kfede1

After over 3 months of effort, I still have not achieved my objective, A good reasonably priced mandrel bent exhaust system for my LS8. For anyone who does not know this term, it is a method of bending tubing so that it does not get the cross section reduced at the critical bends, which are already a restriction) I started by calling Eckler's and finding their source of exhaust systems. (The Eckler’s sales rep. could not tell me if the exhaust system was mandrel bent). I then called the manufacturer and asked if they were mandrel bent. They said that they were. I ordered the exhaust system as part aof a very large order at Eckler's. I also put in a large order at ZIP, but that is another story. I received the exhaust system quickly from Eckler's, and opened it... Gag, it was Draw bent, with major reductions (Plural) at each bend. Not the sort of stuff that you want behind a relatively hot motor. I checked the source, and it was Volunteers, and when I called them on the number on the paperwork, they answered "East Tennessee Exhausts". Anyway, Eckler's took the exhaust back cheerfully, and refunded all my money on that item. They said that they had changed distributors. It turned out that the other distributor also ad Draw bent exhaust, but the person I talked to in the phone didn’t know the difference? Anyway, Eckler's does not have any source for mandrel bent... OK, so I start again. It is still January, and I have time (I thought), I located a company called Stainless Works that said they had full Mandrel bent exhaust. They said though it would be 4 to 6 weeks till they got around to building 2 1/2" exhausts again though, and they do not stock any parts, so I would have to wait. Well, I ordered the exhaust... I waited till April, well beyond the agreed upon timeframe. What I got was Mandrel bent pipes matched up to some cheesy chambered mufflers that were Draw bent at both ends. As I have learned Stainless Exhausts is difficult to get a hold of, and it may take days to get a return on a phone call, I left a couple of messages, and I will keep trying to get a hold of them, I recommend to all those out there, just find a shop in your area to build your exhaust with mandrel bending equipment. It may take some looking, but they do exist, and it may seem expensive, but it turns out not to be as expensive as pre-built. I will have to discard the mufflers and all the exhaust that is welded in place to the mufflers. I will have to pay a local shop anyway to fabricate starting where Stainless works system turns into draw bent in front of the muffler. As for the Eckler's order, I had been following the gripe thread about how Eckler's had gone to heck in terns of customer service and knowledge. I ordered man many parts, and the exhaust was an issue but taken care of. The final part took a long time to receive, and was junk (A brake console that has poor quality, that I may just discard (Eckler's has not been helpful on this item at all. They looked at the ones in the warehouse and said they all had the same defects I complained of and could not ship a better one). So except for those 2 items Eckler’s had been good for me. Zip was very slow on shipping items, and took months as well. Also Zip changed over to a new system and discarded part of my order due to a change in CC#, but they fixed it when I called.

kfede1

That should have read LS6.. Typo..

isosceles

Do you have any decent custom muffler shops in the area? Might be worth the call.

Avette4me

:iagree: That's exactly what I did. Less money, less hastle, better set up.

BSeery

Get it done local. That way it's done right and if it's not, you can have them fix it.

Alwyn678

:iagree: .....have someone recommend one........that is what I did

kfede1

If anyone can recommend one in the Dallas Area, I would appreciate it. The only one I know of is Kinneys in mid-cities, and they are pretty expensive.

Gordonm

I had a local shop bend up a 2.5 inch system. Mandrel bends and the system fits better than any prebent system that I have seen. I watched the whole system being built. I even wanted a few extras so the system could be taken apart later. No problem they did exactly what I wanted.

Stefan69

Did you talk to these guys?
I got mine there. Perfect fit and GREAT quality at a decent price.

Stefan
http://www.allencorvetteexhaustsystems.com

no_radio

Oh...I thought maybe you had two LS4s under the hood or something :D

kfede1

Allens makes these exhausts and is the company that Eckler's used to use. Theu are the ones who said yes when I asked about Mandrel bent, but they ment draw bent.

