Is it cheaper to buy the American thunder set up or go to a muffler shop and have them maje you an exhaust?
I was thinking the $299 for pipes and mufflers was a pretty decent deal, but my uncle seems to think that I can go to a shop and get flowmasters and 3" exhaust for the same money if not cheaper.
What's the general concensus here????

will they mandrel bend the 3"?

I got hit for $100 bucks to fully install the american thunder system on my 69, they fitted it up as nice as can be and welded it all in place..no hangers.

You can probably shop around and get it done for less.

3" will probably be louder if thats what you are looking for, and you may not be able to fit stock type tips if you have a 3" tail, but maybe that doesnt matter.

The last exhaust shop I worked at charged a lot more then a pre-bent aftermarket kit like Flowmaster, Flow-tech, Pypes, Etc would cost.

It takes time to custom bend an exhaust system thus labor intensive. Probably double the price of a kit like mentioned above. Plus those kits are usually stainless steel, Exhaust shops carry aluminized tubing which eventually rusts. Aftermarket is usually mandrel bent, an exhaust shop uses die's and a tubing bender that can crimp the pipe at each bend. Thus losing some flow.

I could have bent up a system for my 66SS when I worked at the last exhaust shop and for very little money. But I would way rather spend 300 on a real exhaust system that perfectly bent to fit with real mandrel bends and stainless steel tubing instead of the local exhaust shops aluminized tubing.

I wont bother getting into the chance you end up getting some boxo get a bend wrong after he bends and installs it and all your left with is clunking and banging noises.

Thanks guys
That's kinda what I was thinking too.
I have a couple of different buddies with a mig welder that can give me a hook up there too.

I'd go with the flowmaster kit (its $200 FYI), I put it on my car and its clean as can be. Easy to install and fits great. I didn't use flowmaster mufflers though, got sick of them. Mine has dynomax ultraflow race mufflers on it.

Moloko,
(its $200 FYI),
Where????? I was looking in the summit catalog. It's $299 pipe and mufflers.
I'm always looking to save money!
Thanks

I think the $200 kit is the one without mufflers. I put on the full flowmaster system and am pleased with it. After clamping it all together, I took it to the local muffler shop and they charged me $40 to weld it all up (that's a pretty good deal - you may not be able to find it that cheap).

FYI - contrary to prior claims, these systems are not stainless, they're aluminized steel. If you want stainless, double that price. I've had an aluminized system on my Vette for over 7 years now and it still looks like new (it's only driven in nice weather, though).

That is correct,it's $200 w/o mufflers.
With exhaust systems and prices like that,it makes "custom" crimp bend muffler shop systems obsolete IMHO
The fit of the FM system is top notch.
Also,I've heard that the pypes systems are sweet too.

Do they have a stainless option with the flowmaster?

A few years back, I cut the tail pipes off my Chevelle while doing some rear end work. They were lousy anyway. Afterward, I decided to head over to the local muffler shop to see what they could do. All I can say is that these guys were practically doing backflips when they saw me pull in. They were clamoring to work on it and spent a long time getting it all just right. Nice smooth bends and perfectly aligned. They even welded up the rest of the system and only charged me the original price they quoted for a "stock" tailpipe job. I guess they were happy to work on the Chevelle after doing nothing but econoboxes all day long. YMMV.

Do they have a stainless option with the flowmaster?

You could always send them out to be coated.