Piecing together a kook's exhaust kit

[jawz101]

Would it be possible to piece together a complete kook's exhaust kit and just buy the kook's headers from them? I just didn't know if I have to get some special X pipe or if I can just walk into a local shop w/ some headers and mufflers and tell them I want what the rest of a 'kook's full exhaust' would be for more like$1200.

Is it worth it enough to just get only the headers? As you can tell I am not much of an exhaust afficionado.
Is it like you get the headers for performance, mufflers for sound, and the rest of the pipe just to complete a 'full exhaust'?

[MENINBLK]

Would it be possible to piece together a complete kook's exhaust kit and just buy the kook's headers from them? I just didn't know if I have to get some special X pipe or if I can just walk into a local shop w/ some headers and mufflers and tell them I want what the rest of a 'kook's full exhaust' would be for more like$1200.

Is it worth it enough to just get only the headers? As you can tell I am not much of an exhaust afficionado.
Is it like you get the headers for performance, mufflers for sound, and the rest of the pipe just to complete a 'full exhaust'?

If you want something that has been developed specifically for your Marauder,
tested, tweaked, and adjusted to fit PERFECTLY, and it has to be a Kooks System,
get the whole system from Kooks.

You will have a choice of I think 2 or 3 mufflers, and keep the stock tips
or use tips with the resonator deleted.

There is a combination that pleases everyone...

You'll be happy you did it this way.

[CRUZTAKER]

If you want something that has been developed specifically for your Marauder,
tested, tweaked, and adjusted to fit PERFECTLY,.......



Correct. Long story short, NO.

Aftermarket performance exhaust for us is not that simple.
There are only a few options.

There is a slightly cheaper way to go...but the parts are all 3".
Stainless Works here in Ohio.

I expect TAF, member, owner, and operator of Grand Mufflers can hook you up as well.

I have a KOOKS full kit. It is good.:cool:

[DEFYANT]

Would it be possible to piece together a complete kook's exhaust kit and just buy the kook's headers from them? I just didn't know if I have to get some special X pipe or if I can just walk into a local shop w/ some headers and mufflers and tell them I want what the rest of a 'kook's full exhaust' would be for more like$1200.

Is it worth it enough to just get only the headers? As you can tell I am not much of an exhaust afficionado.
Is it like you get the headers for performance, mufflers for sound, and the rest of the pipe just to complete a 'full exhaust'?

I am a happy Kooks customer. Although I went with a different brand muffler, the headers, cats and x-pipe are high quality. I recommend them.

You could whip up a custom exhaust, sure. But consider the engineering and testing has been done. Kooks, DR, and SSW are three very good options. The results are here just search around. In this case, I suggest you not "try to reinvent the wheel";)

[looking97233]

I doubt you could have a shop fabricate a system for you cheaper than you can buy the complete system. The vendors here that offer the systems have already done all the design, taken the measurements and such. I'm sure they have jigs built for the pipes. If you just bought the headers and went to a shop to have the rest fabed up, they would have to start from scratch measure bend , test fit, adjust... takes all day at least. And then since it's a custom system you won't know what it will sound like and such untill it's done and you drive away.

Just my .02
Rod.

[FordNut]

I got the headers and had the rest custom fabbed. I like it better but it cost quite a bit more than just getting the whole setup from Kook's.

[jawz101]

Ha! I really appreciate the words on that. I had thoughts rambling about what all the pieces and parts add up to and I think I'm getting the answers I was wanting. BTW- is the Stainless works stuff still a work in progress? It doesn't seem like they've quite got their products set up to be the 'complete package'? Maybe I'm wrong on this one...

[jawz101]

There is a slightly cheaper way to go...but the parts are all 3". Stainless Works here in Ohio.

Quick question: What's the 'but' for? Is this too much pipe?

[mpearce]

BTW- is the Stainless works stuff still a work in progress? It doesn't seem like they've quite got their products set up to be the 'complete package'?

Have you called Stainless Works and spoken to Al Noe yet? (800-878-3635) Their set up is complete. Remember...they are a brand new vendor here. It takes time to become established. Especially when the owner / operator of this site does this out of the goodness of his heart for us, and not for his job.

-Mat

[MM03MOK]

Remember...they are a brand new vendor here. Al just needs to get in touch with us.

[SergntMac]

Quick question: What's the 'but' for? Is this too much pipe? Can't give you just one answer here, "but" a yes is possible. Depends on how you go about things.

Let's presume that you're starting out with a completely bone stock MM, and you bolt on a set of headers, with 3" OD high flow cats, X pipe and mufflers of your choice. How much power do you expect to gain?

Sorry, it won't be that much. On a small CID engine, big pipes loose power, and mostly in the lower RPM range too. You may add some power in higher RPMs due to the breathing characteristics of our 4.6L 4V, but it will take you longer to get up there, and your low end torque and overall performance will suffer. You could actually go backwards here, if you're not careful.

With additional mods in place, the investment will pay off, and each mod added will perform better than a similar build without headers and big pipes, but you'll miss out on that big bang a custom exhaust can deliver if you can wait until another time.

My advice is to leave the exhaust alone until you have some other mods in place, and you have a plan to follow. A full custom exhaust system is the second most costly mod on the list, and down the road, you may want to supercharge, and Turbocharging has it own special exhaust too. Why spend money twice?

[CRUZTAKER]

My advice is to leave the exhaust alone until you have some other mods in place, ...

Good advice.

BTW: I see nothing wrong with the 3", full, front to rear exhaust if your future will make use of it.

When I bought mine, 2.5" was ALL there was available. With steep rear gears, a high performance T/C, and a little shot of Nitrous, the low end loss on the 3" pipe may not be so bad? Alittle motor internal work corrects the low end issue as well.

I think MartyO uses a 3" system?

I have no idea how my car would perform with the larger pipes...?
I had nothing but gains when I installed the KOOKS with only gears and a tune back in the day. With the 3000 stall, I had little low end issues...and with an 80 shot, I can get out of the hole as well as most S/C'd cars.

As far as SSW, their casts are done, you need only call and have a set made for you. Takes a little time. They're done in house, by hand, amongst MANY other special builds taking place at the same time.

However...I really wish Al at SSW offered a 2.5" kit for us. I think it would appeal to a larger crowd.

[jawz101]

yeah.. .I don't think any mods I'm planning on doing are giving me low end rpm gains. My biggest interests are getting good amounts of air and fuel in and out as efficiently as possible. maybe UD pulleys though after the tune needs updating... other than that I figured the larger opening would have these concerns. I have a great analogy but I don't want to offend anyone of various orientations