Full Mandrel Bent Exhaust Systems

Artty

Registered User
Hey guys I just found an exhaust shop about an hour from me that does mandrel bending and they do alot of production work. Making up runs of hundreds of pieces sometimes. They also do custom mandrel bent exhaust systems. I was quoted around $400-$450 for a whole mandrel bent exhaust system, minus cats and mufflers. This is in 409 Stainless. aluminized pipes would obviously be a little cheaper. This system would be from the manifolds back, NOT a cat back setup. In my car we are going to delete the resonators and put the cats in there place. Instead of welding in a cross-over pipe at some point in the system, we are going to use a cross-over muffler, which should also take of the "tinny" sound that elminating the resonators normally produces. This system would be available in either 2" or 2 1/4" duals. This system would be eliminating the mufflers under the back bumber. This provides for a nicer tailpipe to be run out the back(something a mustang style tailpipe that has a straight shot from the rear end out the back. The group buy help comes in with close to a $100 savings on systems if we can get about 10 systems sold. The labor costs for one system is quite high so the more systems we sell the more the labor is dispersed over each system. But i was told $400 would be the max with ten systems sold. They would weld in hangers and include everything nescessary for installation minus cats and mufflers. cats would be $70 each, these are the magnaflow stainless cats withe the aluminized heat sheild. The muffler is also a magnaflow polished stainless(at least the one i'm going with) and it is $120, but since you are eliminating one muffler at the back this is actually a decent deal. Since this muffler drops the need for two mufflers and also eliminates the cost of welding in a cross-over pipe(which would add about $80 to each system i was told) it is about the best possible way to go. So even if you purchase everything total your only looking at a maximum of $660 for an ENTIRE EXHUAST SYSTEM. They are going to use my 89 XR7 as the mock up dummy. I will be paying for my own system, so i'm not getting a free ride out of this, but the more systems i get sold the cheaper my own system becomes and the cheaper yours gets as well. I will be taking my car up to have the new system put in in late August when i'm home for a week from working at my college all summer. this would be the latest i would need to know if you want a system. I know I'm totally new to the board and this seems like a quick way to make a few bucks on my part, but i have been around the TC club and Turboford for close to 2 years now. I live in Central PA near Carlisle in a little town called Dillsburg. I know of one other board member who lives in Dover PA which is only 10 minutes from me. If you would like some references I would be more then happy to take him to the shop where i'm getting this done since he and his daughter have been here much longer then i have. I would be asking for $150 down on each system, because when i go to them i will be paying for all of the systems that they complete for me, and they would like a deposit before they begin such a large order so that they don't get stuck with half a dozen systems.

If you have any questions please email me at Artman983@cs.com

Thanks Artty
 
Does your car have the '92-up gas tank or will this fit only '89-'91 Tbirds? I bought a '93 gas tnak to replace my stock one so I can get true duals.

Mike Donley
 
no, i have the stock gas tank. i didn't realize that there was a difference in those two setups. my dad has a 95 SC that is getting a new back-end put on from a wreck and once that's done i'm sure i would be able to take that up to the shop and have them fab up the other style as well. the guys at the shop are pretty confident that they can fit true duals under my car as well. so basically i have the ability to be able to have both setups done i assume that they are pretty similar systems up until the gas tank...correct me if i'm wrong here. but it wouldn't be much harder for them to make a few systems of the other style once they have the body style to work with
 
Artty, if i send you a piece of my flowmaster cat-back system can they copy it with a larger pipe? The mid-pipe that goes from the resonator all the way back to the rear-end on my 90 SC. I can take it off and send it to you. I would like it copied but a 3" pipe.

if you think you can help me out....please email me at scul8r1990@zoominternet.net
 
Artty said:
no, i have the stock gas tank. i didn't realize that there was a difference in those two setups. my dad has a 95 SC that is getting a new back-end put on from a wreck and once that's done i'm sure i would be able to take that up to the shop and have them fab up the other style as well. the guys at the shop are pretty confident that they can fit true duals under my car as well. so basically i have the ability to be able to have both setups done i assume that they are pretty similar systems up until the gas tank...correct me if i'm wrong here. but it wouldn't be much harder for them to make a few systems of the other style once they have the body style to work with

Here is a diagram of the '92-up system, this is a Flowmaster System,

17111.jpg


Here is the '89-91 system.

