[soupnutz]

So my car just failed a state inspection for the mufflers being cracked and having holes in them. I have a bassani catted x pipe and bassani catback exhaust. This is the only mustang exhaust I've ever dealt with and the intermediate pipe looks like its built into the muffler with the tail pipe being clamped on. The exhaust shop I went to quoted me at $300 for their cheapest piece of crap mufflers/labor ranging up to $500 for flowmasters/labor, mind you this is only the mufflers, not a whole kit. He also quoted me a $100 installation fee if I provided the cat back kit, (I would do it myself if I bought that). He didn't tell me his price on the muffles but do you think they charge more to patch muffles into an existing set-up then to install a whole new one?

Just trying to figure out if I should buy the mufflers myself and have them do the install, or just buy one of these two kits and install myself. Which one of these two do you guys think will sound better with stock exhaust manifolds and the catted x pipe?

Amazon

Amazon

[96-GT_Josh]

shop cost for flowmasters is around 55 so they are problably marking them up to 80 each so they make profit. labor is around 70-85 / hr depending on the shop so yeah they are way over charging you.

i know because i used to work at an exhaust shop as lead fabricator (we did custom mandrel bent stuff) and those are the prices i would charge.

and it would only take about an hour for me to do both mufflers so your looking at 80 labor and 160 mufflers. so 240 for flows. unless they are doing the mid-pipes too then your talking maybe 80 for the pipe and flanges and h. plus another hour and a half. so for that the bill would be 440 plus tax. seems right.

i would just buy a system if the price is right and do it yourself. now i dont no if va is like md but if you spend so much on repairs they give you a waiver.

[97S281]

I would cut out the existing mufflers with a sawzall or hack saw ( The hack saw route works but it sucks.) and put the new ones in yourself. You can use clamps and sleeves on the new ones or you can weld them in like a shop if you have the know how.

[1989Gt.]

Just switch out the two mufflers

[soupnutz]

Originally Posted by 97S281 I would cut out the existing mufflers with a sawzall or hack saw ( The hack saw route works but it sucks.) and put the new ones in yourself. You can use clamps and sleeves on the new ones or you can weld them in like a shop if you have the know how.

Is that pretty much all there is to it? Cut the front pipe and use a sleeve with two clamps, then the rear is already a slip on, so pop it on with a clamp?
Looks like two decent mufflers are going to run about $90 a piece, plus the hardware, pretty sure I've seen most of it at auto zone.

Got to think about it, I'm not looking to spend a lot but I still dont want some pieced together crap if I can get something decent for a little more.

[97S281]

Totally up to you. You can always go the cheaper route initially to get past the inspection then have them welded in later when you have the money.

[soupnutz]

So I wound up going with the magnaflow setup. Amazon had one with a damaged box for $260. Not too bad considering the same thing on most site is $500+. Only problem I had was the driver side muffler had the hanger welded on backwards and non of the included tailpipe brackets fit. After I installed it I took it to the exhaust shop had them throw a few tacks on it, weld a hanger onto the muffler and fab up some brackets for the tailpipes.

Quality isnt as good as the Bassani it replaced but it's a nice exhaust. Sounds is pretty good. The old one had a deep exotic sound, the magnapacks have a nice deep sound at idle and cruising, but when you get on it they sound nasty, in a good way.