aluminum cat-back Options

[angrymike]

i want to build one. if anyone is interested in getting one done and is anywhere near savannah, ga, hit me with a pm.

[phonex98]

may i ask what the advantages are ?

[bccentaur3]

One advantage I could think of is the fact that is would be light. It should perform just like any catback exhaust, just way lighter.

[Bitter]

it'll sound different too, aluminum is less dense and in of itself would dampen some noise.

[bccentaur3]

If its going to dampen the noise and perform good, why not? I'm not into a loud exhaust anyway, man I wished I lived in georgia right now.

[Bitter]

it wont be a huge difference, just will sound different. like when your exhaust is cold vs when its hot.

[bccentaur3]

I have never seen or heard of an aluminum exhaust system ever. The cold sound hmmm. I get that a lot in minnesota.

[dans_st]

do you think that the aluminium will hold up to extened time at high temperatures, als oyou would want your exhaust to stay hotter to help scavenging hence the reason for stainlees steel piping and ceramic coated headers, all to keep the exhaust gasses hotter.
-Daniel

[presure2]

yea, i think aluminum would be a bad choice for an exhaust.

[angrymike]

well, people probably thought that the wheel was stupid at first too.

there are tons of people already doing it. the only catch is that you can't really run near the engine. the higher exhaust temps near a turbo or the engine will kill the aluminum pretty fast.

its not going to be as strong as a stainless counterpart, but it will be strong enough.

the exhaust should have more of a howl to it, but its not going to be any louder they a stainless ehxuast. if you using the same muffler and pipe routing, there shouldn't be an effect on noise. just the tone.

i would think you could probably shave off 20~30 lbs on a full system. thats some serious weight.

i would do the first one for around $650. that would include pipe, muffler and 3 v-band clamp sets. so not only will it be light, it will be quick disconnect as well.

this is one time thing though as far as the price goes.,

if anyone is thinking about doing this from out of town, it should only take one day to build (10-6) as long as everything is ordered ahead of time.

its nice this time of year in georgia

This post has been edited by angrymike: Apr 11, 2007 - 7:49 AM

[99GT]

Damn man... I'm out of money scooping up parts! I guess I'll just have to lose about 30 lbs to make the difference. Again if only Doc and Mike were closer!

This post has been edited by 99GT: Apr 11, 2007 - 10:47 AM

[presure2]

well, people probably thought that the wheel was stupid at first too.

there are tons of people already doing it. the only catch is that you can't really run near the engine. the higher exhaust temps near a turbo or the engine will kill the aluminum pretty fast.

its not going to be as strong as a stainless counterpart, but it will be strong enough.

the exhaust should have more of a howl to it, but its not going to be any louder they a stainless ehxuast. if you using the same muffler and pipe routing, there shouldn't be an effect on noise. just the tone.

i would think you could probably shave off 20~30 lbs on a full system. thats some serious weight.

i would do the first one for around $650. that would include pipe, muffler and 3 v-band clamp sets. so not only will it be light, it will be quick disconnect as well.

this is one time thing though as far as the price goes.,

if anyone is thinking about doing this from out of town, it should only take one day to build (10-6) as long as everything is ordered ahead of time.

its nice this time of year in georgia

this is true, mike
didnt mean to come off as downing you or anything, hope no offence was taken.
good to see people willing to fabricate nice stuff like this.
if this were 2 yrs ago, i would be interested in seeing you work your magic on a full stainless setup for the 5sfte.
as it ended up, i had a local guy weld up some compression bent 3" pipe for me.
its adequate, but not nearly as nice as what your talking about, no v-bands, or sweet tig welds, either.

[angrymike]

no offense taken here.

i thought it was a little wierd when i first heard of it too.

aluminum exhaust has been out for quite a while. first one i saw was on an early 90's covette. it had tunable mufflers and a full cast aluminum exhaust. it was pretty crazy.

i soon after started seeing super crazy cars running them.

i have a buddy that has made a couple. hes not a very good aluminum welder, so they kinda looked like crap.

aluminum is my favorite thing to weld, so i would prefer to make exhaust out of it.

[playr158]

better idea...............titanium exhaust LTW and strong

[angrymike]

better idea...............titanium exhaust LTW and strong

that would be pretty fun but......

one pound of titanium tig welding rod is $100 with a miumum order of 5 pounds usually.

to put that i perspective:

1 lb mild steel - $1
1 lb 4043 aluminum = $7
1 lb .030 304L stainless = $15

the piping would probably cost $1500 to do a cat back. not to mention, the welding process is way harder.

i would love to try, but i can't say i wouldn't be a little nervous.