Learn me: getting custom exhaust.

I don't weld. I know how, but i suck. I don't own a welder either. I have a buddy that welds, but he's swamped this summer. I need exhaust done for the 1uzfe. It'll be 2 1/4". I was thinking about side exit exhaust that terminate behind the front seats for now, and maybe an x-pipe in between. No cats. No muffs. (For now)

My other option is a local exhaust shop. about how much does this run?

Eventual goal might be x-pipe to single outlet in the rear of the car, but it all depends on how the side exit exhaust sounds.

1985 celica.

Following this because our rallyx car needs a mid-pipe.

My previous experience with exhaust shops is: their work is extremely E36 M3ty, unless its a higher end shop, in which case its extremely expensive.

would be nice to find a middleground.

I might end up buying a chop saw and doing it myself

I'd buy some straight pipe, mandrel bends, band clamps and hangers and put it together yourself.

If you like it sans mufflers (everyone else will hate it, so thanks for being "that guy") and side exit, then you can take your time to find a good shop to take it to (Exhaust Specialties in Portland is good) or make changes to it if you need to before committing to having it welded.

http://mandrelbends.com is a local company that makes excellent parts, check them out.

Alot of modern exhaust shops wont straightpipe cars. Cat deletes are a big fine if caught doing it on street cars. Might want to make sure you can even find a local shop willing to do what you want.

Timely subject, I'm in for answers.

That was my idea here, I simply want to try it without muffler so I can hear what it sounds like, and if it sounds like ass, which it likely will, then I will put mufflers on the ends. We have a company down here called custom exhaust specialties. I'll call them

It will sound like ass and you will hate it. It's awesome when it's idling, maybe. But as soon as you touch the pedal it becomes annoying. Been there, done that too many times. I should know better by now.

The 1UZ sounds great with just a pair of resonators on the dual exhaust. Without the resonators it's probably too coarse sounding.

With the caveat that I have only driven a car with that engine and that exhaust on track where exhaust noise is less grating. But I really enjoyed the sound of it.

I've put together an exhaust system by buying a couple 180 mandrel bends (to cut to your desired angle) and some straight pipe. It's easy to weld, but you can also clamp most of the joints. What I did was use a tailpipe expander to make the pipes slip together and then welded it - that way the weld wasn't as critical since it had an overlap to the joint.

Most run of the mill exhaust shops are just going to use a crush bender to make a custom exhaust. But if you talk to them about what you want they might be able to weld something up using off the shelf mandrel bent pieces, just be clear about what you want. I wouldn't want a crush bent exhaust on my car.

Re crush bent exhaust:

Has anyone done side to side comparisons with mandrel bends? I know we all expect mandrel bends to significantly outperform crush, but then I think about the hot rod magazine engine masters YouTube video that dented the absolute crap out of a set of headers and barely saw any performance loss.

In reply to Robbie:

Quick, somebody email that to hot rod magazine!

The flow advantage of mandrel bends over crush bends isn't that much. When I was specifying my exhaust, I remember calculating that the restriction in a 2.5" crush bent exhaust was about the same as in a 2.25" mandrel bent exhaust. There are also tiny losses associated with velocity changes at every corner of a crush-bent exhaust if you really want to nitpick.

The price of a mandrel-bent exhaust is much higher though. You first have to pay for the bend sections, and then you need to pay for waaay more welding.

Anyone have any recommendations for the following?

-Source for cheap v-band clamps?
-Best bang for the buck resonator that will maintain power and last a long time?
-Flex joint that does not suck?

I've built an exhaust from straight sections and mandrel bends before. It was pretty inexpensive. However, that was a car that was a very straight exhaust very easy to do bends. I'm worried the current car I may be doing has some very fine bends (presumably of a gigantic radius) along an almost-straight section. Those could be a pain.

