[hazards280]

Hey guys, I just left the muffler shop and some things went a little differently than I had planned. I ordered a 2.25" SS X-Pipe of Ebay which come pretty much across the board as 12" long. When they put the car up on the hoist they said that the exhaust size at the front of the mid muffler looked to be 2.5" and that at the rear it was 2.25". They then recommended that I replace the resonators instead of the mid-pipe as it would A.) Look better (No welded on pipe) and B.) Would make the sound a little more controlled.

$100 later (I know, I was shafted. They charged me an hours labor and $16 for each band clamp so $32 dollars there) They cut the resonators off and put the x-pipe in its place. They welded the x pipe on the section to the front of the vehicle and used band clamps on the back section.

Now for the results....I really don't notice too much of a difference. In fact it may just be my mind telling me there is a difference. It still has that deep growl but I don't notice that exotic sound everyone speaks of.

I will say however, all drone that was left before is now gone.

What is your guy's opinion? Am I basically screwed or would I have to have someone reinstall the resonators and then cut the mid-muffler and install some pipe in there?

 

[Shift12]

They should have installed the x where the mid muffler was. The sooner the exhaust gas scavenges inside the X pipe the better result.
As far as piping size is concerned the GT is 2.25 until you get past the mid muffler

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[hazards280]

Well ****....I'm not a happy camper haha. Let me post up a video of startup and get an opinion. I don't have a great one of it with just the Axleback to compare it to.

EDIT: I found a video. Time to get this iMovie stuff to life.

 

[Slizzo]

Not to mention, the stock mid muffler allows gas mixing as well. And for $100 they should have welded everything and not used band clamps.

 

[MeanGreenZ71]

I bought a member's midpipe a couple weeks ago. He had the Magnaflow X-pipe muffler welded in place of the midmuffler and the resonators replaced with pipe. I think it sounds perfect with my Pypes axlebacks. It has literally no drone, quiet when cruising, and growls pretty good under acceleration.

Here is how mine was mounted:

 

[hazards280]

 

[2lazy4agoodname]

Um No. Go buy someones stock midsection and start again. This time go to a better shop.

here is my comparison vid

The X pipe is one of my favorite mods done to the car (thank you slizzo).

 

[Slizzo]

Um No. Go buy someones stock midsection and start again. This time go to a better shop.

here is my comparison vid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFVf0qFdvb4

The X pipe is one of my favorite mods done to the car (thank you slizzo).

Not a problem man. God knows we did enough work to get it on your car. :wink2:

 

[hazards280]

Um No. Go buy someones stock midsection and start again. This time go to a better shop.

What's your opinion on having them replace my mid-pipe with straight pipe? Now that I think about it a little more, that would essentially just be straight pipes. I kept my resonators, so maybe they could weld them back in place and put the mid-pipe where I wanted it before. :slap:

 

[2lazy4agoodname]

What's your opinion on having them replace my mid-pipe with straight pipe? Now that I think about it a little more, that would essentially just be straight pipes. I kept my resonators, so maybe they could weld them back in place and put the mid-pipe where I wanted it before. :slap:

You could have the shop chop out the X pipe and weld the resonators back in place and then chop off the mid muffler and weld in the X pipe. Personally I would not do this though. With that many chops and welds you are asking for leaks.

I still would rather start out with a new midpipe. I'm sure that you could find a local g8 owner with an aftermarket exhaust and purchase their mid pipe for next to nothing. Then Buy a new X pipe on amazon or ebay for like $40 and get what you really wanted. And DO NOT go back to that shop..

Here is a pic of what it should look like when done correctly.

 

[BLKG8]

I have a magnaflow x pipe muffler style up for grabs in the for sale section.

http://www.g8board.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68887

 

[hazards280]

Okay guys, I went up to my parents for Easter and put the g8 up on my dads hoist to see what I could do with this and noticed I have a small exhaust leak coming through one of their band clamps. Under closer inspection there is just a small amount of pipe truly going into the band clamp. I am not happy with the way the install happened nor am I happy with the fact that I spent $100 on nothing essentially.

The band clamps appear to be about 4" long and SS.

As far as muffler shops there isn't one in my area that isn't shady as hell so going to a better one isn't really an option. The place I went to is a local plain old auto repair place but well kept.

What's your opinion? I plan on going back to the leak fixed but really don't like the band clamps. I'm pretty sure they said they used them because I had a SS x pipe and it wouldn't weld to the exhaust.... They also messed up the alignment of my tips by doing it this way. Damn I'm annoyed. Honestly, I'm going to see about a refund and traveling somewhere to do it. I don't know anywhere that I trust with my car though

 

[2lazy4agoodname]

Maybe just get an MBS midpipe?


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[brentsten]

I dropped my mid muffler and resonators and just put in an X with additional pipe to make up the length. I originally did it myself with clamps, but went back and had it welded later for $35. My X is also stainless and the shop had no issues welding it. The lack of change in tone is because you're still using the stock mid muffler.

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[hazards280]

So I just went back to the shop and they said there is nothing they can do, then I went to a highly regarded muffler shop a little ways from home. They said there is nothing they can do with the exhaust because of the welds and some other things. I guess at this point I can't even explain how pissed I am at how this has turned out.

I guess I am going to call Solo Performance and see what a it would cost for a cat-back system excluding the axleback as I already have those.

Arg.

 

[2lazy4agoodname]

http://www.mandrelbendingsolutions.com/servlet/the-807/Pontiac,-G8,-SS,-Stainless,/Detail

 

[hazards280]

http://www.mandrelbendingsolutions.com/servlet/the-807/Pontiac,-G8,-SS,-Stainless,/Detail

I'll read into some reviews and see how loud this is and how much drone it creates

 

[2lazy4agoodname]

It should be just about as loud as it would've been with the mid muffler cut out. The only thing this piece doesn't have is the resonators. There will be no drone if you have the solo J's.

 

[brentsten]

If you still have the stock GT mufflers, you won't have any drone. I have zero drone and it's just a tad louder than stock inside the cabin. This is with LTs, no cats, no mid muffler, no resonators. Just an X-pipe. If you're ever in the Detroit or Ann Arbor area, shoot me a PM and I'll let you take it for a drive to see how it sounds.

On another note though, you could just have a shop cut and drop before your mid muffler all the way to the end of where your X currently is, eliminating what the first shop did. Reweld your X where the mid muffler should be, and add extra pipe after to make up the length to the axle area. Does that make sense?

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[BLKG8]

Not sure why the new "reputable" shop cant do the work for you. All they have to do is cut the old x pipe out, cut the mid muffler out, add some more pipe, and weld it all back up. Not very complicated. Try another shop lol