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It appears that my 80 has stock exaust and I would some opinions on what I should do to get some more power and better sound. My system has a leak somewhere as I can hear it going through the gears and I have a hole in cat converter that I don't know if it is going all the way through, but am moving to state where they don't smog anyway..... How about headers, new mufflers and some chrome tips ??? :party:
Need some good systems recommended for both performance and budget, or let me know what to ask for at the exaust shop and a guestamate what I will be paying out
From: Exiled to Richmond, VA - Finally sold my house in Murfreesboro, TN ?? Corner of "Bumf*&k and 'You've got a purdy mouth'."
CI 6-7-8 Veteran
CI-VIII Burnout Champ
St. Jude Donor '06-'10, '13
Re: Exhaust for 1980 (azswede1960)
Well brother 1980 owner, you're in luck. I have traveled that path for you already.
Headers - If you go that route, and I recommend you do, you will need Hedman 63001 headers. These are thermal coated. Summit or Jegs - $250ish.
Transmission cross-member. If you are not going to run converters, you can keep your stock cross-member and route the drivers pipe right next to the passenger pipe just like it is now, just don't combine them into one pipe at where the converter is now. I would at some point connect them for as an "X" pipe since they will be that close. The "X" is a little better than a "H" and will help quiet things down and some make claims of better HP and mileage.
Custom dual exhaust. I had mine done by Apache Muffler in Mesa, one of the highest recommended shops in town. They fabbed up a custom set of duals with dual converters and a "H" pipe for about $675ish. Since you will not need converters you can probably drop about $200 off that price.
Where are you moving too, and why now? - the weather is just starting to get good here.
I just put some dynomax cermaic coated headers on my 80. but I think I'm still gonna have the y pipe. X pipe is too expensive for me I think, even since I won't be running cats.
I just replaced my factory exhaust on my '81. I did not go with headers, mainly because of price, butI did get rid of the cat and installed a true dual. I had 2.5" pipes put in and I chose Flowmaster 50 series mufflers with chrome tips. I definitely notice more pep and the sound is great. I did not get the h or x pipe installed, but I will soon. My whole setup, new from the stock manifold back was just shy of $400, installed.
I would go with the true dual kit from Mid-America. :thumbs: http://www.madvet.com. That's what I did. I also put headers on so I had to do a little modifying. Flowmaster deltaflow 40's are a good choice also. The only thing I'm going to add on is an X or H pipe. Once that's in, have the whole system welded together. You'll really see a big difference in HP and mileage. ;) :yesnod:
Jet Hot Coated Hedmann headers PN # 68301 (A.I.R. tubes)
Custom bent, true 2.5" aluminized dual exhaust pipes (all connections welded)
2.5" H-pipe just aft of the trans x-member - $50 installed/welded
Dynomax Super Turbo mufflers
Copper gaskets at the cylinder head and collectors.
My cat converter is resting peacefully in a storage box in my garage for the day when emissions checks are re-instated.
No, don't do it!!! I swapped my exhaust out in stages (duals, then low resistance "mufflers", then Headers & H pipe), running the car for a while between mods. The biggest difference I noticed was when I fitted duals (keeping stock manifolds & muflers) to get rid of that horrible "Y" pipe. I didn't even have a cat in the system when I started, so the restriction was all due to the "Y" itself.
:cheers: