emeraldlion Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 There is a fairly local exhaust shop. Does custom exhaust. Only place I have foudn that will do mandrel, but does not bend their mandrel in house, just buys pre done and cuts it to fit. I asked for 2.5 inch with two flex pipes off headers, 2 resonators, a y-pipe, and single 3 inch after y pipe to a magnaflow muffler in stock position. I was quoted 2500 for stainless and 1800-1900 for aluminized. Shnickies! Is this right? I really do not have the skill yet to do this myself, but at this cost I may have to. Or switch to crush bent cheapo system. Their wasn't any custom tuning in this system, guy is not credentialed or work with race teams, he is just a custom exhaust guy. Anyone know somewhere in DFW that may be more reasonable? I am in Mckinney. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 DAMN! There is a local guy here that would do it for less than half that, and do a nice job as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger280zx Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 I bought all of my bends (2.5" aluminum) shipped to my front door for $80. I assume you could do the same (but with stainless if thats what you have to have) buy your mufflers and have a competent shop weld it up for you for $1000 or less. I have under $250 in mine, but I'm a cheap a$$... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 This 240Z TIG welded exhaust including the custom Y pipe, Borla muffler, hardware, and installation was $1,300 at my shop. Mild steel .049" wall 3". Took 9 hours to build and install (including header install). That was 5 years ago and the car is still winning races with VARA. Some info: 25 tube junctions that needed to be measured, marked, cut, squared, and deburred after each cut. 25 welds that needed to be butted together (square) and fixed in place for tacking. 25 TIG welds at 9.42" per weld = 19.63 feet of total weld - NO drop through or MIG whiskers in the exhaust. At least three complete assembly/installs to check fit before final assembly. Anti-seize on all the fasteners and the slip joints so the come a part again quickly at the race track. Stainless (304) T-Bolt clamps for the slip connections. Good flange gaskets (not the crap from Pep Boys) and new bolts, washers, and metal lock nuts. New hangers that are mounted in the correct place on the chassis with new bolts, washers, and metal lock nuts. New muffler clamps (only used for mounting to the hangers) that actually fit a 3" tube and don't damage or crush it. That's the attention to detail you get for the money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emeraldlion Posted May 5, 2012 Author Share Posted May 5, 2012 I completely understand John, and I would expect that price at your level of expertise. This current shop I am toalking about doe not have your race proven experience and knowledge. Just a guy that does good welds and work for hot rods. No custom y pipe, he just quoted me a "y pipe 2.5 into 3". I did not go into it expecting a full custom exhaust for 500 bucks, but at the same time I wasn't expecting a 1900 quote on aluminized. I suppose if this hobby was cheap there wouldn't be so many of us learning to do DIY, but for the price I was quote I would expect a more thorough knowledge and background from the shop other than a few nice looking chevelle's and 32 fords. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 I wish I could charge $1,900 for an L6 exhaust! Maybe in stainless... One of the issues with high end hot rod and race shops is that they get a certain hourly rate for a lot more complicated work then an exhaust. They want to maintain that rate for all their work and thus exhaust work gets pretty expensive if that's the only work being done on a car. If they are already doing tens of thousands of dollars of work on a car, then a custom exhaust becomes cheaper and is sometimes thrown in for material costs only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emeraldlion Posted May 5, 2012 Author Share Posted May 5, 2012 The shop also told me they might have my car for as much as a week. I suppose need to stop, just wanted to vent. Needless to say I am now looking for other options in the Dallas area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letitsnow Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 Find somewhere else, I wouldn't be surprised at a quote of $1k though. I built my own exhaust for my LS1 FC RX7(and my Z, but that was easy in comparison). 2.5" true dual with an X pipe and magnaflow mufflers. It took me probably 20 hours to do and almost $500 in materials. For someone a bit more experienced, 10-12hrs would be more appropriate, with a shop rate of $50/hr that's about $1k. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 2.5k for a magazine quality job. It had better be noteworthy at that price. I did a pretty decent job on my own and I have easily $500 in parts and pipe with custom hangers and reflective, SS heat-shielding. I could see spending at lot in labor with ALL the details well thought out and executed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ModernS30 Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 Three words - Mandrel Bend Solutions. They've got ebay, they've got a website, they sell builders kits, they sell stainless, they sell aluminized, they sell individual bends, and much much more. I bought the 3" aluminized kit and did my L6 exhaust myself with a MIG and it was fairly easy with their kit. It's no race exhaust, but the bends are pretty good quality and it was very affordable. I've got under $200 in my exhaust with the $50 muffler. (Thrush Welded 3" In 3" out) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt_w Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 (edited) I called around to a lot of shops, and they all had ridiculous prices and bought pre-made bends. I ended up spending $200 or so in raw materials and did it myself. Really polished my welding skills while doing it. Did dual 2.5" into a generic y-pipe with a 3" out, magnaflow muffler and electronic bypass valve. The welds aren't pretty, but it doesn't leak. I can see something like this costing a lot to have professionally done, it took a lot of hours to finish. Edited May 7, 2012 by matt_w 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.