exhausts are confusing,.....

[zappy65]

hey guys i went to the exhaust shop today and asked for prices on well exhausts. wen i told the guy that mine didnt have a cat on it he scuffed tindled his thumbs and said that cant be right...i then persisted by telling him that the 89 to 91 didnt have a cat...he said it was ilegal and said it would cost $1100 for the whole exhaust mild steel with a cat...is this weird or am i mistaken by saying my car doesnt have a cat...(1989 Mazda 323 BG 1.8 DOHC) chers

[project.r.racing]

yes your car does have a cat convertor. i think you are confusing...

[Rupewrecht]

The UK BG Astina GT doesn't have a cat, but anything in australia after 86 will have a cat.

[Dogo]

So regardless of whether it does or doesnt, it should !

are you going to get some extractors put in too ?

[LordWorm]

$1100 seems a bit steap for mild steel cat and back....
source your own bits.....buy your own cat converter, muffler and so forth, and just essentially pay to have it made up.

Do some shopping around too - see who's going to give you the best deal...and know what you want to get....otherwise you'll end up with something you'll never be happy with.

[zappy65]

ah i c ...yesyes i alsways was confused...anyways i also thought $1100 was a bit steap so i went to CES exhausts which i heard were really good and they were except for their prices..$1650 for a mild steel exhaust consisting of headers, a flex bend and hi flow cat, resonator,ss muffler all in 2 and a half inch...he also said the extrators for my car are rare but a brand called hurricane makes them...i then told him it was a BP engine commonly put in the old MX-5 and he said he could make one in shop....

[chicaboo]

ah i c ...yesyes i alsways was confused...anyways i also thought $1100 was a bit steap so i went to CES exhausts which i heard were really good and they were except for their prices..$1650 for a mild steel exhaust consisting of headers, a flex bend and hi flow cat, resonator,ss muffler all in 2 and a half inch...he also said the extrators for my car are rare but a brand called hurricane makes them...i then told him it was a BP engine commonly put in the old MX-5 and he said he could make one in shop....John, I know that $1650 sounds alot, but that's very cheap if Trevor's doing the work, and it should beat any off-the-shelf items you'd ever see! I'm not crazy about the 2.5" pipe though... Oh well, Trevor knows best? :rolleyes:

[zappy65]

well the problem i have is eventually i wan to turbo my existing engine or get a turbo half cut but dont want to overlap or go over the expense of getting a second exhaust...and who's trevor i know a guy named craig at CES and that price was mates rates...he also said that it would give at least 20kw more...
Anyone with a BG....how much did your exhaust cost?, did you get extractors, and where...?

[zappy65]

buying all the stuff myself is definetly an option cause i have a hoist available but if something were to go wrong well id be pist...oh and can anybody explain in detail wat cat back is....

[LordWorm]

Trevor *is* CES... australia's answer to the guys over at burns stainless. Dead set the best stuff you can buy and he knows its the best....you pay for it but i've never heard of anyone disappointed with teh work that comes out of his shop (whereas every other shop you hear of little niggles on almost every job).

When buying stuff yourself, you just buy a muffler, a cat, a resonator, a bunch of flanges and flange gaskets, and goto an exhaust shop, and say "add this stuff ato a 2.5in pipe and put it on my car"...

the most expensive parts of an exhaust system are the cat and mufflers.....if you can get those cheaper by sourcing them yourself (you almost always can get them cheaper if you look around), you'll save yourself a whole pile of coin.

[zappy65]

LORDWORM-awesome personally do you agree with what i want to do with the exhaust (read post above) with the whole turbo thng....the only thinn is i dont know how long i do plan on a big project with this car 6 years maybe...what would you recommend 2 1/4 now and get a bigger one in say 2 years when i finally turbo it or save myself the pain and get the 2 1/2 now also what cat and muffler would you suggest ...what is a cat back???

[chicaboo]

Don't put an exhaust on the car to suit something you won't do for several years...

[zappy65]

now that i think about it id rather get the 2 1/4 now thanks chicababy lol but can someone plz tell me what a cat back is...???

[chicaboo]

can someone plz tell me what a cat back is...???The portion of the exhaust that's after the catalytic convertor. The cat is part of what is usually called the mid-pipe.

[zappy65]

does anyone know personally how good a ultra flow lukey is?

[project.r.racing]

i think you need to get of the forums and ask other workshops for advice. both your quoted prices are very high for each exhaust.

rare extractors??? WTF??? there are 6 different companies that make them for a BP FWD engined car. i'd say do some more research into your own car then go shopping.

