Recommend Me An Exhaust Shop

[lilred]

My exhaust needs completely redone basically. Problem is it seems no one has 2 1/2 in flanges or any high flow cats, at least the few places around here. And frankly I don’t trust most of them. Some say 2 1/2 in pipe is impossible on my vehicle, when I know that it can be done. Not to mention everything is crushed bent (whether that matters or not).

I would like to know the best exhaust shops around here? A place that actually has the right tools to get the job done right. Nothing crazy expensive, just something reasonable. Where 2 1/2 in flanges (and pipe) and matching hi-flow cats. are a commodity.

P.S. I need to get this fixed right now, like Sat morning if possible, or even mid/late afternoon Friday. Phone #'s please if I need to make an appointment or whatever.

Thanks again......

[SeanB]

There is a place near the Capital that does a really good job. Marteen aka gtfour77 should be able to give you directions.

[ShortysTRM]

Order the cat so you don't get charged like $200 for it. There's nowhere near here that does anything but crush bending. I bought some mandrel J-bends and cut/welded them myself, though I ran out of bends before I finished lol.

[gtfour77]

I don't have any real experience with the one by the capitol but Toppings in kanawha City just did mine today...Lyle is a good guy and he will take care of you. They get a little busy but if you make an appointment it's no problem...

[ShortysTRM]

What do you mean by "just did mine"? Did you get a full turbo back exhaust made or a muffler installed?

I've been searching for a good exhaust shop for years, but it always ends in frustration.

[sts 50]

Village Auto on the east end (corner of Jackson and Elizabeth - near Laidley Field) is a long time "Rich Mixture" advertiser. Looks like they stock Magnaflow (good stuff), Ractive (not so good), and Flowmaster, and they advertise "custom duals while you wait". Give 'em a call (345-5600) and tell 'em you saw their ad in RM.

[SeanB]

I don't have any real experience with the one by the capitol but Toppings in kanawha City just did mine today...Lyle is a good guy and he will take care of you. They get a little busy but if you make an appointment it's no problem...

Kanawha city... thats the one... as you can tell I am not from there. :lol:

[gtfour77]

I don't have any real experience with the one by the capitol but Toppings in kanawha City just did mine today...Lyle is a good guy and he will take care of you. They get a little busy but if you make an appointment it's no problem...

I just "re-designed" my exhaust or at least most of it. The celi won;t be a screamer anymore under full boost....re-routed the wastegate back to the main exhaust and while in the process I just welded me up some mandrel-bent downpipe ...all the way to the mid pipe then had Lyle use my old pieces to finish it all the way to the back. (I just had him tack-weld everything as I wanted to do the final welding....) Finally won't have a headache from the exhaust banging on every drivetrain part under the car... :shock:
Troy, did you finish yours up yet??? I won't have to do any more photochop will I???? :poke: :lol:

[administerturbo]

bump for toppings. did a full system for a buddies A4. they can also do stainless.

[ShortysTRM]

I've been trying to finish it, but exhaust shops want $100 or more to weld in like 2 feet of pipe, and I don't have any more mandrel bends to use to finish it myself. I'm not going to use those mufflers I cut off of there, so I'm debating the use of mufflers at all, since the car isn't that loud without them, and frankly, I don't have the money for them right now. I definitely need tips, though. I'm just going to cut off the one muffler I have welded on right now for Sunday's event. lol...no photoshopping needed this time.


The Ona event is supposed to require mufflers, but what does that really mean? If you have mufflers but your exhaust is 130dB, does that count? If you have no mufflers and your exhaust is 90dB, are you still not eligible? I can name a few cars we run with that [presumably] have mufflers, but would probably be considered too loud for an event with noise constraints.

[gtfour77]

Troy, you need to come down to Toppings....he is extremely reasonable! I only payed about $30 for all the work he did on mine..and I was there for over an hour trying to fit everything...

[ShortysTRM]

Do you know him very well? Would it help if I had you come with me? Is he open on Saturdays? I'd love to get this outta the way. If he sells stainless tips for $20 a piece, I may go tomorrow lol. I can't do much of anything today because I have to swap intercooler pipes back to stock on a 2G Eclipse.

