Sedan exhaust on a Wagon....now with pictures!!!

[sicklyscott]

This has been talked about a lot on these forums but I was never able to find a good thread with good pictures explaining the differences, at least without thumbing through 100 pages of photos in specific color threads.

 

After much research I decided to go with the SPT exhaust system for the wagon, unfortunately I could only find it offered in the sedan version, in fact I'm not even sure if they make it for a wagon. I ordered the exhaust through FredBeansParts (amazing service and price) and decided to install it along with a set of Cobb sway bars. After wrestling with everything for the better part of 6 hours it was finally all bolted up without any clearance issues, I even think I could have gotten away with the shorter exhaust without burning up the bumper.

 

However after some contemplation and a couple estimates I decided it was cheaper to extend the exhaust than it was to replace the bumper, so I had a local shop cut the tip off the muffler and weld in a 3 inch section between the muffler and the tip which cost me $100. In my mind it was a lot of money for a little bit of work, but it was worth the piece of mind.

 

On top of the bumper melting issue I'd also get a resonance through the cabin at about 1500-2000 rpms which drove me nuts. I figured that this had a lot to do with where the tips ended and where the sound was "coming out of". After the extension was done the sound went away and now it's a very clean low boxer rumble throughout the rpm range.

 

Anyway, here are some pictures:

 

Before extensions (sorry camera phone pictures):

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3424/3382559630_8d0b5359b8.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3625/3381741529_04a3dc4202.jpg?v=0

 

After extensions:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3558/3381796145_637656193e.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3576/3382616312_e6c9697412.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3598/3381797167_f7274a316e.jpg?v=0

[mercury3545]

Lookin good

[tealdub]

agreed. cant put a price on piece of mind.

[MZG]

nice wagon - love the look of the exhaust.

[goneskiian]

Definitely looks better with the tips extended. Great choice.

[OhBe1]

Did the bumper actually melt?

[sicklyscott]

Thanks for the compliments everyone! I'm now thinking about painting that little valence section black like the sedans, any opinions?

 

No the bumper didn't melt, I had one melt on an older car though and it wasn't pretty. With the temps of the exhaust getting pretty hot under heavy loads I didn't want to chance it, especially during some track events I'm hoping to participate in this year.

[OhBe1]

Go for it. It NEEDS to be black. Matte, I assume?

Mine doesn't melt, even theough it's actually in contact with the bumper. But it's not turbo, I don't track it, and I cheated - in extending the tip, I gained airflow between the pipe & cover.