Dynomax, Hooker and Magnaflow are good bang-for-buck brands for straight-through glasspack mufflers and resonators. Magnaflow will kill more noise and last longer (due to SS packing around the tube) but is a bit more expensive (and heavy).

Don't cheap out on V-band clamps unless you like leaks and/or testing just how much tension they can take in the pursuit of stopping leaks.

It wasn't so much the flow loss but the very presence of stuff like this in my exhaust that would bug me.

Ugh.

Not having enough money to even talk about v bands or paying a shop I have always bought summit racing brand u bends and slip fit everything ... Cats, resonators, cutouts (never bought a muffler and...Before I dropped the $300 for the oxy ace rig and learned to make metal stick together).

I would buy one U bolt clamp and crank it down, turn crank down on all of the overlap slip fit tubes. Where two segments of the same size tube butt up with no slip fit I used a collar connector from and auto parts store. Then cut I the sleeve up and used it in two spots.

Even if you wanted it shop welded you could mock all of it up then drive to budget muffler and get the hack to zap away.

GameboyRMH wrote: Don't cheap out on V-band clamps unless you like leaks and/or testing just how much tension they can take in the pursuit of stopping leaks.

Recommended brand?

Almost anything has to be better than the factory style on the Sentra... once you get an aftermarket junky ebay header, it'll never seal.

dculberson wrote: It wasn't so much the flow loss but the very presence of stuff like this in my exhaust that would bug me. Ugh.

That sure is ugly. The crush bends in my exhaust look like this:

ProDarwin wrote:

GameboyRMH wrote: Don't cheap out on V-band clamps unless you like leaks and/or testing just how much tension they can take in the pursuit of stopping leaks.

Recommended brand?

I'd recommend Vibrant or Burns.

Jere wrote: Not having enough money to even talk about v bands or paying a shop I have always bought summit racing brand u bends and slip fit everything ... Cats, resonators, cutouts (never bought a muffler and...Before I dropped the $300 for the oxy ace rig and learned to make metal stick together). I would buy one U bolt clamp and crank it down, turn crank down on all of the overlap slip fit tubes. Where two segments of the same size tube butt up with no slip fit I used a collar connector from and auto parts store. Then cut I the sleeve up and used it in two spots. Even if you wanted it shop welded you could mock all of it up then drive to budget muffler and get the hack to zap away.

Pretty much what I did here. "Bag of bones" from Jegs that slip together and a bunch of band clamps held it together so that it could be welded off the car. You can make it in sections and have a friend do the welding bit-by bit as required. Just draw index lines across the tubes to keep the relation when you go to the bench.

So, does it matter where the muffler goes in the exhaust stream? Does it's location effect anything?

Trackmouse wrote: So, does it matter where the muffler goes in the exhaust stream? Does it's location effect anything?

As you go further back, the exhaust is cooler / slower (because it's reduced in volume a bit). So the muffler will present slightly less restriction if it's further back (or you can run a quieter / more restrictive muffler and suffer less from it).

Mufflers closer to the engine kill more noise but also present more restriction.

Also, keep the pipe length from the exit of the last muffler to the exhaust tip low to avoid increasing noise for no gain.

GameboyRMH wrote: Also, keep the pipe length from the exit of the last muffler to the exhaust tip low to avoid increasing noise for no gain.

That's an interesting one... What's the theory behind it?

rslifkin wrote:

GameboyRMH wrote: Also, keep the pipe length from the exit of the last muffler to the exhaust tip low to avoid increasing noise for no gain.

That's an interesting one... What's the theory behind it?

think of it like a brass instrument

GameboyRMH wrote:

ProDarwin wrote:

GameboyRMH wrote: Don't cheap out on V-band clamps unless you like leaks and/or testing just how much tension they can take in the pursuit of stopping leaks.

Recommended brand?

I'd recommend Vibrant or Burns.

Woah. How high is the failure rate on the cheapies? Should I try my luck with a $15-20 part before I spend $90 on a single clamp?