I've owned by rx7 since October of last year. I went away for a week, came back, and there was horrible sounds coming from the cat/muffler. I took it in to a muffler shop the next day (today), They told me that one of the cat's was torn up, and there are holes in my muffler.. ack. Basically they told me everything from the headers back needs replacement. The question is, what now?

Do I take it to a auto diagnostic shop, see what's causing it? Get the muffler shop to replace everything? This car is my everyday driver..

91 rx7 gxl n/a
stock
105k miles

college student ~ not much money to spend

edit: btw I live in Oklahoma, anyone know the emmissions laws?

 

if you have no emissions, get a 2.5" straight pipe to a muffler. that's the cheapest thing to do.

 

Well with 105K miles I hope you've bypassed/removed the pre-cat with a downpipe and you have an aftermarket main catalytic converter (preferably a performance one).

On my convertible (101K miles) I added a downpipe, performance main cat, HKS mufflers and stock piping.

It's more of a reliability upgrade. If you can feel the engine struggling above 6500 rpms it's the exhaust most likely.

I'd recommend any of the rx-7 specific exhausts on rx7store.com or any of the rx7 sites. You can have one made for cheaper, but I'd HIGHLY recommend your local rotary mechanic do it as they might have a performance setup already.

 

Ok, that sounds good, now to find a rotary mechanic...

 

If your state/county does not require emmissions get a full exhaust upgrade. Headers, pre-silencer, and a catback. You'll learn to love the sound of a rotary and enjoy the bump in power too.

BUT you are a college student, if you've got a friend with alot of tools, IE JACK STANDS put your car on it and check for sure. I am wary of every mechanic I take my car too. For a cheap fix try to find an FC at a junkyard and get that exhaust if possible. I think there is a difference between the 5speed and automatics. That way you won't be spending $$ on brand new parts.

 

Hmm.. How much would that set me back, for a new exaust system?

 

didn't you read my post ?
that would be $150 for everything including labor.

 

Yep, i read it thanks, the thing is, around here no one would touch that. $25,000 fine for emisions.

Could I be able to do that myself? Can would i need a pre-silencer or anything? Would it have to be a custom job, or is there some place that sells strait pipes?

Thx

 

Racingbeat.com & rx7.com sell "straight pipes" for NAs.

 

there is a fine but no where near that much.

the biggest problem is that your exhaust is prolly rusted out and falling apart so you really can't reuse it.

maybe you can goto a junkyard or find somebody who wants to get rid of their stock exhaust and get out the cats.

you can gut out the exhaust yourself, or put already made parts together. but you cannot do a custom job yourself unless you have the right tools (torch most basic).

 

You really don't need a rotary mechanic to bend you an exhaust. For all you know, the closest rotary shop might not have a mandrel bender. The bestest thing to do is find a non-chain store shop that will do custom exhaust.

 

So, my best bet (and cheapest) is to find a shop to manafacture a 2.5" down pipe, midpipe?, Y pipe, then buy new mufflers?

Would that be too loud? How much would that cost? Should i get a presilencer?

 

If you can afford $315, then I would suggest the Bonez Superflo Cats to replace the stock components. (See link below)

http://www.rx7.com/cgi-local/2catalog.cgi?cat=4&part=1

I put this on my car a couple of weeks ago, and I love it. The Rotary Performance people provided good customer service too. They forgot to send the hose for the split air tube, and they shipped it 2nd day air after I told them it was missing (no extra charge to me).

I too had a hole in my exhaust, and now the car runs much better and sounds great. The Bonez replacement has a presilencer that damps the sound at low RPMs, but it still has a nice rumble to it as I accelerate.

Refer to the following link for installation instructions:

http://www.aaroncake.net/RX-7/cat.htm

Good Luck.

 

How many people have been caught with illegal emissions, really?