Axleback+muffler customization/fabrication questions

[kenamond]

My 3" turboback should arrive via FedEx today, and I want to replace the single-tip, round, straight-through muffler with a Magnaflow twin-tip and some 3.5" slant cut rolled-lip tips. I don't plan on going past 350hp anytime soon, so I'm not too concerned about adding some minor bends to get the tips located as perfectly as possible relative to the rear bumper cover (centered, firing straight-back, and closer to the cover (higher) than stock). I'm a perfectionist, so I want to do as much of the mods as possible myself (if you want something done right...), but I won't be able to weld it myself, so I have a few ideas and would like input from those of you with experience and/or knowledge that relates to this.

This is the eBay juicyjems G-Power 3" SS AWD turboback (2.5" from O2 to flex outlet, 3" thereafter). I've been told that the exhaust fires straight back, but I saw atleast one image that looked a bit angled back to the driver's side. Also, it looked like the exhaust came out a bit lower than I'd like. I want to nestle the twin tips as close to the bumper cover as possible, filling that gap that the stock setup has by quite a bit. Also, I'm not yet sure how long the shipped setup's muffler is, so I don't know exactly how much space I'll have front-back with the Magnaflow (HxWxL=5x8x14, 3" centered inlet, dual 2.5" outlet with 4" outlet center spacing). The bottom line is that I'll have to cut and paste, so to speak, to get the tips where I want them.

First question: How close can I get the tips to the bumper cover without a heat issue (discolor/blister paint, melt plastic)? The tips will stick out just as much as the bumper cover (If you look straight down, the tips will be flush with the fattest part of the cover...give or take half an inch or so), and the passenger-side tip will stick out farther than the other, just like stock so that the tips follow the bird's-eye profile of the cover. I'd prefer double-wall tips similar to the stock tips (makes the tip walls look thicker), so maybe that'd help with heat a bit more than a single wall tip.

Second question: Can I use clamps and exhaust couplers to hold the thing together while I'm cutting and pasting and maybe use wire to hold the thing up in lieu of welded hangers? I sure as hell don't want to lose $300 worth of muffler/exhaust/tips on the road driving 45 minutes to a muffler shop, but I'd like to be able to deliver it and say, "weld it so that it looks just like that".

Third question: Can I do all of the cutting with a hack saw, Dremel, die grinder and tin snips/shears? I don't have a band saw or other, more suitable metal cutting tools. If there is a cheap-ish tool that I shold buy, let me know; more tools is always a good thing.

Fourth questions : Would I be able to fabricate the hangers with a vice, hammer (rubber, plastic, metal, and/or sledge) and the above cutting tools? I've never shopped for hanger material; where do I get it? I have a decent set of tools. The toughest hanger might be the one on the back of the muffler; the stock hanger has a bracket welded to the back face of the muffler.

Fifth and final question: I've never done this before. Is this plan loco?

Sorry for the long post. Thanks for the help!

EDIT: I probably should've posted this in a different forum. Moderators feel free to move it.

 

[crimsondragon]

Second question: Can I use clamps and exhaust couplers to hold the thing together while I'm cutting and pasting and maybe use wire to hold the thing up in lieu of welded hangers? I sure as hell don't want to lose $300 worth of muffler/exhaust/tips on the road driving 45 minutes to a muffler shop, but I'd like to be able to deliver it and say, "weld it so that it looks just like that".

I would actually try and put together the setup the way you want, and mark it down with a marker so the parts match up to what you want.

Third question: Can I do all of the cutting with a hack saw, Dremel, die grinder and tin snips/shears? I don't have a band saw or other, more suitable metal cutting tools. If there is a cheap-ish tool that I shold buy, let me know; more tools is always a good thing.

I heard Sawz-all will make quick work of what you need to get done. Hacksaw will take too long and I would think Dremel be just slightly faster.

Fifth and final question: I've never done this before. Is this plan loco?

Not at all. Come springtime, I plan on ordering an ebay catback, downpipe, 3'' high flow cat from JMFab, electric exhaust cutout and cutting them all up and have them welded back together to my liking.

Sorry for the long post. Thanks for the help!

EDIT: I probably should've posted this in a different forum. Moderators feel free to move it.

