I know everything costs more for nothing more than the fact that I live in New Jersey but is a chevy six with headers that hard to put an exhaust on. I was quoted 550 if i supplied the mufflers...I went back and made sure he wasn't quoting me stainless because he does a lot of work on old cars, lots of whom want stainless and the 550 was for regular ol steel.
no, I don't think your'e crazy but that guy must be at least half out of his freakin mind. All you're talking about is what, 2 straight pipes and then tails over the rear??I f that's all , he's nuts
split manifolds on a straight 6 are an unbelivable pain in the ass. Really. it will probably take the fella doing them as long to bend the pipe from the headers to just outside of the framerails-like any other dual exhaust on a V8-as it will to make the rest of the entire system.
i paid 300 for my entire exhaust from header collectors over the axle with regular mufflers.it is a V8 though
$175.00 Chevy six with headers, comes out behind rear wheels. This was two years ago in fl. Find you a Mex. shop with a tube bender.
Who was it that said they were going to post a tech thread on DIY mandrel-bent exhaust? Is that you, Mr. Blue? Thanks, Kurt
Take the hint. He either doesn't want to work for you. Or doesn't want to work on your car. Or is so far behind that he's quoting insane prices and skimming the most profitable work.
Just be glad you don't have to pay the "Corvette tax." My '95 LT1 coupe has stainless headers and stainless everything else from there on back. Had I paid full retail for all of it, it would have cost well over $2K. Fortunately the long tube headers, front connector pipes and high-flow cats were free, a perk from a specialty exhaust company for helping to sell a bunch of their Corvette headers. The rest I custom built and topped off with some sweet Corsa mufflers at the rear.
I'm just finishing a 59 Edsel wagon. 2" dual's with cheep Glass Packs out the back, $475.oo. Nothing fancy. I called around and he was nickles and dimes with the compatition. Some of the shops in Portland were as high as $600.oo for the same thing. The Wizzard
I take a tape measure to the auto parts store, find the right diameter pipe with lots of bends, go home, cut, weld, fit and get out for way less than $100
Going rate around Denver is $600.00 from the headers back...muffs included...and that's for a V8...wish I could find it cheaper...I've got a '55 Caddy to "exhaust"... R-
Custom exhaust on just about anything dueled out is about 3 to 4 hours at 65.00 a hour at my shop.Everything is custom bent for good clearance. Then theres pipe, hangers, clamps, tips, etc. It adds up fast. And dont forget most of the time you get what you pay for. I build one piece head pipes, and one piece tail pipes, not a bunch of shorts welded together.
A real PITA but a rewarding challenge when it's done. I would think that the area of NJ could be a big factor in the pricing. Shop rent in some parts of NJ would choke a guy from BF Egypt. I was getting 450 and up for easy duals with Flowmaster clones in my high rent neighborhood a few years ago.
The olle muff shop is gunna bend his own and crush the bends. buy the mandrel bends and diy. If ya can't weld that well at least tac it real well and take it to someone who can. I know of a custom job on a deuce big block, lotso work and totaled 4k. Customer didn't die. Really had no choice.
I just had 2 glasspacks installed,pipes re-routed, rear shock mounts fabbed,and shocks installed{i provoded shocks} for 203 bucks,on my 31 coupe i just bought.
i think the guy is trying to screw me cause A: he doesn't wanna mess with a I6 or B: i'm a kid and he thinks i don't know better. i talked to my uncle about this guy and he's done stainless systems on all their street rod buddies cars with mufflers for 500. i'd do it myself but my uncles seem shady about me doing it. i dunno why. i'd just run straights if it wasn't gonna be a daily and had QQ plates.
Hey Ryan, not suggesting that you do this, but if the car in question is your '53... just for a point of comparison... NCA has a complete exhaust setup available. Front to back complete-- including mufflers, hangers, fentons, you name it for like 600 even last I checked.
Location, location.... About 3 years ago, in Los Angeles county I paid $450 for a dual exhaust 2" aluminized steel pipes and generic glass pack mufflers over the rear axle out the back no chrome tips. Wasn't even mandrel bent.... The small town I am living in now seems cheaper for the exhaust I will need for my new chevy 6, in a few weeks. The hourly charge for some pros in any field is ridiculous in the big populated cities. Because they can ask for the maximum, they all do... However in the same big cities and with patience, you will always find somebody who can do it for much less and sometimes even better..... In the end, with todays and future rising gas prices and an exhaust system lasting for decades, even a 1/3 difference in price is irrelevant, after only one year of daily driving.
Probably because stainless is kind of a bitch to weld, and when you get a burn from stainless, you get a nice, deep, penetrating burn. the only other potential issue I see about you doing it yourself with mandrel bends is this-tube size...The smallest I can find locally is 2 1/4, and it takes a buncha bends to do a complete system-say around 10 or 12- at 19-25 bucks a peice, depending on who you buy them from...but with an inliner, you're probably going to want to stick closer to 2 inch-mabey smaller...and that puts you into the land of finding bends all over again. the good news is that the smaller pipes are much easier to run nice and tight against the floor. the bad news is...I don't know where to find 2 inch or smaller stainless bends. (DOES NOT mean they aren't out there...I have just never had a need for them.)
My exhaust is not cheap...but I don't have an exhaust shop. I have a custom shop, and we happen to do exhaust-which means it falls into the same labor category as say...dropping in a motor, or plumbing and wiring. The hours add up. However, I don't mark up my exhaust peices a ton, either.
I just sold a 57 chevy that needed exhaust and got a price of $500. and shopped around and had it done for $175. If it is pretty straight I goto Lowes and buy a fence poast for $10. bucks.
Those prices seem to be the norm for NJ. My buddy was quoted a price on his 57 Chevy exhaust, in stainless, by Bobby Ida, at $1500, and that was over 10 years ago! If you drive to Idaho, I'm sure you will spend a lot less. If you don't live in NJ, you don't understand. Nuff said.
<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on" width="100%"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">i just bought exhaust kit from jegs it is universal with lots of bends and straight pipe aluminized for 200 bucks.....then go weld it or clamp it </TD></TR><TR UNSELECTABLE="on" hb_tag="1"><TD style="FONT-SIZE: 1pt" height=1 UNSELECTABLE="on"> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
I'd say get a quote from someone to do just the downpipe fabbing because once it's under the car you can do it all. Getting around all of that mess of linkage isn't any fun, I'm working on that now with my 54.
We ordered a complete dual exhaust kit (Fenton headers, donuts, hangers, glass packs and all the pre-bent pipes from National Chevy Association for less than that for our 51. It fit perfectly
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