388_stroker

Hey guys, I've been looking to upgrade my exhaust on my 93 Trans Am, and sorta have a plan put together, but I figured I might as well consult the infinite wisdom of the internet first. Just wanted to get opinions/advice/etc. So here's the plan:

-Pacesetter longtubes and ORY
-DMR cutout in place of stock cat
-keep the rest of the stock pipes (behind the cat)
-Hooker Aerochamber muffler and quad tips?

I'm most concerned about what muffler I should get. I really don't mind if it's loud, I'm currently running the car without a muffler at all due to unforseen circumstances and I don't particularly mind the noise. But I would really like a good looking, awesome sounding muffler that I can weld right on to the stock 2.5" muffler inlet, and find some tips/mandrel bends for behind it and make it look good and sexy.
I'm turned off to the idea of paying for a whole catback when I can get basically equivalent sound with running it through the muffler, and I can open the cutout when I feel like waking up the neighbors. I also daily drive the car and have to deal with parking garages, curb driveways, etc so I really don't want to be scraping all the time with some expensive 3.5" pipe catback. Any thoughts/concerns/advice is much appreciated, or if you know of any muffler set up that you think would work for me do let me know! I'll of course post pics once it's all done.

93 Trans Am M6, AC delete, CAI, CC stage 3 clutch, mostly stock otherwise

RamAir95TA

iTrader: (2)

I know you say you aren't interested in doing a full catback but it might actually be cheaper if you picked up something like the Magnaflow or (my favorite) the Hooker Aerochamber catback. Something like that you can do yourself and you won't have to involve a shop for any welding.

Or just go with the Hooker Aerochamber muffler. It's perfect. Here's a link to my 383 running through the Hooker at idle:

388_stroker

That does sound pretty sweet... I also have a welder and a pipe bender and hate the idea of having anyone else work on my baby, so I'll do all the fabricating myself. But I will look into it and weigh the options again... I'm still leaning towards leaving the stock piping and cutting out the cat to weld in my cutout. I'd just weld in the muffler to the inlet as well. I'm assuming you have the whole hooker catback, including the muffler?

RamAir95TA

iTrader: (2)

Yes that's the entire Hooker catback. It's LPP long tubes, ORY, electric cutout in front of the rear axle welded into the Hooker catback. Basically what you're looking to do.

388_stroker

Gotcha. What cutout do you run? I'm looking into DMH (typo in my original post), the consensus seems to be that they know what they're doing.

RamAir95TA

iTrader: (2)

I've been running a (stainless) QTP cutout for 3 years now with no complaints, although I hear the DMH stuff is pretty good too.

Jancorvette

I got a similar setup, Hooker catback with Pacesetters long tube headers and ORY pipe. I love it! Sounds quiet and mellow at idle and nice muscular sound under load. No rasp either, just perfect. Highly recommended.

388_stroker

Nice, I'd love to get a Hooker setup from headers to muffler but unfortunately its just not in the budget. I've heard good things about pacesetters though, and you really cant beat the price. I'm still deciding between the muffler alone and the full catback.

KFtransam

Keep in mind that a lot of guys on here run the "summit brand" headers, which are essentially pacesetters rebadged with the summit name. Could save you a few bucks to put somewhere else in your project

nomoneyz

iTrader: (15)

I would really consider the whole catback. Your really making more work for yourself. The stock pipe is ~2.75", and don't think I've ever seen a 2.75" cutout or muffler. Also the catback isn't what hangs low on these cars its the headers and y pipe.

388_stroker

I know that DMH offers a 2.75 in cutout but you're right, I would probably run into trouble with the muffler.

On another note, does anyone have experience with the black painted long tube headers? The ones I'm looking at
from pacesetter and from summit both have the black finish, and I'm nervous that the paint will look like crap after enough heat cycles compared to the silver ceramic finish. Any thoughts or experiences?

gjohnsonws6

iTrader: (12)

It's just black paint to keep them from rusting on shelf. It will burn right off. Get the coated unless you want bare rusty header pipes. Get a 3 inch cutout. If you want to keep your stock catback go for it. The inlet at the over axle pipe can easily be expanded to 3. Mellow closed and loud if you want it. Or if you are looking for a little more sound with it closed you could install an aftermarket muffler in place of stock since you will have a cutout no need to worry about pipe size and mandrel bends.

RamAir95TA

iTrader: (2)

With any decent amount of street use even ceramic coated headers will rust. The coatings primary purpose is NOT for aesthetics but to retain the heat and keep exhaust velocity up.

If you want the benefits of the ceramic coating AND to keep them looking new I would go with a stainless steel header. Maybe wait for the LPPs to come back out (whenever that might be).