Full 3" on a P Body, how tough?

[89VNT4ME]

How is the fitment of a 3" exhaust on a P Body? I'm mostly concerned with it hitting the rear axle assembly, my current 2.5" on the Shadow looks like it fits nicely, but how's everyone else's experience with fitting a 3" pipe over the assembly?

[DirectConnection]

I had to bend over the tank's seem/flange thingy with a wooden 2x4 and have only like a 1/4" clearance on each side of the pipe. It actually keeps rubbing on the spring and annoying me. I'll get to it once the car is back together with the new setup.

[acrrrn]

hey eric, i had a 3'' exhaust on my 87 csx and took it off to go 2.5'' fwd with a catco hi-flow+ magnaflow muffler. much better, the 3'' rubbed the coil spring. and its nice and quiet now!!!

[91_ES]

ya my 3" is always knocking against the rear springs on idle.........
u get used to it.

[89Shadow]

Quote:

Originally posted by 91_ES ya my 3" is always knocking against the rear springs on idle......... u get used to it.

Heh, I never got used to it so I put in 2.5" for that one section.

[TurboShadowES]

im gonna be cheap when i get mine done and just have it dump right before the rear axle

[OmniGuy123]

I have a 3" cat back system on my car, and I had to move the gas tank over a little bit so that the pipe would fit between the tank and the spring with no clearance issues.

[Rally_T-115]

Wow really eh? Man this is good to know. I really wanted to put a 3" system in my (future) shadow/sundance/CSX-clone/whatever monster, so I guess I'll be forced to stick with a 2.5" system. Hopefully it won't hurt performance too much...

James

[OmniGuy123]

Quote:

Originally posted by Rally_T-115 Wow really eh? Man this is good to know. I really wanted to put a 3" system in my (future) shadow/sundance/CSX-clone/whatever monster, so I guess I'll be forced to stick with a 2.5" system. Hopefully it won't hurt performance too much... James

It is really not that bad to make it fit. Just takes some extra time. I think that it would probably be well worth the effort.

[DirectConnection]

Quote:

Originally posted by cordes I have a 3" cat back system on my car, and I had to move the gas tank over a little bit so that the pipe would fit between the tank and the spring with no clearance issues.

Hmmm.... I never thought of that. I thought the tank fit in only one position. How did you move it over? With it loose, it has enough play to be repositioned?

[theCSXmachine]

cant you just use some exhaust wrap where it would rub that way you don't hear anything? i'm planning to do a 3" catback as soon as i get sick of open downpipe.

[Rally_T-115]

Maybe, if the race/rally rules allow it, I could run 3" to in front of the gas tank, and where it turns 90deg, instead split in to two 2.25" or 2.5" pipes and have side-exit exhaust on both sides... no worries about the fuel lines, I'll probably have a fuel cell instead.

[HotRodDodge]

I had a custom 3'' system made up for me at a local shop and it NEVER rubbed anywhere and it was cheap to get done with no muffler of coarse.

[OmniGuy123]

Quote:

Originally posted by DirectConnection Hmmm.... I never thought of that. I thought the tank fit in only one position. How did you move it over? With it loose, it has enough play to be repositioned?

Just loosened the straps and moved the tank over a tiny ammount. No big deal. I did not need much more room to clear it so no problems.

[89VNT4ME]

From what I'm hearing, a 3" will fit fine only if it's done right. I really want to go 3" sooner or later so I'm going to have to try to find someone to make it work, I've already gotten a good suggestion thus far though