 

[blcknspo0ln]

Mack,
That sounds like a heck of a lot of work just to get a new muffler on. Judging by the picture below, if you were to hack off the canister right where it meets the 3" pipe, you pretty much have a straight shot at getting any muffler welded in there at a straight angle. My advice would be to call the muffler shop that you choose and make sure these guys can weld ss and weld pie cuts for you if need be. Another way (I think it is listed as sus 304) is to contact local welders and see if they have the piping available for use right away, you might want to supply them with 2 feet of 3" straight pipe to limit down time if they have to order it.

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As for the bumper, I suspect heat won't be an issue unless the tips are <1" away from the actual paint. I have cut pipes left and right while I was fabbing up ghetto IC pipes back in 2004, the best way for us 'non-tool-blessed" fellows is to use a hacksaw with some good metal (fine) teeth (buy a pack of 3!). Use a vice or your foot to hold the sucker down while hacking. Dremel would take absolutely forever and the sawzall of course is your best solution. Lastly, it's not crazy and for the hangars, just use some ss rod or something that they can weld it to.

 

[kenamond]

Thanks guys.

The box is on my front porch (I'm still at work). I have tomorrow off, so that's 3 days to futz with this. I'll start by measuring some things to see if the Magnaflow will be too low, at an angle, etc. If it's going to be close enough, that's fine. But if it's gonna be too low, I already mentioned I'm a perfectionist .

Where do you have that jack positioned in that picture?

 

[blcknspo0ln]

yea, I think I'm a bit of a perfectionist too

I jacked up the car by the rear diff.

 

[kenamond]

Well, it's now loosely bolted together on my living room floor. When I pulled the first piece out of the box (DP section), I was like OMFG this thing is HUGE. I was wondering for a second if it was some 4" exhaust by mistake. Looks much larger in person.

There was a flanged reducer in there along with some other piece that I'm clueless about. It's like a long 2.25" section with a 4" ... bowl-looking thing on the end. I have no clue what it's for...but it's damn shiney!

The flanges between the first two sections are a bit warped, but it looks very nice.

I'm soooo like right now. Last power adder I purchased was my Joe P MBC like 20 months ago.

 

[talonalex92]

Well, it's now loosely bolted together on my living room floor. When I pulled the first piece out of the box (DP section), I was like OMFG this thing is HUGE. I was wondering for a second if it was some 4" exhaust by mistake. Looks much larger in person.

There was a flanged reducer in there along with some other piece that I'm clueless about. It's like a long 2.25" section with a 4" ... bowl-looking thing on the end. I have no clue what it's for...but it's damn shiney!

The flanges between the first two sections are a bit warped, but it looks very nice.

I'm soooo like right now. Last power adder I purchased was my Joe P MBC like 20 months ago.

I dont believe you, pickchas!!!

 

[blcknspo0ln]

nice, glad you at least got it unwrapped! The reducer isn't used in our cars.

 

[DSMunknown]

I know exactly how you feel Mack. I waited 7 years to get my exhaust. Finally got it in last summer.

 

[kenamond]

Beer break.
I'm about an hour through it. Just moved the jackstands from the back to the front to unbolt the last couple of bolts at the DP inlet and it'll be out with the old. That rear O2 was a bi*** to break loose. Soon, I get to figure out how to put the new exhaust on .
Back to beer and reading PMs .

 

[DSMunknown]

Beer break.
I'm about an hour through it. Just moved the jackstands from the back to the front to unbolt the last couple of bolts at the DP inlet and it'll be out with the old. That rear O2 was a bi*** to break loose. Soon, I get to figure out how to put the new exhaust on .

I didn't find the rear O2 to be that hard. However, the rusted bolts were another story. I had to drop everything from the DP all the way back. Nothing helped me from getting those damned bolts loose under the car. Just teaches us why NAPA sells that stuff called Anti-Seize.

Back to beer and reading PMs .

People actually want to talk to you?

 

[kenamond]

I tried those rusted bolts a couple years ago when dropping the oil pan and it was no use. This time, I didn't even bother. Just unbolted all of the hangers and done.

SCORE!! I thought I only had 2 beers left, but there are 3.

For the rest of you who give a crap, the DP is up. This required die grinding on the DP inlet flange bolt holes and bending the DP support tab to bolt it to the O2, then I find that I need nuts for the hangers because they're welded on the stock hangers but just holes on the new unit. Fitment is otherwise good . Tomorrow is another day.

 

[kronus]

Pictars!!!!!

