Exhaust system cost for a '50s Kustom...

Hey guys,

Sorry for the noobish question, but what is the going rate for a basic muffler shop exhaust system these days?

I've called a couple places, but they were all hesitant to give me a quote before seeing the car. I'm just trying to get a ballpark idea of what it usually runs so I can decide what I want to do.

just looking for a really basic dual 2" or 2.25" steel setup with a couple cheap glass packs, maybe exiting out the back with a pair of pencil tips.

 

Had one done on my '55 Caddy a couple of years ago - $400 w/Flowmasters. Just had one done on a '60 Pontiac station wagon last March- $450 with Flowmasters...prices will vary depending on who you have do it or where you have it done.

R

 

I took my 54 to ed's muffler in Beaverton. For $475.

 

Yea, Ed's was one of the places I called and I've had good luck with them in the past. What kind of system did you have done for that price?

 

About 250 here in central Mo.

 

Mine was $500 1 year ago in Southern Ca. That did not include the glasspacks. Smithy's and I bought those on Amazon.com for about $50 each.

 

Thats a tough answer since it will vary in just about every city. Cheapest I've ever paid was $250.....most was $450. Those were duals with turbo mufflers and aluminized pipe all the way past the rear end.

 

Depends on a few things; locale, the type of car, how easy/hard it is to snake the pipes through the chassis, condition of the header collectors, does the job involve the removal of the existing system, do you need it done right now, or can you leave the car there for a few days, etc.....kind of a hard question to nail down an answer.

 

I had up to the glass packs. They ran duels all the way back. They said it would of been cheaper but they had fix the muffler from hitting the frame that the previous owner did.

 

Awesome, thanks for the help guys! I can do $400-$500, I was just worried I'd be looking at a grand or something which is too rich for me at the moment. Seems like prices for everything have increased 10 fold in the last few years, like chrome and stuff, so it helps to get a ballpark so I know what to expect and whats a fair price.

 

I paid $700 several years ago for my '55 Buick with a 401.

I'm doing the exhaust system on my currect project !!

 

Where?

 

Don't go on price alone....find a place with an experienced guy and check out his work first. $400 in my area from manifolds to tips.

 

I paid $300 for mine and I had the smithys glasspacks, and Bellflower tips already. He did new mandrel bent pipe from the manifolds all the way back.

 

I got a quote of 3-350 for manifolds to bumper. I have my own muffs. The guy is really good....I've seen a few he's done.

 

I haven't had a complete dual exhaust job done in a long time so I'm out of the loup on prices but I'd have to say go to the shop that is the go to shop for older cars and not just the one close by that does the in and out in 30 minutes muffler swaps on imports.

Location may have a lot to do with the differences in cost. Rent, wages, local utility fees and other differences that run the cost up including how much advertising they do.

2-1/4 might add up to 100 bucks over 2 inch too so that's something to think about unless you actually have an engine that needs the 2-1/4 pipes to breath. Not just for the extra cost of the larger pipe but mostly for the extra time to get it to fit and not hit anything. I found that out when I had my 51 Merc done years ago. I had a 350R Olds in it then and planned to go to a 455 the next winter so I went 2-1/4 and paid quite a bit more than what I would have paid for 2 inch because of the time it took to run the pipes through the stock frame even though it had been cut out for duals in the 50's.

 

i used to do dual complete for $250 plus $50 for the big can tips

tube has close to trippled in cost in the last few years
wholesale was $20 LENGTH WHEN I BOUGH SOME FOR MY PROJECT CAR a week ago
Ops
guess i am lucky i can do my own but nothing is free anymore

 

$250 and I had the hangers and the mufflers. Full exhaust out the back with a crossover at a small shop in McMinnville

 

California, $475 for 2 1/2" pipes with 3 chambered Flowmasters in a '65 Biscayne. It was $450 for 2" pipes and glasspacks for a '49 Ford Sled, ultra low.

 

I know a guy who spent $600 at a muffler shop to get a single exhaust made for a 6 cylinder Falcon. He didn't ask for a price up front and the job took half a day of custom bending and he ended up with a big bill that he was basically forced to pay.

Buyer beware.

 

I pay about $250 and thought that was outrageous. You guys have deep pockets!

 

Thats one muffler shop that would have glowed in the dark..

 

Great advice above.

If they are hesitant to give a quote now, then bring the car in, and tell them you want to agree on a price before the work is started. If they are still won't tell you a clear price, then leave and go somewhere else.

In general, they should be able to look under the car and tell you exactly what it will cost in labor in materials given that there are no hidden surprises. Some will try to tell you "well what if this and what if that and it will take more time blah blah blah" to try and wring more money out of you.

If there is a hidden surprise on the car that requires more time or material, then when they find it they can show you what it is, and why it will cost more. This is the fair way to do business.

 

There is different quality of pipe and mufflers too. My favorite shop uses heavier pipe, about twice the thickness of the cheap stuff most shops use, and better quality mufflers. They don't charge a lot more, like if the cheap shop is $250 they might be $275 or $300 but the exhaust system will outlast the others about 3:1 and it comes with a lifetime guarantee.

You might want to ask around and see who does the best job and is the most honest in your area. Sometimes a few more $$$ bucks gets you a much better job.

 

Do you mind sharing the name of the shop you used? I wouldn't mind a trip down to McMinnville, I could hit up the air museum again while the car was in the shop.

Regarding some of the other comments, part of the reason I'm more interested in cost rather than necessarily quality is that I plan on redoing it all anyway next year when I hope to do some chassis/suspension work, so I really don't want to spend a ton of cash on a super nice mandrel bent stainless system that will just get ripped out in a year anyway.

 

heavy duty tube . 083

light .062
the feel of it is way different

 

If that's the case, why don't you buy some pipe and pre-bends at your nearest auto supply and just hang something yourself. I did my OT toyota pickup for less than $100.00.

 

I dunno man, it's kindof hard to explain. The plan is to do my suspension next spring, but as we all know that plan will probably slip to next summer, or the next year after that, as most plans do. So if I can spend $300-400 at an exhaust shop, I'd rather do that then spend $200 on clamps, hangers, and piping and have a little nicer system. But if it's gonna cost me a grand, I will just do clamps/piping and dump it out before the axle and call it good for now.

Based on the experiences so far, I think it would be worth while driving around to a couple places to get some quotes.

 

Hence the differences between:
A dream
An idea
A plan
Reality

 

paid $425.00 about 7 years ago. 2 1/4 all the way out the back with Flowmasters. i think the mufflers were like $150.00 just by themselves. that was on a 49 chevrolet sedan with sanderson headers. he had to do some fancy twists to get from the drivers side header and around the oil filter, he charged me an extra $25.00 for that. it was $400.00 before he saw that.

I had this 65 Lincoln I got for free. it was wrecked. my friend just happened to look underneath one day and tells me I had a brand new exhaust on it with flowmasters. I will be patching that one in on my next car.