17100.jpg


You see how the '89-'91 system goes around the gas tank, while the '02-up system goes over the gas tank allowing for less piping and a straighter shot with fewer bends. Less pipe= less money.

Hope this helps,

Mike Donley
 
i see what you mean....but they have assured me it can be done. they checked out the factory diagrams and told me its possible. they are the ones who are the experts and if they say it can be done, i believe them. they have done the exhaust system in my volvo, and three or four other cars i know of. their work is fantastic. it really is great, they were recommended to me by two different people so i thought i'd go check them out. they did an entire system minus cat and mufflers for $90 installed for my one friend. i've seen alot of "exhuast shops" that do terrible jobs, they just want you back in a year or two so they can do it again and charge you once more. but this place truly knows what they are doing.
 
Artty,

Can the shop make up intake systems? I'm sure a lot of people would be interested in a low cost version of a stock style, MP style, ZR style or Mac style intake setup. Basically, the shop provides the intake and the people buy the silicone hoses and clamps to go with it. Many on this board know where to buy the hoses and clamps for cheap and are willing to tell others where to purchase them.

Just a thought.
 
T. Lane Muffler L.L.C.
RR1 Box 680
Port Royal , PA 17082

717-527-2856

Its about an hour from Harrisburg PA. I can give you directions if you'd like

.....the intake setup might not be a bad idea, I don't think they do aluminum piping though, and i'm sure they probally don't have any steel piping thin enough to work well for what we'd need, but i can always check and see.
 
I believe most of the aftermarket intake systems are mandrel bent exhaust tubing. Maybe not all of them but I think at least two of them are. If it is 409 stainless then we could have them polished up real nice and shiny. Even if they did thin wall exhaust tubing, people could have them chromed. This shop does the bending and then another shop does the chroming.

See what you can find out.
 
I believe most of the aftermarket intake systems are mandrel bent exhaust tubing.
The old ZR and soon to be released FCI intake use thin wall aluminum which is mandrel bent then polished to a mirror finish. The MAC is exhaust tubing that is chrome plated, don't know about the MP piece.

Paul
 
Could they do prebent downtubes to fit those magnaflow resonators? I'm having trouble finding someone around here that will do it reasonably. One guy said $590, and he couldn't even do 3" pipe...

I wanted to do dual 2.5" into the magnaflow, then 3" around the gastank back into the stock split. I imagine back there spliting from 3" back to the dual stock 2" would be sufficient flow....

They could make that bend around the gastank, and then have a "y" to adapt the 3" into the 2 2" split.

I say aluminized...

This could be done as an affordable kit for all us guys that can't afford 500+ from the exhaust shop...

Heck, the flowmaster catback goes for about 500 with their resonator don;t it?
 
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unfortunately they can only bend up to 2 1/4" pipes. this is a small shop and they have only begun mandrel bending a few years ago. a whole set of tooling for a certain pipe size costs thousands of dollars, and they don't have the demand for much above 2". they are just now getting in 2 1/4" tooling. they specialize in exhaust, but mostly in production of exhaust parts. they'll run off a couple hundred or so pieces, mostly in crush bent. but i'll definately check on the intake setup and seeing what that would cost and if its feasible.

Artty
 
As you can tell there are many opinions here as to what constitutes a decent exhaust. ;) Personally I prefer a large single exhaust to smaller duals. Less pipe, less weight, smoother sound. I've seen/heard several dual exhaust systems on these cars and so far I am not happy with the sound.

I like the idea of stainless downtubes in 2.25" back to dual cats where the resonator was. That is an excellent idea. I've used that setup with great success. However, that does not leave you any room for a resonator in the middle of the car. Then you really don't have any choice but to use dual mufflers out back. With the right selection of mufflers, it can sound pretty decent that way.

In any case, with a dual exhaust system you need a crossover in front of the converters. How you accomplish that remains up to the designer. Likely a short H right in front of the converters would be easiest as there just isn't enough room for an X.

Most likely you will find that running the Magnaflow muffler/resonator by itself will be too loud. Just my thoughts.
 
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