 

[kenamond]

One problem I've yet to solve is shown below. The hanger is on the wrong side. I'm going to try flipping the bracket that holds the rubber hanger by 180° and see if that'll work.

 

[romeen]

Well, it's now loosely bolted together on my living room floor. When I pulled the first piece out of the box (DP section), I was like OMFG this thing is HUGE. I was wondering for a second if it was some 4" exhaust by mistake. Looks much larger in person.

Just curious if 3" is the i.d. or o.d. My ebay exhaust from Japanimportshop is actually 2.84" i.d. (FWD)

...along with some other piece that I'm clueless about. It's like a long 2.25" section with a 4" ... bowl-looking thing on the end. I have no clue what it's for...but it's damn shiney!

Silencer which bolts into the end of the muffler?

The flanges between the first two sections are a bit warped, but it looks very nice.

The flanges on my exhaust are thin and warped also. I plan to use some Ultra Copper RTV on both sides of the gasket to seal things up well.

I'm going to try flipping the bracket that holds the rubber hanger by 180° and see if that'll work.

Did this work?

 

[DSMunknown]

The flanges on my exhaust are thin and warped also. I plan to use some Ultra Copper RTV on both sides of the gasket to seal things up well.

This is exactly what I told Mack to do. He was supposed to check his "arsenal" today and see what he had, but he did use the die grinder to fight the flange warpage. With enough Ultra Copper, you don't even need any gaskets after the flex section.

Did this work?

All that needs to be done is cutting off the hanger and re-welding it on. Not too much going on there.



Mack - What did you do about the OEM grounding straps? Did you reuse them or took them completely off?

Silly little virgin schoolgirl newbie. [Inside joke.]

 

[kenamond]

Just curious if 3" is the i.d. or o.d. My ebay exhaust from Japanimportshop is actually 2.84" i.d. (FWD)

Sounds about right. OD=3". Didn't measure the ID with dial calipers, but the wall thickness wasn't very thick. 2.84" seems a bit small, but I'm going on memory. If I think of it, I'll grab a measurement. The thing is, it necks down a bit at each flange. All I can do is measure the wall and OD (exactly) and subtract.

Silencer which bolts into the end of the muffler?

That's all that makes sense, but it doesn't quite make sense either. I'll post a pic eventually.

The flanges on my exhaust are thin and warped also. I plan to use some Ultra Copper RTV on both sides of the gasket to seal things up well.

I don't know what you call thin, but these flanges are maybe 3/8" thick. I'll see how warped they really are today when I finish up.

Did this work?

I find out today.

This is exactly what I told Mack to do. He was supposed to check his "arsenal" today and see what he had, but he did use the die grinder to fight the flange warpage. With enough Ultra Copper, you don't even need any gaskets after the flex section.

I couldn't find any copper RTV, but my wife has completely destroyed any semblence of organization in our garage. So I picked up a tube. I didn't want to make your menstrual cramping any worse, so I used it on the dp/b-pipe and b-pipe/axleback gaskets.

I didn't use the die grinder to get rid of warpage. The bolt pattern of the DP inlet flange was too wide, and it wouldn't fit the studs on the O2 outlet. I had to "adjust" things a bit with the die grinder.

All that needs to be done is cutting off the hanger and re-welding it on. Not too much going on there.

Easier to flip the bracket around, because (A) I dont have a welder and (B) I've never welded SS before and (C) loosening two nuts, turning a bracket, tightening two nuts would still be easier even if (A) and (B) weren't a problem. And blcknspo0ln said he had to do that with his, so it should work.

Mack - What did you do about the OEM grounding straps? Did you reuse them or took them completely off?

Both have been broken for years for some reason and are still broken.

Silly little virgin schoolgirl newbie. [Inside joke.]

Last question I have is that the rubber hangers had stainless or aluminized steel guards on some of them. I don't know if it's for heat shielding or what, and I've lost track of which hangers they fell off of. Should I bother putting them back on? There's only one that I could actually use, and that's the one where the DP hanger bracket bolts on (everything else except the muffler is just a bar hanger that just pushes through the rubber (metal sleeve removed from rubber); there's no bolting, so there's no way to install the shields). I'll probably leave it alone unless someone tells me it's important, then I can go back and add it.

 

[DSMunknown]

Sounds about right. OD=3". Didn't measure the ID with dial calipers, but the wall thickness wasn't very thick. 2.84" seems a bit small, but I'm going on memory. If I think of it, I'll grab a measurement. The thing is, it necks down a bit at each flange. All I can do is measure the wall and OD (exactly) and subtract.

