Hi, I'm just curious as to whether anyone here has had a custom mild steel (mandrel bend) exhaust fabricated for them on an NA 300ZX. I love the Magnaflow mufflers, but I can't justify spending $900 on the two mufflers... let alone 2.5" piping and labour aswell. So, I'm thinking of getting a dual catback exhaust made up with 2 hotdog resonators and no rear muffler... so for each 2.5" side of the exhaust it will split into dual 2.25" stainless pipes. Not sure how to describe this any better, any assitance or ideas would be much appreciated! And info on where to go (close to the city in Adelaide) to get this done... from a reputable and AFFORDABLE exhaust workshop. Cheers, George
If you're getting quoted 900 for the two mufflers you're getting ripped hard Have a good look around and you should be able to get them for around 350 each, also dont be afraid to try to get them from the USA now that the Aussie dollar is really strong -Mikey
Thanks for the tip! I am looking to get the entire exhaust done for $600 supplied + fitted. Is this possible? I know it will be cheaper without 2x rear mufflers as I would be keeping the cats and using hotdogs instead... however, it needs to be legal too.
Psh, shoulda asked me when you were over There's a guy on Marion road whose always looked after me and my car. Carline Mufflers and Exhaust, Bob Strawbridge is the man to see. http://www.yellowpages.com.au/sa/marion/carline-mufflers-13658259-listing.html Avoid Exhaust Technologies like the plague, they charge a LOT
Cheers guys, ...and yes I had waaay too many questions to ask, I forgot half of them when I came over haha. Furthermore, where has the value gone from ET... they used to be affordable, now it seems like a 'mainstream' brand name workshop now instead...
Hi Paul in Darwin here-I've been on the net and on the phone a lot over the last few weeks regarding N/A twin exhaust systems, and I am only passing on what most of the experienced exhaust specialists agreed on as a recipe for a good sounding system that doesnt backfire,is legal,and is the most beneficial to performance--- hi flow cats first, into 2inch to maximum 2 1/4 inch diameter pipe with a balance pipe between the left and right pipework( this was considered very important) Next come the resonators,(hot dogs are acceptable but there are better choices for resonators) these are fitted before the back axle, continuing with the same size pipework past the back axles to finish off with the ones that can be seen by everybody,good quality sport mufflers (common recommendations were magnaflow, remus,lukey but there are a few to chose from) Good quality ensures you are not replacing the mufflers in 2 years time which defeats the apparent economy of buying cheap mufflers( good ones last quite a few years especially stainless) The final mufflers require unusually long tips to clear the back bodywork,and can either be twin tips or big single tips. My own personal opinion based on over 35 years of exposure to hot dog mufflers on cars Ive bought or on friends cars ,is that,the exhaust note you would get with a "hot dog only'' twin system would be EXTREMELY disappointing, and would most likely hurt the performance(and pop and backfire as you are decelerating) and invite attention from the police.if you got pulled over they would defect it immediately I'm sure. Good advice I got from a few of the workshops was that if I couldnt afford to do it all in one hit, buy each pair of resonators and mufflers, in any order, one at a time,buy good quality for each component,and then when the time comes you will only have the price of the pipe and the labour to pay to get the whole system fitted professionally.the car will sound and look great,be legal,and will be the wisest use of your money.if you sell the car, you'd be surprised how many people will overlook other problems and buy it because it sounds great,and looks sharp.A good car with a horrible exhaust note will put a lot of people off and makes a healthy car sound as if it's got real problems.My father once bought a Rolls Royce for a bargain price purely because it had a rusted out exhaust system and all other buyers assumed that the engine had serious problems and walked away!
Def get some mufflers. Hotdogs only will be stupidly loud on a NA and drive you nuts. Remember what I said about not ruining it
This^ Standard system for an NA Zed is 2.25" mild steel mandrel bent piping with high flow metal core cats then an X-pipe/centre muffler in the middle (UAS and Magnaflow both make these) and Magnaflow mufflers in whatever style you like at the back. A set of decent headers is handy too but tricky to get these days. Lots of people have this set up, it's fairly cheap, gives decent performance and sounds nice.
I have been thinking about getting a new exhaust made for mine something along the lines of what your thinking, there was a member that had a thread going not long ago with "straight through" exhaust systems on there he was tossing around some idea's here a video of one of the guys systems http://imageshack.us/clip/my-videos/607/d8s.mp4/ cant remember who the forum member was though I know alot of people would hate the look of these but i like them Im fairly keen to get a set of these made up and just see what it sounds like i've been quoted by my local exhaust shop around $100 each for the above picture Atm i've got 2.25" cat-back into dual cannons the system really needs a good x-pipe like the UAS one as the drone from mine annoys me, good luck with picking a system that suits you Cheers Longy
