[nathanthepilot]

Okay, so here's the deal: I have recently acquired an 03 Aero Wagon that has 200k on the ticker, but is in pretty good shape! It has rusty exhaust piping where the down pipe meets the flex pipe. The guy doing my tranny needed to cut the pipe right behind the 2nd cat, but before the joint where the down pipe meets the flex pipe in order to facilitate the removal of the tranny.
So here is my dilemma (not really, but I want opinions here other than just re-welding the cut joint...)
1) I'm not finding anything in 3" down pipes for less than about $500 bucks. Most are in Europe and need to be shipped, which could take weeks. Maybe I can have one fabricated for fairly cheap? Has anyone here had a down pipe custom fabed?
2) The rest of the exhaust looks pretty good, but I was thinking I'd have the local muffler guy replace the piping from the 1st cat down to the 2nd cat in 3" tubing re-using the original cats, and continue the 3" piping all the way back to the main/rear muffler deleting the middle resonator from the system. Would this get as good of flow as say, an aftermarket exhaust that keeps the center resonator?
3) Noise level without the resonator... Would it be obnoxious, or just more throaty sounding? I'm not a ricer kind of guy.... Sporty is ok, but I don't want a hornets nest.

Any thoughts on what I should do, or should I just have him replace the rusty area piping with the stock size from the 2nd cat back to the resonator and save some $? He won't have an exact quote until I bring the car in.
Long term goals: I just had a (stage 1?) tune done on an ECU for 295hp/275lb torque that remains to be installed once the tranny proves to be ok. I might put in a cone intake and FMIC at some point. I plan on keeping this car for another 100k)

Thanks for all your $.02 Maybe I'll end up with $.20 when it's all said and done :lol:

 

[Cark]

GS downpipe and BSR is the only way to go IMO. 100% stainless and will easily last 100k+

If you want to save $$$ you can get the full JT system for around $600 and it just needs a cat added, but they have fitment issues and come with crappy hardware. The JT is aluminized and will not hold up as well with all the salt on the roads in New England.

You will have a really hard time having a custom exhaust shop build anything of superior quality for less $$$.

 

[nperkins]

honestly... i'd be upset if he cut my exhaust like that. I would have done what I do on most cars... Take the ENTIRE exhaust off in one piece.. You unbolt the downpipe from the turbo, unplug the o2 sensors, and pop all the hangers off...

I'm probably going to be doing something custom on my aero... just not sure what yet... Probably just going to buy a bunch of 3" piping, some bends, and whip something up in the garage...

 

[19016c]

Yeah I just bought the JT. The JT down pipe is actually stainless, its only the cat back thats aluminized steel. So you basically get a free 3" cat back with the JT, and you could always switch to something else later. This video of the JT single muffler on the 9-3 really sold me - although I went with the 2 muffler version.

 

[Jssaab]

I too have the JT downpipe on my 2000, its supposed to be alminized steel tho.

It has been on teh car for 70 k miles Lots of salt and snow in PA AN DC lately and is fine... DP don't rust as badly as a Cat back becase they get so dang hot. and most cat backs rust inside out too from moisture from condensate from burning fuel

 

[19016c]

This has been debated endlessly, but the JT website does list it as having a stainless dp.

http://www.jt-tuning.se/shop/default.aspx?lng=ENG&cur=EUR

Non-corrosive materials, chrome steel and SS304 stainless steel for long
Durability in all our downpipes.

 

[nathanthepilot]

I can have a local custom exhaust shop set me up with a really really nice complete exhaust for $750. Were talking 304 ss down pipe, new High flow cat (will be deleting one from the system) super nice flex joints in the 2 places and then aluminized steel the rest of the system. Also will include the 2 mufflers, both of which are high flow and will still keep the noise level down. He says deleting the first cat and the stock muffler will make a huge diff in flow. Does this sound fair? Now for figuring out how NOT to fill the wifey in on what I'm doing...;ol;

 

[nathanthepilot]

So looks like JT's cheapest system is 545 Euro's which comes out to about $750. That doesn't include the cat or shipping, or install. Looks like my local shop is a no-brainer. Scheduled the work for Friday if all goes well I'll putz on down to the shop and have it mounted up.