From this thread, when I measured my RRE DP the ID at the flange that connects to the cat-back part of the system was at 2-and-7/8th inches (or 2.875 inches). IDK if mine also necked down at the flanges like yours does.

I couldn't find any copper RTV, but my wife has completely destroyed any semblence of organization in our garage.

Yeah, okay. Keep telling yourself that. Whatever helps you sleep at night.

So I picked up a tube. I didn't want to make your menstrual cramping any worse, so I used it on the dp/b-pipe and b-pipe/axleback gaskets.

It's my OCD. (Who said that recently? )

I didn't use the die grinder to get rid of warpage. The bolt pattern of the DP inlet flange was too wide, and it wouldn't fit the studs on the O2 outlet. I had to "adjust" things a bit with the die grinder.

My mistake. I was 2:30am where I was, and talking to you scrambled my thoughts.

Easier to flip the bracket around, because (A) I dont have a welder and (B) I've never welded SS before and (C) loosening two nuts, turning a bracket, tightening two nuts would still be easier even if (A) and (B) weren't a problem. And blcknspo0ln said he had to do that with his, so it should work.

Yeah, I wasn't paying too much attention to that mumbo jumbo when you GSX ladies were conversing.

Both have been broken for years for some reason and are still broken.

I would get one in place. See my home-brew exhaust grounding strap here. Pretty easy, especially for those of us who are extremely anal.

Last question I have is that the rubber hangers had stainless or aluminized steel guards on some of them. I don't know if it's for heat shielding or what, and I've lost track of which hangers they fell off of. Should I bother putting them back on? There's only one that I could actually use, and that's the one where the DP hanger bracket bolts on (everything else except the muffler is just a bar hanger that just pushes through the rubber (metal sleeve removed from rubber); there's no bolting, so there's no way to install the shields). I'll probably leave it alone unless someone tells me it's important, then I can go back and add it.

On my OEM DP I did have two of these metal brackets that were bolted down to the rubber hangers. I removed them and never looked back. Just extra crap that gets in the way. No need to have them on. In the link I just gave you above, you can see one of the metal guards in LINK 1 and LINK 3. (On second thought, maybe it's a catalytic converter thing; as we all know, those do collect and hold some serious heat.)

 

[kenamond]

Okay. It's all done. This is the making of a tech article.

Below is the loosely-bolted-together turboback on my living room floor next to my good-for-nothing old dog. It'll seem *too* big if you've never seen one in person.

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Here's the catback section.

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Here's the DP section.

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Here's the DP. A bit blurry.

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Here are some of the accessories. Nuts/bolts not shown. Left is the adapter for running the catback with stock cat. Silencer is on the right. Bolts inside the muffler.

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The first thing you have to do if you have a stock O2 housing is modify the DP inlet flange; the bolt holes aren't close enough together to fit the stock O2 housing outlet studs. I used my flame burr, because my cylinder-radius-end burr is 1/2" and the holes are 1/2" wide, and all sorts of shit will hit the fan if you turn on the grinder and try to stick that 1/2" burr into the hole (it's pretty scary even with a 3/8" flame burr...I broke flutes on mine when things got out of control). You have to extend the slot holes toward the 2.5" inlet by over 1/16" on each side. Don't just do one side, or the O2 outlet and DP inlet won't line up.

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Next, I had to bend the tab on the DP (you can see it in the image above; square tab welded to the DP). It interfered with the mounting location and wouldn't let me get the DP onto the O2 studs. In the image, you want to bend it to the left a bit. I just used some channel locks.

Get the front and back of the car on the driver's side up on jackstands. This lets you reach everything without moving the jack and stands around as much.

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Remove the rear O2 sensor first. This took me a while even with PB Blaster. I ended up using an O2 sensor socket and a 1" wrench (the socket has a 1" hex section machined into it) and a rubber mallet. I smacked the crap out of that thing and it eventually broke loose. I just twisted the wires up until it came out. Note, the sensor had 4 threads, so you need to pre-twist the sensor four turns before installing into the new exhaust.

Remove the old exhaust. Leave all of the rubber hangers installed to the car. You'll be re-using them. Everything is 12mm except for the O2 nuts which are maybe 11/16". I forget what the DP bracket bolt size is...maybe 14mm? The heat shields around the rubber hanger tips were tossed. Only one could be used anyway, because all of the hangers but two push through the rubber instead of bolting to it, so the metal shields won't fit over the new unit's hanger bars.

