while i was under my car playin with my tranny mounts to poly fill them, i noticed that my exhaust header and downpipe w/cat (all stock) look pretty rusted. from after that first cat on is mint. i don't know **** about exhaust, never played with or changed one in my life (my old Ford 91' T-Bird SC had a stainless steel exhaust, stock! man that thing was a beast....)

i also believe it is a significant problem because every once in a while i'll hear a cheesy honda-with-a-broken-exhaust sound coming from my car!! makes me feel pretty lame. if any1 could provide a link to some respectable companies that offer (in stainless steel) exhaust headers and/or catless downpipes i would appreciate it greatly. tia!

 

Sig.

 

my car's underwarranty =P just wondering why it's doin this though...

 

cause mild steel rusts...

 

wow well yea but in 21k miles?! kinda crazy. any1 know of some performance exhaust headers gm carries? perhaps ill upgrade after i get paid this weekend. k-train thanks for the input, i feel like a moron

 

You live in NY dude. Winter = rusted underbody. Mine's the same way (came from Michigan)

Precisely. Whatever brand you go with, make sure it's either stainless steel or ceramic coated. Both options prevent rusting.

 

haha i saw this title and the 1st thing that came to my head was... exhaust header as apposed to the intake header lol..

 

Vibrant makes an awsome stainless steel header and dp setup

 

Welcome to upstate NY where 2 winters ago the state used 934,000 tons of road salt during the winter. They dont keep a pile of salt 150 feet high in the port of albany for nothing. GMPP manifold and stock DP.

 

thanks for the replies. thing is... i haven't had my car in the winter yet! got in in march, came from connecticut, it hasn't seen a winter, not with me anyways. went on the road since april '07.

seeing as it still works and doesn't have holes, i'd be hard pressed to get chevy to replace it. i'll call them to see what they'll do, don't wanna mess up the warranty. any1 ever sand off the rust and use high-heat rustoleum??

 

The stock exhaust manifold is cast iron=rust. the stock cat/dp is not T304=rust.

If you want to avoid rust you need good 304 stainless or coated(not painted) parts.

 

so this wouldn't work? i think the exhaust can get up to 1400F if i remember correctly... damn. chevy will/should take care of it, we'll see.

 

You have nothing to worry about. Your car will die before you would need to replace your exhaust. unless you dont drive it

 

i highly doubt they're going to replace it, unless there is something actually wrong with it and causing the car to have problems. i had my stock dp replaced under warranty and that was because of a crack in the flex pipe. the only reason they replaced it was because the dp contains the cat which is part of the emissions. otherwise i would had to have replaced it on my own bill. the way they talked it seemed that the header and catback wouldn't have been replaced under warranty...

edit: check out the vendor clear image automotive. i recently installed their 4-1 stainless header and stainless dp w/cat. it's damn nice!

 

once i gte $$ i want to do these things... til then, stock as ever minus filled trannny mounts... arggg

 

I have a 89 thunderbird SC , but i would say go with the Clear image H-DP- Combo , my buddy had it on his car with the gmpp cat-back , it sounded bad A$$ !!

 

no ****! i had a red '91 SC. i loved that car, the way you could have it in 3rd @ 20, snap it to first be @ about 1700 rpms and it'll still jerk your head back with the massive torque...

yea, been doin research and if/when i get a new exhaust header/dp combo (with the cat) the clear image or vibrant stainless steel will be the way to go.