Exhaust for stock motor

[duffmanivxx]

Whats up fellas? I have a 91 with 160k miles on it. I already have a cold air intake, but looking for a little more outta the stock motor til I can afford a swap. I have to swap out the cat anyways, it's rattling. So, do I use a stock cat? What header would be best, doesn't have to be top of the line. Any and all help is appreciated. Thanks.

[faqncb7]

I would go with a stock oem cat you wont notice that much of a diffrence with a high flow cat and get a DC header its carb legal

[duffmanivxx]

What about mufflers? What would u suggest?

[stretch JDM]

part 1 ) when i started with exhaust , i would buy parts and not install them until i had it complete. for a few bucks you can score a F22A6 exhaust manifold , then replace pipes with 2.25 plumbing, the factory catt. will be fine . for low budget hp. increase . ( not much , but it will add up )

part 2) if i had it to do over i would get a apex ws2 muffler . i have a magnaflow and i do like it , but its kinda loud . a great j/k find is a 06- civic stock muffler or any wrx muffler .

[duffmanivxx]

thanks for the help, ill see what i can find. So the F22A6 exhaust manifold will bolt right up and flow better? Ill hit up the junk yard again then, or ebay, or CL. thanks again

[deevergote]

If you have an F22A4, the header on there is pretty good.
In CA, you'll need a CARB exempt header, so DC Sports is one of your only options. OBX might be... worth looking into, anyway. They're cheaper.

You won't gain much from a header, unless you get a Bisimoto header.

[duffmanivxx]

Maybe I'll just keep the stock one on there.

[scudweiser]

There is a member local to me who ran a high 14 with a stock axle back and bolt ons with an f22. You dont need an aftermarket exhaust to get performance.

[duffmanivxx]

I'm not expecting too much on the performance end of things, just a little better sound. Not gonna worry about performance til after the swap...whenever that happens.

[Fleetw00d]

OEM cat is gonna cost you. If the old one is just rattling, it may just be the heat shields. I was gonna replace the cat on my EX because I had to cut the studs to remove it from the flex pipe (flex section rotted)and both heat shields were gone. Aftermarket one I bought was a POS. I salvaged the OEM by installing new studs. Probably shouldn't have bothered, but I put new heat shields on as well - looked great (should have taken pictures!).

[deevergote]

There is a member local to me who ran a high 14 with a stock axle back and bolt ons with an f22. You dont need an aftermarket exhaust to get performance.

I find that hard to believe... unless that member absolutely stripped the shit out of that car. Drop the weight to 1800lbs like kentucky_accord did, and sure... it'd run quick with a near-stock engine... but I haven't even gotten into the 14s with my H22 yet!

OEM cat is gonna cost you. If the old one is just rattling, it may just be the heat shields. I was gonna replace the cat on my EX because I had to cut the studs to remove it from the flex pipe (flex section rotted)and both heat shields were gone. Aftermarket one I bought was a POS. I salvaged the OEM by installing new studs. Probably shouldn't have bothered, but I put new heat shields on as well - looked great (should have taken pictures!).

Yeah, a true OEM cat is not cheap. I have an aftermarket cat on my car that a muffler shop installed... the cat and the full custom exhaust (muffler too) was $400 installed.

Most "performance" cats are crap. Especially when they cost less than stock. SMSP makes a decent performance cat, and they're actually pretty reasonably priced. They just need flanges welded on.