Some of the new hangers push through the rubber hangers. Two of the new hangers bolt to the rubber hangers just like the stock setup. For the hangers that just push through the rubber, you have to remove the sleeves in the lower end of the rubber hangers. Just push them out a bit from one side, grab the exposed tips with pliers, then twist them out. For the two hangers that bolt up, you'll need an M8-1.25 nut; the kit doesn't come with one, and the stock hanger has a nut welded to it, while the new unit has a hole. I re-used the bolt, lock washer, and washer. I added a nut, washer, and lock washer that I got from a hardware store. The rear-most hanger on the rear end of the muffler is threaded correctly. I just re-used the bolt and washers there. Pictures of all of this will follow.

Install the DP section first. I was impressed with the polish of the exhaust, so I used some of the packing material it was shipped in to keep it from getting scratched on the garage floor. Below shows the oily mess of the motor with the DP installed to the O2 housing and bracket. Notice the bolt in the middle of the image. That goes through that tab you had to bend. In this image, you'd have to bend the tab toward the cameraman (me!).

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The flex section will let you do this pretty easily. The other end of the DP will just lay on the floor.

Next, install the rear end of the DP to the hanger. Leave the sleeve in this one, and break out that M8-1.25 nut and washers. Reuse one of the stock bolts. If you wanna get anal, install the metal heat guard over this rubber hanger to...do whatever it's supposed to do...I left it off.

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Here's where I save you a bit of a nuissance. The image below shows the problem. The hanger between the resonators on the B-pipe is welded on the opposite side as the stock hanger at that location. Since you haven't yet installed the B-pipe, this will be easier (I already have it installed as you can see in the image). Unbolt the bracket (two 14mm nuts), flip it around 180° and bolt it back on.

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So after you flip the bracket, you can then hang the B-pipe, no problem, as shown below. Also keep in mind that the vendor *had* to do this. There isn't enough room between the unflipped hanger and the heat shielding to fit a 3" exhaust.

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Next, bolt the B-pipe and axleback sections together with the included gasket. I put some Permatex copper hi-temp RTV on both sides of the gasket (based on the urging of some girl I know) before torquing them together.

I'm not going to kid you. The rest is a bit of a pain unless your car is on a lift and you have a 2nd person helping you. If you're by yourself, a floor jack will be your friend. The trouble is that the exhaust wants to rotate so that the passenger side of the system hangs too low. You'll see what I mean.

Get the muffler-end and hook one of the two hangers up. There are two hangers in front of the muffler and one at the back end. I'm talking about the two in front of the muffler. Just get one of them on. That holds up one end of the exhaust.

Now get the floor jack under the B-pipe/axleback flanges (where they're bolted together) and jack the exhaust up until the front end of the B-pipe is close to the two hangers (the front of the B-pipe also has two hangers). This also supports the passenger side of the exhaust so that it "untwists". If you get under the car without the jack, you'll fight this torque and won't have much of a chance getting the passenger-side hanger on the front of the B-pipe anywhere near the rubber hanger. Get back up there by the front of the B-pipe and see if you can get both hangers installed. Use the floor jack to help you as much as possible. Then you don't have to fight the twisting of the exhaust to get the passenger-side hanger installed.

Now go back to the muffler end and see about getting the other hanger in front of the muffler installed. Below is a picture of both of them installed.

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Now you get to bolt the DP and B-pipe. Use the floor jack to get the flanges' bolt holes to line up. Too much or too little jacking and they wont. The exhaust wants to twist, and this throws off the relative angle of the bolt patterns of the two flanges. If you can get the angles of the bolt holes right with the floor jack, you can lift the DP end or the B-pipe end to get both holes to line up. I put the floor jack where I could reach the handle and just brought it up from below until the bolt hole angles were right. I had about 1/2 to 3/4" gap there. I put a bead of RTV on both sides of the gasket, slipped it in between the flanges, stuck it to the DP flange, got a bolt with a nut on it on one side, then adjusted the jack until the other hole could be lined up. Then I torqued them both down. Below shows this installed. The O2 sensor is also installed in the picture, but you can wait until the end to do the O2 sensor. Notice that you can't even see the passenger side hanger in this picture. It goes up much higher than the visible hanger and is hard to reach, especially with a huge 3" exhaust and driveshaft in the way. But if you look at the 2nd and 3rd image in this post, the hanger closest to the camera in both cases that sticks straight up is the hard one to install. The 3rd picture also shows the O2 bung, so looking at it and the one below should give you an idea of what that annoying hanger is all about.

