So I purchased a truck that has no exhaust on it, just headers.
I have been getting exhaust quotes in my small NorCal town, and they are trying to rape me. ($ 500. +)
So I am thinking about doing my own. Several places sell the pipe prebent and I can get a cat online for $60-75 and a cheap muffler for $40.
Is it that freaking hard? I just want to pass smog and get the truck on the road so I can work...

They arnt trying to rape you. It takes 2 hours+work to get a complete exhaust properly fitted, hung, and welded. And for dual exh, $500 aint bad...

It is difficult without the right tools (welder, bender, plasma cutter, etc.)

I don't have a problem paying for quality, etc, but these quotes are for coming off the header making a y into one single cat, cheap ass, non brand muffler and straight single pipe (no bling). I consider that being hosed since I can buy all the materials for about $120, and I don't get any bulk discounts, etc.

i did my exhaust from heads back to my rear tires for about $250, dynomax LT headers with 2 1/2" stright pipe bent and welded with a set of flowmaster 50 series. took me maby 3 hours to do the whole thing cuz i kept bending and checking. thats the real key to getting a nice exhaust, take your time and always mesure/check twice before you do the final welds.

mine was done on a 78 f150 with a 400 so i had alot of room to work with once i got past the t-case x-member. as for a cat i wouldnt run one unless its a DD and your truck needs it to pass inspection, my 78 didnt need it so i never got one but if i had to i woulda went to a pick-n-pull and cut the guts outof it. mufflers can be gotten for $30 if you run cherry bombs/class packs.

or you can find a better shop, my local shop down here will bend your pipe for $50-$100 no matter how long/difficult it is then you just bolt/weld it up and if it ever leaks or breaks you just roll up and tell em you got a problem and they fix it for free

I just did my CJ7, head pipe to tail pipe for about $250. New everything except the heat shields. I went on line and found the parts through checkers web site. everything fit as advertised and all bolted up just fine. No tube bender or welder in my tool inventory so i had to go with the prefabbed parts. do a search on line and see if you can just get the parts and then compair prices. after putting a replacement stock exhaust on i now know why people put on high performance exhausts. with the holey old exhause it ran better than with the new.

I just did my CJ7, head pipe to tail pipe for about $250. New everything except the heat shields. I went on line and found the parts through checkers web site. everything fit as advertised and all bolted up just fine. No tube bender or welder in my tool inventory so i had to go with the prefabbed parts. do a search on line and see if you can just get the parts and then compair prices. after putting a replacement stock exhaust on i now know why people put on high performance exhausts. with the holey old exhause it ran better than with the new.


i can make that stock exhaust run mean, get a drill and put a million holes in it :flipoff2: .

but yes stock exhaust is going to kill your motor if you got any kinda work into it, its just like a human, when your running you need to breath, imagin trying to breath thru a straw, the bigger the straw the better you will breath, but keep in mind if you go to big there wont be any back presure to help all the fuel burn in each cyclender so youll lose gas mileage and power.

i did a home brew job on my truck, weith pre-bent stuff figured out section at a time, wanst bad at all, however it did take me the better part of 4hrs to do it, and you need to be romantic with the sawzall

i dont like it however it is quite functional...

I appreciate the input. My dilemma is I bought a truck that had headers put on it and straight pipes on an 81 k5. Im in KALI and that's a big no no.
Now I have to try to get it to pass without drawing attention to myself.
I am told that my year has to merge as soon as possible and have only 1 cat and then either single or split again.

If I was you I'd go to a smog inspector and ask him exactly what the law says. You don't want to get it done only to find out that you failed because of headers. A lot of states won't let you modify anything in front of the cat.


Otherwise, start with a rough idea of where you want to exhaust to go, and work in short pieces.

I built my own from the manifolds back

http://berisford.net/uploads/cpom/projectpup/14/1.jpg

scroll to post #75 of this link
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=376653&page=2

If you are looking at doin an el cheapo job, just hit up your local auto parts and get some exhaust tubing and a cheap turbo muffler. I did mine from my down pipe back and i think it cost me about 100 bucks at the most.

The main part if you wanna do it yourself and dont have access to a bender, you need to plan out what bends you will need. Draw it out so you dont forget and go purchase the peices and either clamp them together or weld them. I personally weld all of mine i have ever done. It makes for a better seal if you weld correctly.

I paid a shop to do mine all the way out the back. They did a fairly decent job trying to get around my three link, but it didn't end up clearing when flexed in real trail use. I took it off and did my own short system tucked up tight and short with Supertrapps. It was a PITA, but at least it clears everything and it is surviving the rocks so far.