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February, 2003: Here's the stock single exhaust system about to be replaced. The bottom photo is where the stock catalytic converter burnt a hole through the floor pan. I can't remember when this happened. I think my grandfather said it happened 10 years ago. He had to cover up the hole with two pieces of sheet metal, this one and one under the carpeting.
Here's the first "dual" exhaust system I had installed in February, 2003. This isn't a true dual system. Instead the Y-pipe from the manifolds go through a single, high flow catalytic converter inlet and out two outlets.
March 28, 2005: Here's my dual exhaust cross member I purchased a year ago off of eBay. When I got it, it was pretty dirty and had surface rust on it. I took it to Media Blasters on the 17th and got it back today. As soon as my POR-15 gets here I am going to paint it and get it installed.
April 3, 2005: Here is the dual exhaust transmission cross member. On April 1st I put two coats of POR-15 on it and today I placed a coat of chassis coat black paint on it.
April 4, 2005: Here are my Headman headers. They have been painted and are ready to go on the car.
April 5, 2005: I have installed the headers. What a pain it was. The damn Y-pipe was in the way as well as the catalytic converter so I had to cut those off. They went in with little trouble. The dipstick tube was in the way on the driver side and the starter wires heat shield on the passenger side.
Here is my new power steering bracket. Because the old one required the manifolds I had to order this one. Looks pretty good.
The cross member is in. This is the best picture I could get of my dual exhaust cross member installed in the car.
April 6, 2005: Here is my new dual 2.5-inch exhaust system. From the headers are the dual Magnaflow catalytic converters, a custom crossover pipe, the Flowmaster mufflers and then the tail pipes with chrome tips. I drove it to the shop with open headers at 7:20AM. That sucker was loud. But after the exhaust system was completely installed the sound was just what I was looking for. Not too loud and not too quiet.
Here is the old junk. The old single exhaust cross member, the stock Y-pipe and the catalytic converter.
May 3, 2006: Today I cut off both of my catalytic converters because they are pretty much goners after glowing red hot both times I had intermittent spark which caused unspent fuel to drop down in them and heat up to the point of melting. Since I already passed DEQ, I am going to have a friend of mine weld in some straight pipe. I won't have to deal with DEQ for another two years. All I'll need to do is weld some flanges onto new cats so I can just bolt them in to pass DEQ and bolt in the straight pipe afterward.
May 2, 2008: Today I replaced my exhaust system yet again. I had to pass emissions so I needed to re-install cats and the only way I could really do that was if I installed a new system. So I ordered a pair of Dynomax shorty headers, 2.5-inch Magnaflow hugh-flow catalytic converters, Pypes Performance 2.5-inch downpipes and their 2.5-inch Tru-X kit with Street Pro mufflers. During the install at the PDXCGP Mod Day we hit a little snag with the install. The tail pipes, which were suppose to fit 1973-1977 GM A-bodies, didn't fit correctly. They kept bumping into either the springs or the frame. All we could do was install the rest of the system and I had to find a way to make them fit later on. No pics as of yet, but I will get them.
Oh and by the way, the last exhaust system that was installed in 2005 was a piece of crap. Here's why, Darrell's Economy Muffler sucks. That pretty much why. Their "custom" X-pipe was a poorly put together POS AND they welded restrictive 2 1/4-inch OEM tail pipes into the 2 1/2-inch mufflers eventhough I told them that I wanted 2 1/2-inch pipes.
May 2008: After an unsuccessful visit to Darrel's Economy Muffler (yeah, why did I bother going there again?) to see if they could modify the tail pipes enough to make them clear, I hired my buddy Jake to modify them. You see, Darrell's Economy Muffler didn't even TRY to modify them to work. Like the Universal X-pipe I wanted them to install in 2005, they said "oh those will never work no matter what" and then tried to sell me something I didn't want. Can you guess what that was? Yes, it was those POS OEM 2 1/4-inch tail pipes. Yeah, I don't think so. All Jake had to do was cut an inch from each side of the hump that goes over the axle on both tail pipes to make them clear. He did it in my driveway with a welder and a sawzall.
So here's a little tip for you boys and girls that are reading this. If you happen live in or pass by the Portland Metropolitan Area and need a performance exhaust installed on your vehicle, DO NOT GO TO DARREL'S ECONOMY MUFFLER!
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