building custom exhaust

[Merz]

Im planning on building a custom exhaust and am thinking of attempting to do it myself. I have a welder and pipe bender, but not a lot of experience with either. I am somewhat mechanically inclined. So i guess the question is, is this something i can do?

The system will consist of:

high flow 2 into 1 magnaflow cat
2.5 inch pipe
magnaflow 1 into 2 muffler.

If i cut off the old cat, will i be able to just weld the new one in place? or will i have to bend new pipes from the headers?

The muffler is 2.5 in, 2.25 out. Will i be able to attach the stock tips to the 2.25 inch pipe?

Thanks

[Yoda3000]

I've been considering doing an exhaust too. I'm no expert either, but I'll look forward to see what these other guys say and how it turns out.

Nice job using the stock tips, I don't think there are any better.

[Merz]

Yea i like the stock tips. and i already have them, so i cant really justify buying new ones. Unless of course the stock ones wont work.

I will post pictures and sound clips when im finished, If i decide to go through with it.

[19svx94]

if flow has anything to do with your plans for exhaust, or at least anything you care about, you have to either modify the stock tips or get new ones, there are tiny pipes going into the tips, i am a huge fan of the stock look and since i didnt want to contradict my 3in catback with tiny tips, i came up with the genius idea of just painting some mild looking tips black with high temp header paint, the stuff is good up to 1200 degrees or something which will never be reached all the way at the tips, and i have never had anyone take a second look at the tips being anything other than stock, until i start the car :D

[black beast]

The exhaust I had built for me, (sorry I can't build stuff) replaces the third cat, with a high flowing one, I have 3in, all the way from the headers and a flex joint right after the big cat, all custom bent, and a smaller muffler (diamiter) as the right hand side of the dual exit was a really sharp bend, so now it is a smother turn. It is again a three inch all the way back and very free flowing.
It sounds great.
I will have my buddy give me the pics he took when he built it.

[Merz]

pics would be nice.

If i cant use the stock tips, i will probably just not have tips for a while, or until i find some cheap ones that i like.

So, does anyone know if i can just cut the old cat out and weld the new one in? Or do i have to bend new pipes from the headers?

Also, should i get rid of the primary cats while im at it? What affect would it have on performance?

[black beast]

Tomorrow I will post pics, the thing sounds awesome, and I got better times, like half seconds, if that, around my street course.
I will post the pics and have him give me a write up of what he did.
ok?:D

[L.O.R.D. SVX]

Has anyone installed some straight through, import style exhaust mufflers on with cats removed and have resonators in it's place, or something like this? If so, how does it sound? Alot of V-6's here sounds really low and smooth with a set up like this.

[SVXRide]

The SVX can definitely benefit from exhaust work. I'd suggest you use the "Search" feature of the Network and check out all of the work done by various members. I think it will save you a lot of time and effort.
-Bill

[subru92svx]

Hey Merz, Yeah the exhaust setup you have in mind is a good idea. It is the exact same one using the same parts that I just had installed on my car. The only problem I ran into is a tinny resonating sound comming from the front of the car right around 3k rpm. I guess its a pretty common problem people run into. Look up the thread "my new custon exhaust sucks...suggestions" the reason for the noise and a way to fix it is explained pretty well. Other than that noise it sounds very nice. I'm gonna have two small resonators installed where the precats used to be to fix the noise on mine. You could also just leave the stock precat pipes left in. Stick with the stock tips to I think they look the best. The shop that did my exhaust just used a tool to widen the hole in the back of the tips to accept 2.25" piping and then welded the tipes to the pipes. I will have to take some pics here soon. Hope this answered some questions.

[Yoda3000]

How restrictive are the stock precats compared to say.. resonators?

Also, i heard that the stock tips are restrictive...

[subru92svx]

I don't really know how restrictive each one is for the exhaust, but I would think the stock precats would be more restrictive then a resonator. A benefit to using resonators is they will not break up in time and maybe end up clogging the main cat like the precats might do. As far as the tips go I've heard they are kind of restrictive to, but unless your planning on building your motor or your going to turbo your car I wouldn't really worry about it. In which case you would probably want a whole new exhaust anyways. I just kept them because they look so good on the car. I searched for awhile and couldn't find a single tip I liked as much as the stock ones.

[Yoda3000]

I just kept them because they look so good on the car. I searched for awhile and couldn't find a single tip I liked as much as the stock ones.

Amen to that. I was just curious, looking to do a minor exhaust upgrade. I just want slightly more from my stock engine. I'll probably get ECUTune Stage 1 too, but that's it. Thanks.

[elninoalex]

I've built about ten different exhaust systems/configurations on an SVX and I'd have to say there is no benefit to messing with the precats, unless they are plugged. It also sounds a lot raspier without them. Of course, with a resonator in its place, it would be sound better. The system that you describe in your first post has been done many times with good results. I think Dayle sells all that stuff. For more exhaust ideas, do a search with my username. And for everything you ever wanted to know about exhaust, do a search on the username 'oab au'.

Stephen