Exhaust won't stay on the car, Round II

[The Pirate]

Dammit, it happened again!!!

Last night, my exhaust separated itself from the car again (see my post in General Talk from a few weeks ago).  I had the exhaust fixed a couple of weeks ago.  The resonater was shot, as it dragged on the pavement when it broke originally, so they cut it out and put a glass packl in.  At the time I was half wondering what the car would sound like with just a glass pack. 

I didn't have high hopes as tiny 4 cylinders never sound good, but it was a cool though.


Well, my subconscious dream came true last night.  I was driving over to my parents house to take care of their animals (the joys of being the only one of their kids that still lives in the area, I'm the pet babysitter by default), and I hear a clunk and the car gets louder.  Not loud like an RPG hitting nearby, mind you, but definitely a rumble that wasn't there before.  I get to my parents house, pull in the driveway and get the back end up (used my jackstands this time, AutobahnSHO ).  The pipe has broken right by the rear suspension arm.  It broke a  couple inches behind a hanger, so the front portion is still A-okay, but that last part was just attached by the hangers for the muffler itself.  I took the muffler and broken pipe right off the car.  I'll get a chance to take a look this weekend.  It gets dark here about 5 pm now, and I'm not out of work until about 7, so it's something that has to wait til this weekend.


I'm on the fence about which way to go though.  My financial situation isn't too hot right now, so I'm leaning towards just cleaning everything up a bit and popping a coupler and some clamps in there (this I could do myself).  On the other hand, this is the second exhaust related problem in recent times, and if I'm going to be coupling and clamping a new section of pipe every few months, I'd just as soon replace the whole thing.  If I go that route, I'm going to look at a Magnaflow catback and an Apex'i World Sport 2 catback.  Both of these are all stainless, and supposedly free up a little hp and torque (I'm rocking 106 hp and 103 lb-ft right now, every little bit is going to help ).  More importantly, they are both barely louder than stock through most of the rev range, and have a pretty mellow sound, not ricey or farty or anything.



In the meantime, I have an exhaust that has a glass pack then a straight pipe back, finally dumping a bit ahead of the rear wheels.  It honestly doesn't sound as bad as I though it would, and it's fairly quiet too.  Even has a nice bark IMO. 


Hell, maybe I'll just keep it the way  it is.   

[sandertheshark]

Ricer.

[The Pirate]

Ricer.

They have this package deal on nopi.com that if you buy an exhaust you get free altezza tails and a big ass wing!


I can't wait.

[S204STi]

Magnaflows might be nice...any chance you can bend them 90* for a dual side exit thing?

[GoCougs]

I've been through many a do-it-yourself clamp-style exhaust system/repairs. There is never a substitute for welding in my experience.

The last time I did anything exhaust-related I had a local muffler shop weld on two OEM Mopar chrome exhaust tips (the nice big ones you see on '60s mopars) for about $30.

[S204STi]

I would die to have a good welder sometimes.   One of those nice MIG/TIG combo things that you can plug into your 110 outlet, and yet will still weld up to 1/4" steel.

[The Pirate]

Magnaflows might be nice...any chance you can bend them 90* for a dual side exit thing?

If I had a truck or something with a V8, I'd do the side exit thing, but not on a Honda.  I'd have to punch myself if I did that.  I am going to take a closer look at Magnaflows though.

I've been through many a do-it-yourself clamp-style exhaust system/repairs. There is never a substitute for welding in my experience.

The last time I did anything exhaust-related I had a local muffler shop weld on two OEM Mopar chrome exhaust tips (the nice big ones you see on '60s mopars) for about $30.

I agree re: the permanence of the clamps, however if I can do it myself and it lasts a year or so, I would be happy.  Probably worthwhile to get it looked at by an exhaust shop.  I'd take it back to the guys the fixed the resonator area, but I'm mildly annoyed that they didn't catch this. 

[S204STi]

Take it back one last time, point out that they missed this.  Who knows, maybe they will patch it for you!

[The Pirate]

Take it back one last time, point out that they missed this. Who knows, maybe they will patch it for you!

I don't think it's their fault or anything, and to be fair to them the area in which they were working was up near the junction of the manifold to the cat back portion of the exhaust, not the muffler area.  Just the same, had they mentioned it to me, I would have had it fixed right then.

Of course, I'm assuming that they noticed it too.  They very well may not have.  Regardless, it should be a cheap fix if I opt for that route.

[Danish]

Ricer.

Haha I was thinking the same thing.

Hope all this gets straightened out

[J86]

Hehe, sweet.  I'd keep it!

[AutobahnSHO]

Pfft.  Who needs exhaust??  Just keep the windows open.

Tough call, though, but you might be able to find someone to do the weld cheap.  If you really have to clamp it, do what you have to do.  But you'd probably be better off saving the money and getting it done right...

[The Pirate]

Yeah, I had my dad pull away in it last night, and stomp on the gas fairly hard, so I could listen from outside.  It's really not that loud at all, and I must say it sounds a hell of a lot better than the fart cans out there.

Reminded me a bit of an old Mini, it's kind of raspy.


I might go with it for a while, until I figure out what I want to replace it with.

[TheIntrepid]

They have this package deal on nopi.com that if you buy an exhaust you get free altezza tails and a big ass wing!


I can't wait.

Give M_Power a call I think he was interested.

[The Pirate]

Give M_Power a call I think he was interested.

sweet, group buy!

[SVT_Power]

Give M_Power a call I think he was interested.

Just because you have the package on your riced out Camry doesn't mean I'm interested

[sparkplug]

It may good idea to have the rest of the exhaust inspected to see how durable it's going to be included the headers.

[Danish]

Just because you have the package on your riced out Camry doesn't mean I'm interested

His Camry can out slalom whatever piece of crap you bring to the table....

[TheIntrepid]

Just because you have the package on your riced out Camry doesn't mean I'm interested

HEY ... the body kit was factory

Though you have to admit the SE model with its body kit and clean lip spoiler looks a whole lot better than the XLE, LE, or CE models.

[The Pirate]

No, no they all look equally plebeian.


Just like an Civic EX with the spoiler and sideskirts and all that is still a Civic.