Thanks

zwede

Nick's muffler in Plano. Not cheap (although not THAT expensive) but does the best welding I've seen out of ANY exhaust shop. He will do anything you want, including mendrel.

GaryS

Allen's Exhausts makes great fitting exhausts. I can't tell you if they are mandrel bent though.
219-722-7272

Gary

kfede1

Response to Allen's Exahusts replies. -- I have verified that Allen's exhausts are not Mandrel bent, and thus not suitable for my application. I appreciatte the information from all of you who like Allen's. :)

stingry

KFEDE1,

I haven't recievied mine yet but I have a shop building one for me. Check out: http://www.stainlessworks.net and talk to Matt.

Initial presale service has been excellent, answered all my questions (even dumb one etc). They build using either aluminized steel or 304 stainless. They make them using CNC mandrel bending which from my experience (two hours of web brousing and learning on exhausts) is as good as it gets. Matt says he can make it as quiet (or loud) as you want. Mine will have nice rumble but be quiet.

I should have mine in 4 weeks, ordered it ten days ago. They build the differnt sizes in batches. This weef or next will be 2.5" stainless. If you want I can send you some pics and details when I get it. Just leave your email.


Good luck. :cheers:

kfede1

Response to stingry: I hope you do better than I did at Stainless works. They told me the same things they told you. When it arrived, The mufflers have part of the exhaust welded on. Those parts are [B NOT /B] mandrel bent. Additionally, the stock mufflers that came with mine reduced down to 2" for the muffler exhaust. I have been in negotiations with Stainless works. One option they offered is that they would build new mufflers and pipes that would be stainless, and would be as they originally told me, but they wanted $150 more for the effort. What we finally agreed upon was that I would ship them back their mufflers, and I would buy new mufflers, but that they would send me the parts I needed to use my mufflers. It is not really a good deal, but I get to use whatever mufflers I want. At this point I took the offer. Not happy, but relatively alright with outcome. I wish they had taken responsibility for what happened, but I don't always get my way...

stingry

UH OH!!!

Thanks for the headsup. I will contact them and see what they say. I was expecting CNC madrel and a pretty good fit for $650 USD.

Will let you know what he says.
:crazy: :crazy: :crazy:

lason

Yup, I have yet to hear a bad thing about Nicks. I have not personally used them but then again I dont believe there is THAT much difference in a mandrel setup. I had a mustang that I had some buddies at A&B muffler in Grand Prairie build me a 3 inch X pipe with 2 chamber flows and dumps and the next weekend I dyno'd 512hp at the wheels on the giggle gas.

kfede1

Reply to stingry: Sounds like you are getting the stailess version. perhaps the muffler is different tha the Aluminzed setup that I got.

stingry

Thanks for your feedback. Good thing about this forum is it gives everyone a good dose of the "reality fish".

I spoke to Matt at Stainless Works again today(and again on Monday).

Matt and I have discussed this at length:

1. It will bolt straight on
2. It will have full CNC Mandrel bends on whole system

I also spoke to him about making the muffler tips larger ie 21/2 inch versus stock 2". He has done it and it made more noise but he says not more power.
He can also make 21/2 inch box tips to bolt onto this.

I am keeping the muffler output at 2" so I can keep using the stock tips. (mine will be 2" at manifold, goes straight to 21/2 inch and then goes to a OEM style stainless muffler, then 2" into standard box tips.)

One particular thing that did come up was non-standard cars. If you have a custom car you should probably have it fabricated locally. There are so many variables in engine design, suspension etc that it would be impossible to build a generic exhaust to bolt on to every Vette. I have to agree with him.

Will show you photos once I get it installed and work out how to post them on here. I am more and more confident it will be spot on.

Technology $#%$#$
:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:


[Modified by stingry, 8:28 PM 4/11/2003]


[Modified by stingry, 8:30 PM 4/11/2003]


[Modified by stingry, 3:19 PM 4/14/2003]