ajrothm

3", stainless steel Mandrel bent sections, cut to fit and welded in along with the rest of the pipe. (Local muffler shop, a buddy of mine) --$380

Dr Gas x pipe--$120
Hooker aerochamber mufflers(summit)--$150
Repro 71' tips(CC), modded by muffler shop for 3" opening.-- $75

Total : $725






All I had to do was drive it to the muffler shop with my box of parts and pick it up 3 days later....

Bob Heine

Folks like me order exhaust systems for a number of reasons.

1. Price - Not sure what you consider inexpensive. I bought a brand new complete Magnaflow 2.5-inch big block stainless exhaust system with x-pipe for less than $450 delivered for my 72 Corvette. Magnaflow (and my local muffler shop) have a list price of $924 plus shipping and installation for that system (Magnaflow 16841). The system is designed to hook up to stock manifolds so I had to make my own adapter pipes. J-bends, flanges and O2 bung came to $74.70 and it was another $114.00 to have Jet-Hot coat them. Less than $650 total.

2. Technology - None of the muffler shops in my area have mandrel bending machines or if they do, don't advertise that fact. With a starting price of $50,000 I would expect the muffler shop to brag about having one.

3. Drivability - I'm in the process of fixing up my C3. It isn't registered and doesn't even have a windshield at the moment. AAA would flatbed it to and from a local shop but I can't find a mandrel-bending shop within 100 miles so the tow gets pricey.

You may have a different mindset than folks like me. You "got the stroker & headers installed in my C3" while I preferred to pull the 454 myself and took it to the machine shop. When they were done I ordered the pistons, rings, bearings, valves, etc. and installed them myself. I then put the engine back in the car, installed a new transmission (I wasn't happy with my own rebuild) and then installed the headers. Now that I'm retired, I enjoy working on my C3 more than driving it (my C4 is my daily driver). Hopefully that will change when the C3 is finished.

To answer your initial question, you are probably the norm and folks like me are the anomaly.

calif phil

Do you have toilets, or do you still use out houses ?[/QUOTE]

Yes we have toilets and electricity is supposed to be coming to our town next year.

Steve439

For me it's pretty simple, I like to do all the work on my cars.
I'd rather spend multiple hours welding up an exhaust than have a shop do one.

dstaley

Add me to the ranks of "do it yourself"ers. I bought the same Magnaflow 2-1/2" stainless mandrel bent X-pipe kit for a '74 big block and cut it up. It took me a week and a half working nights and weekends at a friend's house, cutting each bend, trimming, tacking, and welding with my TIG welder, but once it was done it was built far better than almost any muffler shop will do it due to the attention to detail required. Mine fits and flows better than a 3" crush bent system would even though I had to snake it around a Dragvette driveshaft safety loop and widen it for the rear differential crossmember. I was able to pick & choose the stainless reducer, oxygen sensor bungs (and locate them where I wanted them), get the position of the mufflers exactly right so that I can keep my spare tire if I want, and I got it done for under $500 (not including a bottle of Argon at about $35).

I couldn't have afforded the same quality exhaust system for what a muffler shop would have charged, so it was the only way to get the best on my budget. I'm very happy with the finished product.

TEXASDESERTVETTE

I would be willing to bet...that if some of these folks that have a muffler shop bend and install their pipes, could see what happens to the I.D. after cutting with a "pipe cutter" or "chop saw"... Then they would be willing to spend a little time, or money on "reaming the cut" before final assembly.