.... my 88 GTS turned into a Harley. I was composing an email to ya'll in my head asking for input on exhaust options. Ya see, the idiot that installed my cat did such a piss-poor job that it immediately blew the gaskets, creating a nasty exhaust leak. So, I was figuring that I might as well do a cat-back while I had it apart to reinstall the cat. I was gonna ask for the gang two questions: 1) should I just go all the way and go header back, and 2) is there any consensus on the best cat-back? I'm not interested in sound. I'm looking strictly for any possible performance gain - mandrel, straight thru, etc. Right as I was turning into my driveway, question 1 got answered. SOB header blew right off the EM, leaving the flange plate and bolts behind. Awesome sound, but not quite what I'm looking for, and the noticeable drop in power proved that some back pressure is desirable. So... what do folks recommend for a header-back exhaust system on a stock first gen 3SGE?
Go to a custom exhaust shop and get them to fab one up for ya....prolly be cheaper than anything else! At least get a quote so you can compare....
Been there done that. haha Infact, Rob is dealing with this problem on my brothers Gts Aswell. I believe there is a Bracket that bolts the downpipe to the Crossmember, Or something like that, Well if the bracket is not hooked up, Then the motor Move's While the exhaust dont, So when the Downpipe Heats up, The Motor Moves, The exhaust Cracks, Right there at the Flange for the EM and DP. BTW.. Exhaust shops will charge you 3-400 Just to Fix that problem.. Good luck
What it is, is a bracket that comes of the block that is shaped like the pipe. Then a hose clamp clamps it to it. So that when the engine moves it doesn't move forward of that point. They wanted to buy a whole new manifold to cat pipe and put it on. I was like fuck that I will go to u pull it and get one for 25 bucks and put it on my self. I only took it in there to see if they would repair it.
ive seen an hks kit although i dont know if its a full cat back but it runs about 450$ so it seems to me a custom would be cheaper
This pipe goes before the cat (as opposed to the 3sfe engine where the cat is right after the manifold) so the HKS cat-back system doesn't come into play w/ this. I tried several custom places, but most really didn't want to touch a 20-yr old car. I tried a Bosal (the only aftermarket pipe I could find) and the fit wasn't even close. None of the heat shields would fit, the hanger bars sucked compared to OEM, the pipe above the manifold flange wasn't close to being even, and the welds were complete crap compared to the Toyota pipe. I just replaced it w/ the pricey Toyota downpipe (got 20 yrs outta the first one, hope for 20 more from the second).
