Thinking about spending around 300 to get the HKS knock-off exhaust since it's dirt cheap, sounds amazing, and you get performance gains. Obviously the real deal would sound the best, but I'm not spending over $1,700 on a noise maker nor am I going to spend around $800 for a used one either (I'm cheap). With that said...

One problem with knockoff exhausts that is inevitable while living in New York is rust... Before putting the exhaust on, is there a way I can protect it from rust? I researched this and people said you could paint it High Temperature Paint, but I don't want to kill the shininess of it lol...My other question is: Where does an exhaust start to rust? Does it start anywhere or does it start in a specific place like the welds?

Thanks for your time