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Now go back and get the hanger in between the resonators on (the one where you flipped the bracket).

Now go back to the muffler and install the rear-most hanger. The aftermarket hanger bar goes to the passenger-side of the rubber hanger and is threaded for the stock bolt. Getting this aligned is a bit of a pain, but since the rest of the exhaust is all installed, it's pretty close. Just don't cross the threads. I used a wrench to tighten it up, because there's not a lot of room between the bumper cover and muffler. Below is a picture from the driver side.

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And here is a picture of that hanger from the passenger side. It's the blurry left-ish part of the image; you can see the bolt threads coming through the hanger.

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Now go install the rear O2 sensor with some anti-sieze on the threads. I cleaned up the threads with a wire brush first. Twist the sensor four full turns in the "loosen" direction to wind up the harness wires. Then thread it into the bung. You can't fit an O2 sensor socket onto the sensor, so I just tightened it up with a crescent wrench.

Get the car off the jacks, grab a beer and clean up the garage.

Let the RTV set up before you go cruising.

The exhaust is too loud in my book. I'll be installing a twin-tip Magnaflow soon.

 

[VETTE_50_TH]

Very nice. Who is the mutt in the picture just chillin?

James

 

[98GSXtreme07]

Video of this new amazing exhaust maybe..???

 

[kenamond]

Ooh...ooh...ohh...I get to update my car profile

First test drive (pizza run) and I pegged 20psi Need to adjust the MBC. Considering the porting I did to this turbo, I pray to Allah it's not boost creep. I also need to do a couple of pulls at about 12psi to see if this HUGE increase in volumetric efficiency isn't maxing out my injectors. Then I'll see how much higher I can boost before knock/fuel problems show up. I only floored it a couple of times (not completely warm and not knowing if the fuel is keeping up), but I did notice boost SLAM on rather than ramp up when it hit. When I feel safe about the setup, I'll probably find out more about the performance gain.

Now I gotta order the Magnaflow twin-tip muffler. The drone bothered me pulling it out of the garage for the first time. Nice sound for a racecar, though. My neighbors hopefully won't mind too much .

I'm wondering about digging into the front of the motor next (before the Magnaflow). The oil leak is clearly visible in the installed DP image above. New harmonic balancer, water pump, BS belt, pulleys, tensioners, t-belt (for the helluvit), accessory belts, and seals (still have to research what seals to replace). And I still have to research what to do with the rear O2 now that I'm catless. Hasn't thrown a code yet.

I actually was able to pull the stock exhaust apart at all of the flanges. It was no easy task, and I thrashed two of the bolt heads, beat on some wrenches with some hammers, etc. But now it's small enough that it can sit in the corner of the garage, out of the way, collecting cobwebs. Hate to throw away any parts of my car.

 

[kenamond]

Update.

Drove the car to work today. Still creeping, but I haven't done anything to the MBC yet, so that's no suprise.

The car is embarassingly loud. I may buy the Magnaflow tonight. Or I'll install the silencer and see how much that helps. It's just so loud, especially at 2800rpm. I'm a sleeper fan, and this is wake-the-dead-loud compared to stock. I drove into the parking garage at work, and it was rediculous - echoing all over the place.

I was sore as hell last night. Laying on a creeper and wrenching and tugging and lifting at weird angles woke up the pecks, finger muscles, and forearms. Now that's my kind of workout. Much more productive than lifting a barbell up and setting it back down.

 

[ccso139]

And I still have to research what to do with the rear O2 now that I'm catless. Hasn't thrown a code yet.

Keep us posted on this. I actually ordered the same system last week after you suggested it to me. Should be here any day now. But, of course, I have the alternator to replace first!!! It is never ending.....

 

[DSMunknown]

The car is embarassingly loud. I may buy the Magnaflow tonight. Or I'll install the silencer and see how much that helps. It's just so loud, especially at 2800rpm. I'm a sleeper fan, and this is wake-the-dead-loud compared to stock. I drove into the parking garage at work, and it was rediculous - echoing all over the place.

You've obviously never driven it without a muffler.