe in their place. However another friend of mine has the TSP true duels/sweet thunders and it has good ground clearance and sounds good.

 

The exhaust guy is definitely a dumbass. I suppose Top fuel dragsters run cats in order to make more power.

 

lol, not even close. none of the cars he has or his two brothers have have cats. he's pretty adamant about not running cats on their cars. he just swears up and down that newer cars like mine won't run right without them. i told him i wanted to buy cats anyway, but he said they're not restrictive enough. it has nothing to do with him "getting caught." half the cars he works on have illegal exhaust setups.

well, he's pretty much my only option at this point. i have no other way of getting the job done. there aren't any good exhaust shops i know of in my area, i live 20 minutes from ******* atco raceway. i don't understand how there are no good exhaust shops around atco.

i can't drive too far from my house because i won't have a ride home. besides, this is my daily driver - and i need to drive it for my job. i'm just out of options.

the last thing i'd run is the TSP system. i don't want a 3" exhaust, i don't want an X-pipe and i don't like how any of those mufflers sound. the only sound i like on these cars is one chambers, and i'm fucked with them.

 

the nearest sponsor to my house is at the very least two hours away. that means i have no ride home.

 

i did show him pics. he just won't do it. i tried convincing him for almost an hour. that was a waste of time and gas.
i would love to go to mufflex. problem is, it's two hours from my house. i live in south jersey and there's not a sponsor within 100 miles of my house.
he just won't do it. i DO want to run cats. nothing i could say would convince him. this isn't just some "shop." it's a guy i've known for many years that happens to own an exhaust shop. it has nothing to do with catless setups because he makes them all the time without cats. he just refuses to do duals on my car. i even told him to just dump them and i'll get someone else to run them over the axle. he just won't do it.
i did bring him pics. he still didn't want to do it. the problem is, he's just like his father. he's very stubborn, and once he gets an idea in his head, he won't back down. he's kind of like me, except about ten times worse.

i dont mean to come off as a dick. i'm just very upset right now with the whole situation. if anyone knows of a good exhaust shop in the hammonton/atco area in south jersey, PM me it. i couldn't care less who does it as long as they do a good job and it's close to me so i can get a ride home.

 

There have been guys on the board who ditched their TD's because they just didn't like them. A friend of mine did. With LT's and no cats, the car lost a lot of low end part throttle torque. Maybe there was more on the top end at WOT, but it felt like a dog around town. Then there was the noise. Even though he went over the axle, first with bullets, and then managed to squeeze FM 40's in there, it gave him a headache. And this is a guy who likes it louder than I can take. He went to an ORY and catback and hasn't looked back.

You don't need cats, but you need good velocity. I like your Plan B. It will work well at your power level. I'm going to do a 2.5" catted Y into a 2.5/3" FM merge to my GMMG. I think this system will achieve that with neckdowns but no major bottlenecks.

I honestly think you'll be happier in the long run with this system than with TD's - although lots of guys will disagree.

 

I dont personally think the true dual set ups sound better.

 

my duals have better sound quality than any of the 6 y pipe setups ive ran. my only concern would be the single chambers being just too damn loud

 

Dude... MUFFLEX. Well worth the drive, they do badass work. I know exactly the type of person this guy is whom you are describing, it's frustrating, I know I drove 1.5hrs to Mufflex when I had my LT1, my friend went back with his LT1, and I'll go there again when (not IF) I have to run my duals out the back.

 

Can't you take off work one day and just hang out at the shop while Mufflex does the work? Maybe a Saturday?

 

regardless of what you choose, putting it on yourself is always an option.....**** if i did it with the bare *** tools i had at the time anyone should be able to do it

 

You need to take a vacation day and drive to a shop that will do what you want, one that already has done duals before. Call them and make a appointment with the same guys that has done it before. A 2hr. drive is nothing. I live in a small town and have to drive to get anything I want. When I want to get my car tuned, I will have to drive to 1.5 hrs to a chicago suburb. Plus you will get to lisen to your new duals on the way back.