Installing A New Cat-Back Exhaust On A 2001 Trans Am - Shout it Out!

Here you can see the Corsa... 

   

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Here you can see the Corsa system laid out. It was shipped in two boxes; one included the muffler and the tips, while the contained the piping and hardware.

Any muscle car owner can tell you that sound is important. Many of us were drawn to this hobby on a quest to build a car with the total package: loud, fast, and bad ass. Loud usually tops that list, but decibels aren't everything; tone plays a major factor as well. With the aftermarket quick to lend a helping hand, we are lucky enough to have many options to choose from, within anyone's budget so you can achieve that sound you have been seeking.

Catback systems range in price from $250 to nearly $1,000, and every system has something different to offer that make them unique. Some of the more durable systems are made from stainless steel, such as Corsa, Borla, SLP Loudmouth, and the ever-so-popular Magnaflow. Each of these systems have a significantly different sound, so you may not be sure which one is for you. The manufacturer's web site usually has sound clips for you to help you with your decision. One site, www.LS1sounds.com, actually allows you to listen to different systems on cars with varying levels of mods, giving you a pretty good idea of what your Pontiac will sound like.

This car was purchased with a custom exhaust, and a 3-inch Flowtech cutout before the axle. By the looks of the exhaust stain on the floor boards, the previous owner thought the same as we did; the welded-in muffler wasn't going to cut it. So, we chose the Corsa Catback system for '98-'02 F-bodies. Corsa has gained the reputation of providing superb flow, as well as a loud-when-you-want-it, quiet-when-you-need-it sound. Corsa uses a patented Reflective Sound Cancellation technology, which allows it to virtually eliminate highway drone, and resonance. In a car with heads, cam, long tube headers, and no cats, it was going to be tough. Wouldn't it be something if this system actually did what they claimed? Well it did just that. In fact, it provided this Trans Am with an exotic growl at every rpm, while being tame enough inside to bring a date along.

Whoever installed the previous exhaust appeared to be a highly inexperienced welder. There were areas of the weld bead that were over 4mm thick over the pipe, which caused a problem with the intermediate pipe removal. It was nothing a little grinding couldn't solve, but the weld found its way too far up the pipe, and it forced us to cut the Y-pipe far shorter than desired. As a compromise, we had to install the provided exhaust clamp in a way that risked picking up road debris. This still solved the problem, and there have been no leaks coming from the clap area.

Aside from the poor welding, the exhaust was simple to remove. It only required two cuts: one before the axle, and one at the intermediate pipe to snake the exhaust over the axle and into the dumpster. It was now time to transform the sound of the Trans Am, and resurrect this extinct bird.

This home-made system provided...        read full caption This home-made system provided a mellow tone that wasn't all that bad. Due to its lackluster flow, and dreadful looking truck tips, this car needed an upgrade.	Here is a good look at the...        read full caption Here is a good look at the muffler. As you can see, it's fairly small and the tips are considerably larger than the outlets from the muffler.	The Flowtech cutout was cool...        read full caption The Flowtech cutout was cool and it's easy to see why so many people install one of these on their F-body. The I-pipe allows you to install one right before the axle, which provides easy access, and a power increase. Crawling underneath the car can become tiring, but there are electronic butterfly valves to eliminate that.
Here, we cut the first weld...        read full caption Here, we cut the first weld at the I-pipe. At this point, the welds were at their thickest, and proved to be tough on the blades, as well.	Having to fix someone else's...        read full caption Having to fix someone else's bad work is always a joy. He we had to grind the excess weld material that was nearly 4mm thick. Since the Corsa system is designed to slip over this pipe it caused some major interference.	We were left with this sad...        read full caption We were left with this sad display of metal to work with. There is no telling how hot the welder was set, but the pipe lost its shape from the heat.