how much for a whole new exhaust system?

[erotomania]

I have an 88 fi accord. The exhaust system is in very poor condition and the bolts on the cat are completely melted and impossible to remove without serious work. I'd like to replace the whole system, from engine to rear.

What would you all do if you wanted to do the same thing? My parts store quoted me 180 bucks just for the downpipe. The cat would be about another 80, muffler and tailpipe well you probably know how much those are, and I don't really know where to get the rest of the interconnecting pipes like the one with the resonator on it and so on.

Is there any cheaper alternatives? I can't go to the junkyard because they destroy all the exhaust systems on all cars in order to cut the cat out.

[FyreDaug]

Well it depends, if you wanna get a little performance out of it aswell, it wont cost much more.

First of, you would want to upgrade your piping, regardless if its performance or not, itll just help everything out. Our exhaust technology now > it was 20 years ago, so upgrade the pipe dia to 2" (or 2.25) since you probably want to go cheaper route, dont bother with mandrel bending, Im assuming you would want a shop to do this too, for a full exhaust.

You can get cats for much cheaper than 80 bucks! You can get OEM ones for like 25 bucks, or high flow ones for 50. Depending on what kind of muffler you plan on getting you may or may not need a resonator. If you have a stock downpipe, a cat and a stock muffler, dont even bother with a resonator/glasspack as you probably wont notice much anyways. Thatll save you 20-50 bucks depending on quality.

I'm not entirely sure what OEM mufflers are for price, but just call some shops and get some recommendations. If you go with a cheaper muffler, chances are you will want a resonator. Youre gonna pay the same amount regardless, unless you want to be annoying (like me :))