Exhaust system cost

[moliva1568]

i have to replace the existing dual exhaust on the catalina. taking into consideration the length, how much would be reasonable? 1 place quoted me 750 from manifold back with flowmasters. another place was 500 from mufflers back with generic mufflers. what do you think?
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[MagicRat]

$500 is a good price, under the circumstances.

Usually, for most cars, muffler shops can simply use prefabricated pipes and simply bolt them up. However, given your cars extra length this is not possible. They will have to reform some pipes in their shop, which sometimes can get a bit pricey.

Chances are, they can use preformed tailpipes, which saves some work, but the rest will have to be fabricated.

Ask them to install an H-pipe, approximately where the back of the transmission is. This pipe connects the two exhaust pipes and reduces exhaust noise slightly and increases torque a bit. An H-pipe looks like the picture found on post #2 of this page. (click here).

Flowmasters are expensive and noisy. They are more of a specialized piece for high performance cars. Your stock 455 does not produce all that much power, so if you are already using a dual system, you will see virtually no performance benefit going with Flowmasters.

The Flowmaster noise may be a personal choice but, over the years, I have had plenty of performance (noisy) mufflers on vehicles. Unless you really get off on a rumbling sound, they are simply annoying, especially on long drives. I stopped finding such noise appealing after I turned 30.

[moliva1568]

it would definitely be for sound as opposed to performance. i wouldn't get like the super 44. most likely it would be the 3 chamber 50 series to reduce interior noise. I had a gibson exhaust on my dodge ram and got used to it over time. loud music helps with that. i still have a few months till 30 so i have an excuse.

on another site, professionalcar.org (which you put me on to if i remember correctly), a few guys on there have said that they got dual exhausts put on their hearses with flowmasters for average $400 from the headers back. my concern is that being in NY, especially the NYC area, i end up getting hit with an inflated price. what do you think?

[MagicRat]

Regarding their $400.... it's easier to fabricate intermediate pipes that connect to their headers than it is to your manifolds.
I would suggest to shop around some more. Like any custom work, like home renovations etc. custom exhaust work ends up having very variable pricing. Some guys make an educated estimate based on time and materials; others simply size you up and guess on how much money you will agree to.
So you may be able to find a better price elsewhere.

But if you still do not want to pay for duals, consider a big single exhaust.

Dual exhausts are often not the best solution. Duals became popular in the early days of the V8 because mufflers were restrictive and the V8 was easy to use with duals because of the dual exhaust manifolds.

But dual exhausts have problems. They are heavier and more expensive than a single exhaust pipe.
Also, they are faster to corrode form the inside because the exhaust pipes stay cooler. The corrosive moisture in the exhaust gases will condense, because there is much more pipe wall to cool things down.
Also, duals produce more resistence to flow from friction. A large diameter single exhaust flows better, if all other factors are equal.

So, if you are going to pay for Flowmasters, consider getting one BIG flowmaster, with 2.5 inch inlet and outlet. Then custom make a big single exhaust pipe, using 2.5 inch tubing. Note, I think that the stock single exhaust on your car was 2.25 inch. And if you remember basic geometry (pi), even a modest increase in pipe diameter, (like quarter of an inch) considerably increases flow potential.

A single exhaust will cost less than duals and will last longer. It will easily flow enough for your engine and have a good sound.