[Formulajones]

The only issue I have with muffler shops is it's nearly impossible to find one with a mandrel bend machine.

While some may not care, there are a few of us that look for performance advantages. So I got away from exhaust shops many many years ago.

Yes the kits on the market do require additional modifications to fit, that's just hot rodding, and honestly with as much that has changed on these cars over the years we can't hold these manufactures of kits responsible for exact fitment, that's just a little much to ask for.

I've installed literally dozens and dozens of kits over the years from at least 8-10 different manufactures on more models of different cars than I can count and they all need trimming and tweaking to some degree but in the end they fit and function as they should and the car never had to leave my shop.

As far as drone I've found that if you use factory hangers with these aftermarket systems the noise is isolated much better than the cheesey hangers that most kits come with. A good quality OEM hanger goes a long way in that area. From there muffler choice is your friend.

As far as differences between transverse and dual muffler systems, it depends on the car I'm working on. For F-bodies and X-bodies I prefer transverse systems. I can tuck the pipes up tight for a nice clean appearance to the point you can't even see an exhaust system under the car unless you're laying on the ground. Nice for these types of cars, especially when everyone is lowering them these days. I even grafted a 2 1/2" mandrel bent F-body transverse system on my sons H-body vega and tucked it all up to the point it can't be seen, works great on that little car, a car that the aftermarket doesn't support, so I made it work. I leave the dual muffler systems for the A-bodies. More room to work and even on a car that's designed for it the mufflers tucked up high are still slightly visible from the rear of the car.

It's just personal preference.

[VCho455]

Just to show the non-mandrel bent tubing results here are some photos of a 2 1/4" tail pipe I recently replaced with mandrel bent tubing. I cut the tube mid bend and you can see the tube is now well under 2" ID. Turning the tape 90 degrees it measured barely under 2" ID

Just in the short tailpipe I replaced there were 4 of these necked down spots.