Exhaust Will Piecing Together This Exhaust System Work?

Venom351R

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Apr 27, 2002
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I really want to run a borla cat back system. It sounds awesome and I have never run borla before. Problem being the cheapest kit I can find is $640....ouch.

But I remembered something that does help me out. I still have the flowtubes from my Dynomax superturbo's that I can take off and I still have the tail pipes from my Mangflow system when I had magnapacks. Should I be able to just buy the Borla PRO XS Mufflers, use the flow tubes from the other set up, and use the magnaflow tail pipes and have this all actually work? The way I see it while each exhaust system is slightly different they still have to follow a basic format for how it will all connect and where the exhaust hangers are. If I just buy the mufflers and the bad ass borla tips the cost comes out to $513 so Ill be saving $127 and still get the same system as I would have if I just bought the kit ( at least I'm hoping)

Thoughts? Suggestions? Bad Idea? Forge ahead and buy parts?
 
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pics of said parts you have? aren't the XS mufflers a offset muffler where as the magnapacks are a straight through, so not sure how those would really match up.
 
You can get offset or center inlet/outlet with the borla mufflers. I'll get pics when I get home later today. I was off on my math the mufflers and tips would be $350 not $513 not sure what I did there. I'm ok with going down to 2.5" for the cat back I have seen lots of combos with 1 3/4 long tubes a 3" mid pipe and 2.5 cat back
 
Mixing and matching exhaust system parts rarely works out. I've tried it several times and found that every aftermarket company does things just slightly different, and nobody quite matches the stock locations. Unless you have welding/fabrication ability or a friend at an exhaust shop who can help, it might be worth the money to just buy the whole borla system. The shops here in Detroit charge an arm and leg to do custom exhaust work. If you can't get a good deal on the work, you're probably not going to be too far off from just paying for the complete system once you total the muffler price along with the shop charge to cobble it all together. (The other thing to watch out of if you do take it to a shop is that they will probably bend your pipes if necessary to make it fit right.)

Others may disagree, but combining different parts has never worked for me.
 
well thats kind of a downer but I'm sure your right. Plans kinda got thrown off anyway b/c I cant even get the flowtubes out from the dynomax mufflers. They were spot welded on and I cut through the welds with the cut off wheel but the tubes still wont come out of the mufflers. Its to much of a hassle, I mean If I really wanted to get them out I could but its not worth the effort. Guess I'll be stuck with paying full price for the borla kit or breaking down and getting a cheaper kit
 
I mix match exhaust systems all the time. Stuff by the same manufacturer hardly ever fits together right, and your odds with mix match parts are about the same. I'm not sure if $127 savings is really worth it though. Maybe if you could find a better deal on the mufflers. I would say go ahead and try to reuse the tailpipes, but the last time I checked basic Walker 2.5" flowtubes were $54 on Summit. It's probably not worth cutting down the welds on the old ones to save $54. It's a lot of work with a grinder cutting those welds back. Oh, and don't cut it with a sawzall, and rig it back together, it's going to look like ass, and not function as well. Take a grinding wheel, and grind the weld back on your old mufflers parrallel to the pipe. You should eventually get to the point where you can hammer the pipes back out.

Kurt
 
Ive pretty much decided not to do this. Ive learned and seen enough over the years to ask about something online, get answers then do the opposite only to get the results that everyone else said you would get
 
I have not come across anything that sounded better then my Magnapacks and Bassani Catted X pipe it was just mean. I hate the sound of chambered mufflers, they are raspy and drone
 
I lived in Daytona for 8 years so I've heard more Harleys than most. It was just comparitive. I associate the sound of a Harley to a poorly tuned non performance machine, like a canal boat. That's how Flowmaster's make a Mustang sound.

Kurt