exhaust repair/upgrade help please?
 

Since I've been having a misfire issue, and the car has been running slightly rich since I got it last October, not to mention the rattling baffles in the muffler (according to previous owner) I've decided its time to replace everything from the cat back. Also planning to install the ECUtunes v1.1 as well, so its a good time to upgrade to bigger and better (i.e., 2.5" pipe, etc to *theoretically* increase mpg a bit). Probably a good time to do the cat anyway, seeing as the car has 176k, and I have no clue if it was done or not prior to me owning it.

So the plan is so far to use a planet svx resonator, into a magnaflow 94007 cat converter, then back from the cat to 2 separate cherry bomb glass pack 87522. From there I plan to fab a sort of adapter for the stock exhaust tips to weld onto the glass packs. Going for close to stock look, slightly better flow and sound, and above all no more farkling rattle (its to the point now that it rattles when I close the trunk).

I did talk to svxfiles about this a bit the other afternoon, and it sounds like this is similar to his setup (different mufflers used in mine)...Would still like to get a general consensus from the group on this as well (mainly, has anyone ever used these glass packs before, that kind of stuff).

A pic is worth a thousand words, so pardon my crude MS paint diagram (drawing in paint with a laptop touchpad isn't easy ;) :D)

crude diagram

Edit: I should probably mention I figured out the misfire issue, and the part is on the way, and also that I do plan on replacing the precats in the not so distant future as well (for now I plan to look em over and gut them if necessary) :)

Re: Help me plan my exhaust repair/upgrade please?
 

i had that same setup on my grand am, it worked well but it will be quite loud. if you are fine with that then go with it. it's cheaper than buying the camaro or porche style muffler and will help reduce backpressure. that being said, your converters are still going to be the highest resistance so if you go to 2.5" pipe (good size to do) you may want to get high flow pre cats or cut them out.

Re: Help me plan my exhaust repair/upgrade please?
 

lol, perfect timing :D See my edit below, just posted about the precats as you posted heh

I dont mind the noise, and IIRC Tom mentioned something about the glass packs actually being quieter. I did a similar muffler on my 1.9l 92 Escort, and surprisingly it wasnt too bad (18" cherry bomb on the escort instead of the 12" ones I plan on the SVX was the only difference)

As for back pressure, not so worried about that. From what I'm to understand, reducing the back pressure can actually decrease performance. We were always taught a good rule of thumb when dealing with exhaust upgrades on a naturally aspirated car is to go no more than 1/2 inch larger diameter. I usually stick to that and have never had an issue (and from what I gather, stock on the SVX is 2" diameter pipe)

My issue is more so with the fabrication/assembly kind. Planning to have it all welded in, but I am trying to do this as cheaply as possible parts wise (2 of the glass packs and the cat is $135 with free 2 day shipping) so all I have to do is pay my welder to bend the pipes and weld it up. So its more an issue of will my design work or does it need tweaking? Judging by the exhaust system photos at planet svx' website, it seems correct...anyone have any more input?

Re: Help me plan my exhaust repair/upgrade please?
 

it would be a good time to do pre-cats but you can always add them to the system later knowing that it's ready for them. it will be louder than stock but not as loud as some systems. on my grand am (had the 3.1v6) you could hear me coming a block away. it was actually louder than the setup on my blazer now. twin pipes with one 18" glass pack on each side for a 350. i had to fix it when i gave the car to my sister in law because she had a baby but i thought the sound was good. did a cold air intake at the same time and went from low 20s to high 20s mpg.

Re: Help me plan my exhaust repair/upgrade please?
 

I love the sound of those glass packs :D And for $28 a piece roughly, I won't complain ;)

I'm certain it'll sound better than some of the other cars I've owned. I bought a 92 Eclipse a few years back that the PO put a 3" fart cannon on the back of. We live in the middle of nowhere, and I would come home from work late at night and wake the neighbors up with that thing (all 5 of them stretched over 75 acres of land). Needless to say that car didnt stay with me long :p Plus, I bought a Fiero and got out of DSM's (I'm a sucker for odd ball cars, hence my SVX fetish :rofl: )

What I'm worried about though with my setup is, looking at the pics of the exhaust system from planet SVX, it looks as if the resonator is just upstream of the cat. I found another diagram that shows it in a different location in another thread (the FS thread for the exhaust donuts), so I'm a bit confused as to assembly here...I need a better photo of the exhaust system from directly under the car to see :( I'm not entirely sure how to go about mounting separate pipes running back from the cat into each of the glass packs, since I am eliminating the cross flow stock muffler (god I hate those damn things, the Fiero had the same type :mad: ). That is another goal of this project (and more or less the "upgrade" I mentioned lol)

Re: Help me plan my exhaust repair/upgrade please?
 

the resonator should be behind the cat.

Re: Help me plan my exhaust repair/upgrade please?
 

Hmm...looks like I'll be either doing a resonator delete, keeping the stock resonator, or installing 2 of them (one between the cat and each muffler, which is last resort due to cost).

Most likely option #1 since it's cheapest/free :D Lets wake up the neighbors and set car alarms off lol

Re: Help me plan my exhaust repair/upgrade please?
 

i wouldn't put them all the way down near the mufflers, it's pretty tight back there. i would just delete it since you apparently don't mind the noise. the resonator won't make it any quieter it will just cut down the high tones a little, something glasspacks do as well.

Re: Help me plan my exhaust repair/upgrade please?
 

Thats about what I figured as well. I'd have to measure it, but I believe with the 12" glass packs (and the 18" IIRC resonator), there should be just enough room to fit everything in IF I went with 2 resonators. But at $160 for 2 resonators, that kinda cuts into my precat funds (damn are they expensive lol)...so the delete makes the most sense...

Re: Help me plan my exhaust repair/upgrade please?
 

Come to Reading and take lots of notes and photos. Some of the best exhaust systems will be there for you to see and hear. svxfiles has a lot of experience in this area.

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Re: Help me plan my exhaust repair/upgrade please?
 

Like mine, which svxfiles built for me.

Re: Help me plan my exhaust repair/upgrade please?
 

Come to Reading? I'm already in Reading :D :D :D

Seriously though, I do plan to attend. However I was shooting to get this finished for/before the meet. Guess I should talk to Tom again hehe :p

Re: Help me plan my exhaust repair/upgrade please?
 

http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/atta...1&d=1332664260

http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/atta...1&d=1332664051

http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/atta...1&d=1332664153

Re: Help me plan my exhaust repair/upgrade please?
 

http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/atta...1&d=1332664441

http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/atta...1&d=1332664520

http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/atta...1&d=1332664552




And what this all sounds like put together. Sounds very similar to the black SVX on the left.









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Re: Help me plan my exhaust repair/upgrade please?
 

Nice, those sound pretty bad ass :D Thanks for the photos, that'll make it much easier to plan everything out :) Only difference I can see is the 3rd O2 sensor in your pics (I have a 92, so afaik there are only 2 front ones)