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Originally Posted by Hobbs
Let me ask what may be a stupid question. By converting a car with a cat. converter to dual exhaust would you just run 2 cat. converters? My experience has been with all pre cat. converters back when I was young so never thought about a modern true dual exahaust. I kind of excepted that the cat. converter did away with the benifits of a dual exhaust.
Interesting idea though, I was going to add a cat back flowmaster anyway but would love a true dual exhaust system. (let that thing really breath)
Hobbs
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That's a tough one, legally. Laws vary state to state, so you'll have to ask an exhaust shop in your area about it. Many shops around here (RI) are very hesitant to modify anything before the cat, or the cat itself, due to our emissions laws. My state does emissions testing every two years, until the vehicle is 25 years old. The guy I go to doesn't really care what's on or off the truck, as long as it passes the sniffer test.
That said, here's what I just completed doing on my 87. I had the emissions done last year, which means it's good until '07. About three months after that, the original converter popped out the little plug on the bottom, causing a major leak. I didn't have the money to do much about it at the time, so I bought a section of 3" diameter pipe at the parts store, cut out the cat, and welded the straight pipe in place. Right after that, the y-pipe started rotting at the flange that attaches to the manifold. I priced out a whole stock replacement exhaust with a converter and a Flowmaster 50 series muffler, and it came in right about $350-$400. That was with me doing the work (which I always do anyway).
I then searched around for dual exhaust options, and found a Flowtech pipe system on Ebay for $99 shipped. True duals, no converters, no mufflers, but it had all the mandrel bent pipes, clamps, and hangers I needed. I bought a set of Flowtech Raptor mufflers to go with it, and installed the whole thing. Sounded OK, but a little unbalanced as a true dual system. So, I bought an h-pipe setup from Summit Racing, and added that in before the mufflers. It balanced out the sound, added some low end grunt, and I'm happy with the sound and quality of the system.
I still have no converters, but I have plenty of space to add them in right near the manifolds where they belong. My plans are, later this year, to buy a couple of high flow converters (they're on Ebay all the time for $40 or so), and a couple of Flowmaster 40 series mufflers, which are also on Ebay all the time fairly cheap (with the converters and h-pipe, the current muffs won't have the sound I want), and add that to the system. I'll then be emissions compliant, have a true dual exhaust with an h-pipe, and a kickass sound.
I've seen systems for the big blocks on
www.summitracing.com,
www.jegs.com probably has them too. Same as mine, they're 2 1/4" pipes, all hardware, but no mufflers. I think they're about $125 or so. If you want true duals, and can do it yourself, this is really the way to go. Add some converters and Flowmasters to it (if I had to do it again, I'd have waited until I had the money to buy everything), and the h-pipe from Summit, and you've got yourself a nice system for around $350.