"Exhausting" Options: Grassroots Motorsports forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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Nov. 2, 2011 9:47 p.m. CarKid1989 Dork
My Saturn needs an exhaust. Ill need something cat-back. I want stainless steel for rust prevention up in the sweet salty north. Getting an OEM stainless exhaust is stupid expensive so that is out.

So I have three options:
- Buy SS exhaust piping and take to a muffler shop that will bend it up like the stock one
- Buy an OBX cat back. 200 some odd bucks. Not horrible, but sounds a little ricey.
- Build my own cat back out of pre-bent SS sections/tubing/bends. I have a MIG but never really built an exhaust.
Thoughts?
Nov. 2, 2011 9:51 p.m. Zomby woof SuperDork

Get price from shop.

Compare price to OBX system + proper muffler/glasspack to quiet it down.

Save money.
Nov. 3, 2011 1:30 a.m. Travis_K SuperDork
CarKid1989 wrote:
- Buy SS exhaust piping and take to a muffler shop that will bend it up like the stock one
i dont see a muffler shop doing work comparable to stock. On my sisters jetta they didnt have the equipment to bend it well enough to not rattle on the floor, idk if the saturn is easier, but I always prefer premade stuff if something of decent quality can be had.
Nov. 3, 2011 1:36 p.m. CarKid1989 Dork

Rainbow muffler quoted me $600 for a hand bent SS cat back with AP muffler. Said unless i get a OEM muffler there are not many full stainless mufflers so thats why he suggested the AP one.

$600. Oh.

Called another small shop that did some work for my boss a few years back and he said he does not do stainless nor will he bend stainless if i supplied it.

Sooo now what
Nov. 3, 2011 4:46 p.m. Travis_K SuperDork

Stainless exhaust is usually a lot more than $600, if they will do a nice job that would be a good deal. I paid about $450 for a pre built mild steel cat back on my Milano.
Nov. 3, 2011 5:42 p.m. ProDarwin Dork

Its not easy to bend an exhaust over the rear crossmember of a Saturn without it rattling, FYI.

Welding in a different glasspack on the OBX isn't a terrible option. I really do not like the fitment of that exhaust on the late-gen cars. I don't know if they "reverse engineered" or copied the TR&D, but it's almost identical bend-wise. If you want to quiet it down a bunch, change the muffler instead of the glasspack. OBX, TR&D, etc. are all straight-thru designs. Put a "turbo" muffler on there and you'll have the car sounding like a vacuum cleaner in no time :)
Nov. 3, 2011 5:48 p.m. Zomby woof SuperDork

I meant adding a glasspack to the OBX system to take a little bit of the bark out of it. I've had a lot of custom exhausts done, and I wouldn't pay more for SS. I've never had an aluminized one rust on me in 25 years.
Nov. 4, 2011 10:02 a.m. AngryCorvair SuperDork

+1 to aluminized pipe being good enough.

another option is to keep looking at every saturn that shows up in your junkyard. i scored a nice cat-back for the probe gt a few years ago for $25 this way.
Nov. 4, 2011 10:28 a.m. N Sperlo SuperDork

Don't want it to rust? Have someone weld up weld up a system and spray on bed liner.
Nov. 4, 2011 10:29 a.m. HStockSolo Reader

I can recommend avoiding Magnaflow's Saturn offerings.

I would take the OEM exhaust from the junkyard or get the Walker pieces (#56017 above $70 from Rock Auto). The Walker Quiet-Flow muffler I put on my SW2 was decent, and it was basically free after rebate.

I've been using a $24 Cherry Bomb glass pack (#87021) as a side exhaust on my SC2 (just clamped onto the stock pipe after the resonator.) It has held up just fine through several West Michigan winters. It is plowing through the snow on a lake in my avatar picture. It sounds good (definitely loud), but I've heard glass packs might actually rob power, despite being a straight-through design. I keep having problems at the other end of the exhaust. I just worked on it last night.
Nov. 4, 2011 10:33 a.m. N Sperlo SuperDork

HStockSolo wrote:

It sounds good (definitely loud), but I've heard glass packs might actually rob power, despite being a straight-through design.

With a mostly stock vehicle, I wouldn't even worry about it. The issue would be with back pressure, I would assume.
Nov. 4, 2011 10:38 a.m. HStockSolo Reader

Yeah, I've had a lack of mid range torque. The high end feels nothing like a stock Saturn--more like VTEC or turbo. I blame leaks up front and the stock 1995 manifold. Mid range seems a lot better with the 1991 header, but I still have leaks, hence the work last night. I have an autocross tomorrow--V710s are ready. I'm hoping for some sunshine.

One problem was the stock catalytic converter matrix broke up. Once I even saw a piece shoot out the Cherry Bomb and roll smoking off the road. Occasionally a chunk would wedge sideways, which really killed engine performance.
Nov. 4, 2011 4:55 p.m. CarKid1989 Dork

Side exhaust, as simple and appealing as it sounds if probably not gonna happen unless i need a quick temp job till i figure something better.

The OBX is not bad. $250 and see how it sounds then go from there. Im sure i can make or find a generic silencer to stuff in the muffler. So this is a good option.

My brother had a steel replacement exhaust on his saturn and it rusted to bits in a few years.

I would rather spend a bit more upfront and just have it last.

Aluminized will last you think? I live in Ohio. Land of salt and rust remember
Nov. 4, 2011 5:35 p.m. HStockSolo Reader

The Walker muffler is actually stainless, but the resonator section is aluminized. The Magnaflow was supposed to be stainless, but the flex pipe rusted out in under a year. The actual converter is okay.
Nov. 4, 2011 9:57 p.m. 93gsxturbo HalfDork

OBX exhaust, if its too ricey, cut the can muffler off and add an Ultraflow or similar muffler with a stock sized exhaust tip. Quiet with a bit of attitude.

Unfortunately an Ultraflow will cost half of the OBX exhaust.

Other suggestion if you like the sound but hate the looks of the OBX...Paint it black with header paint.
Nov. 5, 2011 11:51 a.m. White_and_Nerdy HalfDork

Get a Dynomax Super Turbo muffler, #17771. Hack your holey stock muffler off behind the rear suspension and clamp/weld the Dynomax on. Add a tip, and you're done for around $50. BTDT on most of my Saturns. It's always the stock muffler that seems to rust out, not the rest of it.