ZW 944

My problem: Being the knucklehead I am, I decided a few months ago to exchange the cat on my '87 NA for a straight pipe. I am unhappy with the sound, smell, and the fact that it leaks like a sieve (which adds to both of those previously mentioned) After having done some research, I find that The backpressure actually benefits the N/A 944s.

My initial thought was to take the exhaust system to the shop, and get it all welded back together. The only problem with this is that during the cat removal, about 1 and 1/2 inches of exhaust pipe were cut off and thrown away. Not to mention that the shop was going to charge $160 for prep work, and welding. I don't think it would be a good idea to weld in a section of a different type of metal due to different expansion/contraction characteristics.

This brings me to the topic of my thread. The Lindsey exhaust. I was thinking of going with the Magnaflow muffler, and cat. I would go for the pre-muffler as well, but I'm guessing that this goes in place of the cat.

What I am looking for in an exhaust system:
-Sounds good but not too loud or ricey
-durable, long lasting

I realize that the backpressure would be decreased as compared to the 2.5" exhaust with cat, but I'm happy with the low end torque as it is with no cat on

Does anyone have expierence with this system? I have done buisness with Lindsey Racing before, and have been satisfied. Are there any other options that I am completely missing?

Reimu

Borla xr1 is the best muffler for the 944.

Yeah that is an opinion, but listen to it compared with the others.. there is no real comparison.
3inch exhaust will just make everything louder and lose more low end torque, 2.5 is really as high as you should go in n/a form.

I believe the stock exhaust is 2.25

schwank

Depends on street or track. For street, don't go over 2.5" or as Cam said you will lose the low end. But for all track use, 3" is fine. The system I use (Fordahl Motorsports 3") also has a small resonator in the center section. Greg says it adds some mid-rainge torque compared to a straight pipe on the dyno.

ZW 944

Where might one go about getting a 2.5"/2" exhaust system for his car? Would it need to be fabbed up? I'm on a *somewhat* limited budget, and would rather not pay for more labor.... but then again, I'm really a newb when it comes to muffler shops, and exhaust making.


Edit: sorry for the mentioning of the exhaust diameter being 2.5" as it is really 2", or 2 1/4 between the cat and the flange

Rogue_Ant

Cars needing backpressure is a misnomer...
Backpressure is always bad, what you want is velocity... But that is another discussion.

You should look for a stock turbo exhaust that someone is getting rid of. It is 2.5" and high flow muffler.


-Rogue

944CS

On a stock N/A, the lindsey 3" is completely unnecessary and you will lose horsepower/torque. If you want more sound you can open up the flow through the stock muffler, about a a few inches into the muffler are 4 tabs that only let a small amount of flow through.

If you want a nice sound, you will have to use 2 devices to quiet the sound. Otherwise the car will have a tractor like tone no matter what free flow muffler you use.

ritzblitz

I had the lindsey 3" and borla xr1 on my car and it sounded like crap. It made me feel like i was going faster though ha.

ZW 944

Sound is definentally an issue. Having listened to sound clips from youtube of both the Borla, the Magnaflow, Flowmaster, and B&B, I preferred the B&B first, and the magnaflow second. I went to B&B's site but the only option is to buy the cat-back exhaust, however I need the cat section as well...Plus they were super expensive.

In terms of sounding like crap, was it just the exhaust note that was bad, how loud it was, or both?

ritzblitz

Loud and ugly sounding. NA 944s are so hard to make sound decent i think. My car has msds headers, 3" pipe back to the cat section, long resonator in place of the cat, and finally the stock cat back section with a modified muffler. It sounds decent.

luftpirate

In general 3" exhaust is way too large on any mild to stock form 4cyl. The only gains over a smaller diameter system would be seen on a 1/4 mile track, but what is the point of building an 944 NA for the 1/4?

ZW 944

Yeah, this is a street only car. Quarter mile times are of no real importance to me.

What would be a good alternative to the lindsey setup? I'm looking for a quality exhaust with catalyic converter, a good sounding muffler, with 2 in or so diameter pipe. Price range would be $600 or so max for everything.

With all these parameters am I looking at a custom setup?
Can the B&B muffler be purchased seperate without the whole catback?

and on a side note, ritzblitz, is it required that the camshaft housing come off before you can install msds headers? As of yet I've only taken the headers off with the cam housing off, never tried with it on.

Reimu

That's almost exactly what I was planning as a "while you're in there" thing.
Do you have any sound clips or vids?

thirdgenbird

i love my dansk catback. full stainless, nice looking, a little more noise than stock, mellow sounding, tiny bit more flow, and best of all $300

ritzblitz

No, I don't. It still doesnt sound good enough to bother posting a sound clip. I'll be home from school this weekend, maybe I'll take a video or something...

You don't need to remove the cam tower. However, the header will benefit from a bigger cam.

Removing and installing the header is kind of a pain. Use SS bolts to make it easier instead of studs. Off the top of my head I'm guessing it's M8 but I can't remember.

ZW 944

If it were me I wouldn't switch from studs and nus to bolts, I remember reading a thread on rl in the past in which someone described how bolts apply more stress to the aluminum head, whearas studs will take off some of the stress when used.

Where would one even go to get an exhaust system fabbed up for them? I would not take a liking to taking my car to the corner shadetree shop. I did a google search and pulled up a few results mostly far away. I would need a local shop...