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Not the world's prettiest exhaust but it's better than open headers. Welds are not pretty but they're strong enough to hold until i can build a real exhaust on a lift one day. I have enough room to put a Vibrant resonator behind each muffler so I may do that if I get tired of the loudness.
Take an angle grinder and use a flapper disk to clean the welds up, it will look just fine. I'd recommend using a practice piece of SS so you can experiment with grits to get a really nice finish. It will take off all that flash around the welds (brown discoloration) and it will be a uniform color again. Probably want to go with an 60 grit to knock down the high spots on the weld then 120 grit to polish. If you have a little extra time then doing 60-80-120 will be a little easier because a 60-120 transition requires a bit more work with the 120 pad to smooth everything out. Wear a mask or set up a fan, those silicate abrasive discs are as bad for your lungs as breathing handfuls of asbestos.
Damned good job for your first time behind a TIG though.
Biggest problem I had was burning holes in the piping. I bought a generic 3" 304 SS exhaust tubing kit from amazon. It looks to be about 18 gauge - so it's rather thin. I'm using a 1/16 tungsten and 1/16 filler rod on about 55 amps (no pulse). I think I may need to turn the amps down to maybe 40 or so and see what happens. I still need to weld the complete exhaust to the flex pipes which are attached to the V-bands coming off the header collectors. I'm out of town until the weekend so I cannot work on her at the moment. I'll get some finished pictures and a video with the new exhaust setup this weekend hopefully. Stay tuned. I'll throw it up on my YouTube channel - TheDrewDees
All I know is this is the only thread I'm currently subscribed to. Your car is turning out great and I've been thinking about tossing in an LS1 every time I see an update. Unfortunately the LS1 I'm currently assembling is going into my truck to replace a very worn 300k+ motor.
Why a LS1 and not a LS2? Is there a big difference in price or is it an install thing? I ask because most GTO owners, myself included, think the LS2 is a far better motor. The 04's have the LS1 and the 05-06 have the LS2.
Because LS2's are expensive lol. Total, including buying a salvaged auction vehicle that I tore the motor from I only have MAYBE $850 into this full rebuild. I'll still end up with my existing motor when I swap them out and I can probably craigslist it for about $250 or possibly just rebuild it and sell it off or just bag it up and save it.
I'd love to toss in an LS2 but it would be at least another grand, minimum. The only way I'd do it is if I got my hands on a salvaged vehicle for VERY cheap but even a wrecked 'vette still sells for a pretty high dollar because there's so many components that can be scrapped for high dollar. Chances of finding a GTO or Trailblazer are even more slim. My best luck would be an L76 LS2 from a truck and that's what I've been keeping my eyes open for in case I find one at a steal.
Final exhaust mockup. It's two mini bullet mufflers then dumps out of two Vibrant ultra quiet resonators. All piping is 3" 304SS. Drove it down the street and it sounds great. Didn't take it above 3k rpm so i don't know if it's raspy yet. I hope it isn't.
Drew that's sexy AF! I always dreamed of doing a custom exhaust on the G with side exit pipes and just enough tip poking out so when I was driving people would get just a peek of the goodness.
Yeah I know, many years ago I lusted for a 2004 Ford Lightning in Sonic Blue. It had twin side exits on the passenger side in front of the rear wheel and I thought that was the shiz. Still would like to pick up one to play with if I could find the right truck, Ford really does their blue paints well.
If the weather cooperates this weekend, I'll try and get some videos posted. I need to invest in a nice camera with a nice mic. All I have is my LG phone or a crappy GoPro knock-off.
Thanks for the praise. It's a great feeling to have this thing so close to being able to hop in and drive whenever I want. She's been teasing me the past two years since I've only been able to see her on jackstands. I'm sending out my registration paperwork to Florida tomorrow but that's not gonna stop me from driving around the block a few times.
Speaking of Lightnings, I traded the SHO in for a 01 Harley F150. The 01's aren't supercharged, but I see another project starting soon. Replacing all the brakes and a bunch of suspension stuff tomorrow.