[lilred]

^^^ Im with Troy, if they are open tommrow Ill definitly be there. Marteen can you let us know if they are open tommrow and what time? How about a phone number? And I dont know where they are at, so directions please? Thanks again guys.....

[SeanB]

Toppings
5410 Maccorkle Ave Se, Charleston, 25304
(304) 926-2600

[gtfour77]

He is open tomorrow till 2 I think...call him and make an appointment! He has a 9 and 10 am already scheduled..call quick. unfortunatelly I won;t be able to come with you, but just say that Martin with the white celica and black bimmer sent you...;)

[Jason V]

We as a club do not have a sound meter as far as I know but I would guess the muffler requirement for Ona means 95 DB at 50 foot or less....... we have a few cars that are much much too loud IMHO even for riverside.... no offense to the owners of those cars... if an F Mod rotax motor can be below 95db or a wankle.... anything can!!

[lilred]

Ill be going in around 1130-12 ish, and they can do what I need for the most part. So thankx guys, Ill let you know how this one goes ...

Troy hope you get yours done as well!!!

[ShortysTRM]

I'm going to go back next week, as they were just too busy today and I had just gotten out of SSS training and didn't feel like driving home to get the Grand Am. I didn't see your car there, Mike, so I hope that all worked out.

The guy I talked to was super nice about everything, and he laid everything out like it was. He said it's $28 for a half hour, $48/hour, plus any materials they use. All they carry are aluminized and stainless steel. They had plenty of mufflers and tips in stock, too.

Thanks for the recco, Martin.

[lilred]

I'm going to go back next week, as they were just too busy today and I had just gotten out of SSS training and didn't feel like driving home to get the Grand Am. I didn't see your car there, Mike, so I hope that all worked out.

The guy I talked to was super nice about everything, and he laid everything out like it was. He said it's $28 for a half hour, $48/hour, plus any materials they use. All they carry are aluminized and stainless steel. They had plenty of mufflers and tips in stock, too.

Thanks for the recco, Martin.

Honestly It did not goto well. I called in the morning and asked if they could do it and when I should come down. I went down around 1130-12 ish like they told me. Then I got there and, like you said, they were busy. But I figured Id be ok, but I was wrong. They all remember my phone call but they were just like we wont get to it till monday, or late today (sat). I was like Thankx and out I went pissed to go find someone who would do it. In the end Quality Exhaust in St. Albians did it, however its not done. I need a flex pipe (or somethig) bad and im still running no cat. Hes ordering the parts or something like that. But the guy is nice, knows his stuff, and did what I asked. He's also the owner of all the Quality Exhaust around. Shes a bit to loud right now but hopefully Ill find a way to tone her done, espcially after the cat is installed.

Now I have to fix my header. During todays event my 2 piece header came seperated at the collector. Whether its because the exhaust has no flex, or because the exhaust hits my new h-brace I dunno yet. But this header is known to leak at the collector so I picked up a few things on the way home to hopefully prevent that. Upsetting to say the least. But it was still fun for the most part.

[AchTTung]

<thread resurrection>The aftermarket exhaust on my car had begun to droop and consequently leak, even after I had adjusted it several times. So I called Toppings yesterday to set up an appointment to get it welded. I forget who I talked to (it wasn't Lyle), but he checked the schedule and told me to come in today at 9.

After getting up at 7:30 today (grumble) and getting there at 9, they told me to come back at 11 because the schedule was full. So I got breakfast, puttered around a bit, and moseyed back around 10 til 11. They then got me right in, and had the exhaust adjusted and welded in no time. Lyle, et al., were very nice, and only charged $20. I'm very happy now, but just wish I could've slept in those extra 2 hours.</thread resurrection>

Edited for typo.

[administerturbo]

nice, sorry, couldn't break free today...glad they took care of you. it should be noted that this was a stainless system none the less. guess you're not Mr. Morning :lol:

[AchTTung]

I'm defintely not a morning person. ;)