[zappy65]

what companies?....im just really confused because everybody says different things and theres just so many choices....

[chicaboo]

Zetti = LOUD like Satan's fart on a metal seat in hell.
Magnaflow = Bit noisy but liveable with a very nice smooth deep tone (one of my favourites).
XForce = Less noisy but the tone isn't anything particular or objectionable (another favourite).
Genie = Bit noisy and quite farty without appropriate intake mods, but sounds nice on over-run and at high revs.

[LordWorm]

Regarding size: if trevors boys have told you 2.5in is what you need for what you plan to do NA, they know their stuff. In the short term you'll be overaspirated and very tiresome at low RPM - but once all the supporting mods come on, it will definantly come into its own. Mind you, if you told them that you "plan" on doing things you never plan to do, they would have overestimated how big you need to go. From memory 2.25in will "flow" to around 200 flywheel horsepower before it starts becoming a restriction, and 2.5in will flow well beyond anything you are likely to make NA from a small cube 4cyl motor. So you go 2.5in if you plan on exceeding 200 flywheel horsepower to prevent the pipe from being a restriction to the system.

Regarding cost... CES are very expensive, but from all accounts worth it.

Cheaper places include Rob Bliss, Cut price mufflers, right price exhaust and so on. the quality of their work varys and you will hear different stories from different people. Your best bet with anyone appart from CES is to know *exactly* what you want to get and tell them what to do, instead of letting them tell you what they think you need to do.


mufflers: if you like cannons, xforce make a nice resonatored tip cannon which i've heard on a car which previously needed a silencer to stop shattering your ear drums.....since getting the resonatored tip cannon, its quite fine driving around unsilenced.

cats: just get a cheap high flow cat. The majority of them all come out of the same place and in many cases you are paying for brand names.

[zappy65]

chers chicaboo, i checked out the magnaflow and it looks good enough

[zappy65]

could i possibly get one of these from B3M??

[LordWorm]

could i possibly get one of these from B3M??

yeah we can hook you up with a muffler (anything xforce or zetti), cat, flanges, flange gaskets, flex joins and even pipe if you wanted to go that far. send me a pm and we'll have a chat about it....

[Dogo]

Im very happy with my Magnaflow ( east/west, dual exit ) muffler - the sound is great.

[zappy65]

how much didi it set you back DOGO
Awesome Lordworm but i will need you talk walk me through what i need atm im looking for a muffler, resonator and cat

[chicaboo]

I've come to learn that resonators are a waste of time! Just get a small in-line muffler. My TX3 has 2 in-line mufflers, a small one and a large one, no resonator. I won't be putting a resonator on any future exhausts either...

[twilightprotege]

yeah but that's turbo too

[chicaboo]

Been thinking of trying it on the SPOS18 too...

[LordWorm]

a resonators use is dubious...usually they are "tuned" to cut certain frequencies.....where as muffler is like throwing a blanket over the noise...

a correctly "tuned" resonator could certainly work...but they are mass produced items that don't work in all cases all the time

2 inline mufflers is the way i'm going with the protege... both big cannons...the one in the middle will be an uber big cannon, then my 6in body 4in tip cannon out the back...

[Dogo]

how much didi it set you back DOGO

no idea - I try not to notice ;)

[zappy65]

lol what would happen if i were to only have a extractor cat and muffler in the setup..

[LordWorm]

lol what would happen if i were to only have a extractor cat and muffler in the setup..

depends on the muffler but generally quite loud, and very farty.
just put a second (biggest you can fit) muffler inline to wipe the most of the sound out, and a muffler with a nice growl up back, done and done.

[platypus]

well it cost me $1100 for a BJ-I, ZM engined headers, cat, flex pipe, lukey sports exhaust and a cute chrome tip in mild steel installed...

actually thats a slight lie... i installed the headers, then ran to the nearest exhaust shop and got them to finish the pipe work, as the headers relocated the flange positions...
so 1600 including full install isn't cheap, but 1300 wouldn't be too far off

[Clarky_BA]

Zappy, I have the ultra flow lukey and it drones so loud I have to put ear muffs on my little girl when she comes for a ride. Very annoying in the cabin, awesome outside, DONT DO IT...

[zappy65]

awesome,....lol well ill PM lordworm and see about prices for magna flow rear muffler a hi flow cat and some extractors...oh and that lil imd muffler too....