Anyone use and eBay catback. I'm looking at a few as they are priced decently(under 150) and come with the piping and a muffler. Like these m.ebay.com/Pages/ViewItem.aspx?aid=270403715285&sv=cavalier%20catback&emvcc=0 m.ebay.com/Pages/ViewItem.aspx?aid=190423014341&sv=cavalier%20catback&emvcc=0
Or should I just find a muffler like a borla,magnaflow,Gibson and have some 2.25 piping welded on?
Build your own
First determine what you want it to sound like and what your REALISTIC power goals are then go from there.
Just better flowing than stock and louder,more aggressive than stock.
The car had a fart cannon on it when I bought it but I hacked it off. Sounded decent to me at least. I got bored and wanted it louder and cut it off where it turns right after the cat.
Now I want to quite it down some. I thought about just having the stock piping welded back on or maybe getting 2.25 pipe put on from the cat to the bumper.
your easiest bet would be to buy the prebent pipe from "custom tubes inc"
and add your desired muffler and such
Custom tubes Inc. had only two left when i contacted them about four months ago. Give it a shot
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Or what I ended up doing was calling around to shops (not the big name exhaust shops) and getting quotes. I picked out my muffler/resonator after looking on forums (hondatech,jbody ect.) and seeing how people reviewed them. I ended up getting a Dynomax Ultraflow 2.5 in/out 14inch body muffler and originally bought a 22inch magnaflow resonator but had to get an 18 incher because of fitment due to the flex pipe size. Its got a nice sound to it, quite at idle and has a nice comfortable tone for daily driving while cruising but has a little rasp above 5k rpm's at WOT. Which is perfectly fine with me for a daily driver considering I'm never above 5k rpm. A longer resonator or a non straight-threw muffler would help with the rasp but you can never get away from it with a N/A 4 cylinder
. So just look around, listen to videos and decide on what you want before you go spending money. As for stainless steel vs non piping, I went with non stainless because my last exhaust lasted 6 years without a problem and i live in chicago and do not plan to have my car for another 6 years.
This is just my .02 But do some research before you spend your money so you are buying what you wanted and not having to do it over and over again.
kinda want a canister style muffler....yes i said it,a fart cannon.something straight through tho.I had a borla boomer muffler on my old cav and i liked it but i traded it when i got my truck,still kicking myself for getting rid of it.
I would suggest a Borla XR-1.
Might be a little out of the price range for the JBO, lol but I have it on my car.
But my exhaust cost about $1800 turbo back .....
Definatly get one custom made. Any shop that's not a chain should do a good job and it'll fit better than any ebay one. Longer the glass pack resonator you put in the deeper the tone and the less raspy it'll be.
1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
1995 Mazda Miata R-package Class=STR
Sponsored by:
Kronos Performance
WPI Class of '12 Mechanical Engineering
WPI SAE Risk and Sustainability Management Officer
Schaffer wrote:kinda like this one http://www.amazon.com/UNIVERSAL-APEXI-N1-STYLE-MUFFLER-Performance/dp/B0035V9S04
Whats up with everyone and Amazon lately? Is it the new 'Ebay' or something?
I'm personally the guy of guy that doesn't like to buy anything premade. If I can personally make it or have it made, I will do it.
I also prefer to help local people than pay for cheap Japanese labor(no offense to Asians).
I probably spent more than what you would on one of those ebay kits but mine is also all custom 2.5" piping, high flow cat and a super turbo muffler. It appears stock-ish and has good sound.
"Oil Leak ? What oil Leak ? Oh, Thats Just The Sweat From All The HorsePower!!"
I'm gonna have mine made at the local shop. My buddy had his made there and its good work.
I'm thinking 2.25 piping should do and ill put a nice muffler on when I get the chance.
60 bucks for a custom 2.25 catback. Just gotta find a muffler.
Keep in mind that if you go to a muffler shop, the bends will physically make your piping smaller in diameter than the 2.25 size you're wanting.
I did this with my car and some of the sections of the bends were 1.75 in diameter.
I swore that I'd never have another muffler shop set me up with an exhaust for any of the cars I own and I've stuck to it.
Sure they may be cheap but are you actually getting that diameter you're wanting? Probably not.
I've since made my own exhaust having to hack and fab Atomics exhaust setup I bought from him some time ago. His work was great and an excellent foundation for me to finish up on an extremely free flowing exhaust that I can actually feel now while on the road.
Good luck with your exhaust and remember to go one size bigger than what you need to make up for the bends that take it all away.
Misnblu.com
Newbie member since 1999
Thank you Dave and JBO! 
Untrue for a real exhuast shop, my shop has a mandrel bender so I get full radius bends. If you go to some @!#$ty chain shop like minake or something yeah you'll get crush bends. Just make sure your shop will do mandrel bends or find another shop.
1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
1995 Mazda Miata R-package Class=STR
Sponsored by:
Kronos Performance
WPI Class of '12 Mechanical Engineering
WPI SAE Risk and Sustainability Management Officer
Untrue for a real exhuast shop, my shop has a mandrel bender so I get full radius bends. If you go to some @!#$ty chain shop like minake or something yeah you'll get crush bends. Just make sure your shop will do mandrel bends or find another shop.
1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
1995 Mazda Miata R-package Class=STR
Sponsored by:
Kronos Performance
WPI Class of '12 Mechanical Engineering
WPI SAE Risk and Sustainability Management Officer
Leafy wrote:Untrue for a real exhuast shop, my shop has a mandrel bender so I get full radius bends. If you go to some @!#$ty chain shop like minake or something yeah you'll get crush bends. Just make sure your shop will do mandrel bends or find another shop.
Agreed but most exhaust shops can't afford a mandrel bender, at least not anywhere near me which is kind of sad.
Big city folk (
) have more chances to have a shop that can do this kind of work and if so, that's where you want to go.
It's worth the extra money to have it done properly and you won't have to do it again.
Good luck man.
Misnblu.com
Newbie member since 1999
Thank you Dave and JBO!
Misnblu wrote:Keep in mind that if you go to a muffler shop, the bends will physically make your piping smaller in diameter than the 2.25 size you're wanting.
I did this with my car and some of the sections of the bends were 1.75 in diameter.
I swore that I'd never have another muffler shop set me up with an exhaust for any of the cars I own and I've stuck to it.
Sure they may be cheap but are you actually getting that diameter you're wanting? Probably not.
I've since made my own exhaust having to hack and fab Atomics exhaust setup I bought from him some time ago. His work was great and an excellent foundation for me to finish up on an extremely free flowing exhaust that I can actually feel now while on the road.
Good luck with your exhaust and remember to go one size bigger than what you need to make up for the bends that take it all away.
I asked about the bends...its not crush bent but not mandrel...but it is smooth.
