You guys will have to forgive me, for I am just starting with this modification stuff and am not a rotary geniouses like a lot of you. The exhaust in my '81 is all stock and I would really like to give it a small upgrade but am pretty strapped for cash right now.

The first thing that I am going to start with is the muffler since my car is missing it completely right now. I am not looking for the real high end stuff, but anything that is going to give me more hp and a good deep throaty sound is what I want. I also would like suggestions on what to do from the thermal reactor back. Is it worth it to get rid of the reactor and switch to headers?

You guys are probably going to laugh at this one too, but I just noticed today that there is a small pipe that comes off the back bottom part of the carburetor and goes starts out with rubber hosing then is connected to a metal pipe that goes straight back and connects up with the exhaust right about where the cat is. This pipe is broken on my car and I have absolutely no idea what it is.

thanks
TJ

 

I would say that a muffler is a good place to start in your situation . I myself would just go to headers if you plan on getting rid of the cats. Why would you spend money to get a more free flowing exhaust if you only get rid of half the problem? As far as that pipe you are talking about, I would say that its part of the ACV unit maybe...I think it injects air into the catalytic converter to burn the unburnt fuel. With it missing, your cat is slowly plugging up and falling apart I'd say.

~T.J.

 

what am I looking at as far as cost to switch to headers, and I will probably just use straight pipes and build the rest of the exhaust myself and just get rid of the catalytic converter. I live in a pretty small town in washington state so I am not too worried about passing any emission tests