On a side note, I found some plastic pieces in the sump, which I'm not happy about. I may have a engine overhaul in my near future. I'll post a new thread in the workshop area.

 

[Cark]

JT system -cat is less than $600 from Genuine SAAB

 

[nathanthepilot]

JT system -cat is less than $600 from Genuine SAAB

Good point. For some reason it didn't occur to me that they would sell what JT is selling in Sweden. I'll have to think about this. I haven't done exhaust work before, and have never welded in my life. Does this one require welding, or are there just a boat load of clamps to put the pieces together? I'd be getting the "quiet" one if I got one. I'll have to weigh this in. A new cat will set me back about about $100 (or at least that's what the exhaust places are charging.) Not sure how I'd weld or clamp that in either. Have any of you guys put one of these in yourselves? hmmmm

Update: Okay, so eBay has cats for 45 bux shipped to my door. So everything together brings it up to $670.85 with the cat. I probably have to buy some sealant for the connections as I see the clamps in the pic now so +$5. So it boils down to whether I want to save $75 bucks and wait, or pay the $750 and have it done for me.

 

[19016c]

The cat has to be welded into the down pipe, and a bung welded in after it to accommodate the other 02 sensor.

The cat may not be necessary if your state does not perform a sniffer test, but if you are commuting every day in this car this is not so good for the environment. Most states are becoming more lax on this as all modern cars beginning with 1996 will show check engine light if the converter is not effective. There is a way to disable the #2 o2 sensor in T7suite.

 

[nathanthepilot]

The cat has to be welded into the down pipe, and a bung welded in after it to accommodate the other 02 sensor.

The cat may not be necessary if your state does not perform a sniffer test, but if you are commuting every day in this car this is not so good for the environment. Most states are becoming more lax on this as all modern cars beginning with 1996 will show check engine light if the converter is not effective. There is a way to disable the #2 o2 sensor in T7suite.

Hmmm. I guess at this point the local guy will get the business. I don't feel like messing with something that might not work right, or requires a lot of mods. If I failed emissions (which I think might just be a plug-in to the OBD II for this year) they might require an inspection to correct the problem. I don't feel like opening up a can of worms. At least if I have 1 cat, it should do the job.

Thanks for the replies everyone. It's helped me figure out the pro's and cons.

 

[Cark]

Everything I've heard about the JT is that it's a decent system, just plan on buying better clamps than what they supply and possibly doing a bit of cutting/bending to get everything to fit correctly. I would run a cat, and also disable the rear 02 sensor.

 

[nathanthepilot]

Sounds good. What doesn't take to disable the rear 02 sensor? Just a tech II programing? Any repercusions to doing that?

 

[19016c]

I just got my JT exhaust today. UPS did a number on it and the slip fittings were all dented. Most of the pipes i fixed easily, but the fitting from the down pipe to the cat back was pretty jacked. Fortunately I had a little bike tool to help me out. Placing it inside the pipe and then expanding it, i was able to get the thing back into round. Also, my dead blow hammer with rubber tip was very useful to avoid beating up the aluminum coating.

Amazon.com: Park Tool Compact Crank Puller: Sports & Outdoors

On the plus side, the exhaust is really quite nice and the down pipe seems stainless. Also the resonator is a nice straight through design. There is definitely no difference whatsoever between performance on the 2 muffler vs the single.

 

[19016c]

You need to use t7suite and the Deltawave BDM ($20) and some soldering pins ($5). You also need an old computer power supply or some other 12v switching power source. There may be members in your area who can give assistance.

 

[nathanthepilot]

Wow didn't k ow t7 could do all that! I thought it was a tech II job. Cool!

And sorry to hear about the botched UPS handling. I will be sure to post some pics up when mine is installed and maybe post a YouTube video of it. This setup I'm getting is BAD