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  • 1979 - 1995 (Fox, SN95.0, & 2.3L) -General/Talk-

Reasons to avoid exhaust shops

  • Thread starter Thread starter revhead347
  • Start date Start date Aug 17, 2009

revhead347

Apparently my ex-husband made that mistake.
20+ Year Stangneter
Jun 14, 2004
9,297
1,641
214
Acworth, GA
Aug 17, 2009
#1
  • Aug 17, 2009
  • #1
This is why I don't take my car to the shop anymore. My friend took his Cobra to a local exhaust shop to have cats put back in, and here is the result. Someone tried to twist the pipe to make the cats work, instead of rebending it.





Kurt
 

95Vert383AOD

15 Year Member
Jun 10, 2008
1,133
34
69
New Bedford, MA
Aug 17, 2009
#2
  • Aug 17, 2009
  • #2
That sucks.....I have a local exhaust guy. Its a performance shop....He does frame and suspension fabrication as well as exhaust work. But i would never take my car to a run of the mil place like Midas.
 

revhead347

Apparently my ex-husband made that mistake.
20+ Year Stangneter
Jun 14, 2004
9,297
1,641
214
Acworth, GA
Aug 17, 2009
#3
  • Aug 17, 2009
  • #3
Yeah, they installed cats on this car about a month ago, and one of them popped after just a few weeks. They wouldn't replace the cat under warranty, because they said there was something wrong with the car that caused it. The car runs like a raped ape with no check engine lights or anything. When I got under there, I found out that they had only run the smog pump line to one cat instead of both. In addition to the crack in the pipe, I think we found out what was wrong with the car. They also insisted on removing the H crossover to make the cats fit, when there was clearly plenty of room up the pipe to fit them in.

The car has since passed GA emmission, so we went ahead and put in a BBK long tube and X-pipe combination. I have some old cats off a 93' Mustang. I'm just going to make my own H-pipe for that once a year event.

Kurt
 

95Vert383AOD

15 Year Member
Jun 10, 2008
1,133
34
69
New Bedford, MA
Aug 17, 2009
#4
  • Aug 17, 2009
  • #4
Well The "H" is technically OEM and should be retained. If a cat falls off then its their shoddy welding skills. The weld is actually stronger then the metals its bonding so that should have never been an issue.
 

revhead347

Apparently my ex-husband made that mistake.
20+ Year Stangneter
Jun 14, 2004
9,297
1,641
214
Acworth, GA
Aug 17, 2009
#5
  • Aug 17, 2009
  • #5
No, the cat overheated, and came apart inside.

Kurt
 

95Vert383AOD

15 Year Member
Jun 10, 2008
1,133
34
69
New Bedford, MA
Aug 17, 2009
#6
  • Aug 17, 2009
  • #6
Oh damn...yeah and i assume thats the cat that didn't have the air tube on it?
 

95BlueStallion

My assy trans to myself
15 Year Member
Feb 22, 2007
5,125
3,091
214
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Aug 17, 2009
#7
  • Aug 17, 2009
  • #7
You can find good exhaust shops, but I had bad luck at my local Meineke. They got me in and out really quickly, and then my tailpipe hanger broke two days later to let tip bounce around. Never went back to them to get it fixed, I was too irritated. I learned my lesson to stay away from the big retail type shops.
 

final5-0

Mustang Master
Apr 6, 2003
6,817
12
79
DFW Texas
Aug 17, 2009
#8
  • Aug 17, 2009
  • #8
Ya'll can laugh if you wanna
but
I don't know if the reason I don't let ANYBODY touch my Stang is because

I'm paranoid they will hose it up
or
I'm just one of them perfectionists

Who thinks nobody an do it as good as them

I just like to turn my own wrenches
and
Punch buttons on my own laptop to get spark & fuel right on

Grady
 

revhead347

Apparently my ex-husband made that mistake.
20+ Year Stangneter
Jun 14, 2004
9,297
1,641
214
Acworth, GA
Aug 17, 2009
#9
  • Aug 17, 2009
  • #9
95Vert383AOD said:
Oh damn...yeah and i assume thats the cat that didn't have the air tube on it?
Click to expand...

Actually it was the cat with the air tube on it. I assume it was getting way too much air from the smog pump. It was also the side with the crack in the pipe.

Kurt
 

Pokageek

Active Member
Jun 10, 2005
2,767
0
46
MA, USA
Aug 17, 2009
#10
  • Aug 17, 2009
  • #10
95Vert383AOD said:
Oh damn...yeah and i assume thats the cat that didn't have the air tube on it?
Click to expand...

Yes. That will kill it too. They will brick up on you in NO time. You dont need all that crap on there to pass emissions. You can just get cats that dont require "air."

I'm with u guys. I only trust my engine guy Rick and ONE other guy I know. ANYONE else I am watching while they work if I EVER let someone else work on it. If they dont like it, tough... and thats prolly only tires and exhaust
 

Black95GTS

Active Member
Jan 8, 2004
1,644
3
38
Marlborough, MA
Aug 18, 2009
#11
  • Aug 18, 2009
  • #11
You can't go wrong with Lou's Custom Exhaust in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Just throwing it out there.

Adam
 
G

GUIL-BOT

New Member
Jul 31, 2009
6
0
0
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Aug 18, 2009
#12
  • Aug 18, 2009
  • #12
Holy *****!!! This is such a bad job! I will never bring my car there !
 

revhead347

Apparently my ex-husband made that mistake.
20+ Year Stangneter
Jun 14, 2004
9,297
1,641
214
Acworth, GA
Aug 18, 2009
#13
  • Aug 18, 2009
  • #13
I really ought to put up pictures of the rest of the pipes so you can really see this abortion job they did. All the pipes are shoved in at funny angles, and I think it was the mechanics first day with a welder.

Kurt
 
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