Resonator Replacement

Hello. I have a 2002 Grand Prix GTP and I would like your advice. I've read the previous threads on exhaust system but was not able to find an answer to my question. Rust is starting to eat away at my car's resonator along the seam and now there are gaps. Rather than replacing my exhaust system (it is one singular piece) because the mufflers and the pipe are still good, I was thinking about just cutting out the old resonator, but is welding the new part to the exhaust pipe the only good option? I took my car to Midas, but they won't wield it. Instead they recommend that I get a whole new exhaust system. If so, I can install the new exhaust system myself.

If wielding is not necessary, can I just use exhaust clamps to connect the resonator's end to the exhaust pipe? Are there adaptor parts that is needed between the new resonator and the old pipe?

If you also think that I should just go with a whole new exhaust system, what cat-back system would you recommend? I would like my car to be quiet as possible. Thanks.

You can get a glasspack and clamp it in place of the factory resonator.

My '98 was having the same issue. Coincidentally, my heat shield above the resonator was loose and rattling around up there. So what I did was I went to the auto parts place and got some muffler goo for repairing exhaust leaks and I got a couple of huge hose clamps from the hardware store. Then I loaded up the inside of the heat shield with the muffler goo and clamped it to the side of the resonator right over the seam as shown in the photo. I waited a day for the muffler goo to cure and fired it up. Perfectly quiet! It's been that way for a couple of years now. You can get some sheet metal at the hardware store in the furnace parts area and create something similar. Easy to do.