Exhaust System

Updated 2009 December 12 - SS prices have increased.

This series of products started out as a project to build myself a stainless steel exhaust header. Many of us who live in the winter salt belt were getting very short lifetimes from our carbon steel headers – even with ceramic coating and jet coating – they were still failing too early. As a result I have ended up with a complete SS exhaust system as well as a cheaper aluminized muffler and tail pipe. These products may be of interest to others.

Here is what the complete SS system looks like

This free flow exhaust header is made from 16 gauge 304 stainless steel, with 1/2 inch thick exhaust manifold flanges and 3/8 inch thick CAT flange. All flanges are made from carbon steel. The SS flex joint removes all of the stresses in the header assembly and eliminates a significant resonance that was discovered in an earlier model of the header.

The CAT is a 2 inch diameter inlet/outlet oval format version with a welded flange on inlet and a loose flange on outlet. This is a performance Cat that sounds very nice with the 6 inch muffler.

The 6 inch muffler is available in either SS or aluminized steel. It comes with a loose flange on the inlet and a straight pipe on the outlet. Tail pipes are separate.

You do not have to replace your stock Vanagon CAT, if it is in good condition, it will work just fine - just a wee bit more restrictive.

Here is what the system looks like with the stock Vanagon CAT

(Note: Dead O2 sensor used to fill hole in CAT - I now have proper plugs to fill those spare O2 sensor holes - see price list below.)

We have just added an OBDII CAT to our products.

This CAT will be useful for people with later model engines where the ECU is looking for the Rear O2 sensor. It is a 2 inch inlet and outlet and has additional emission coating (so naturally the price has gone up). Here is a picture of what we have:

You can use either the original vanagon CAT or upgrade to the 2 inch oval cat shown first picture above or the 2 inch OBDII CAT shown above. The 6 inch muffler is available in either SS or aluminized steel. As shown above the tail pipe is available with either a single 90° bend or a double bend to clear the rear valence better.

This SS exhaust header will fit both KEP and SC engine mount arrangements but is NOT designed for a Syncro.

- On a KEP engine support you will need some sort of muffler support – similar to the product described here - Muffler Support

Here is what it looks like:

Lots of room with the KEP type engine mount. This is on my 86 8 passenger vanagon. I use the stock vanagon cross member to provide damper support for the engine and to hold the heat shield out of the way.

Here is a rear view:

Again my 86 with slightly beefed up rear bumper - discourages people from dinging me in the parking lots.

- ON a Small Car support only one of the muffler brackets on the engine support can be used – from our experience this is more than adequate. See pictures below.

Courtesy of Ken Madsen - beautiful conversion job. Note that the SS header is already turning the typical bronze colour, in the areas where it gets very hot.

Here is the system mounted on an older SC mount - courtesy of Tim Freeman:

After the picture was taken the SS band on the muffler was rotated to be up behind the cross member.

This is what Ken's looks like from the rear - unfortunately, I do not have a rear view picture of Tim's installation - his fits a bit higher into the heat shield.

People who had other headers on their EJ22s and now have this SS header report a small power improvement resulting from the free flow design of the header. This power improvement has not been measured or quantified but it is noticeable. Similarly, I did some testing with 5-inch mufflers and found them far too restrictive for our EJ22 engines. The sound from the 6-inch mufflers is quite acceptable – approximately equivalent to the stock Vanagon muffler. The performance 2-inch CAT also reduces the sound level slightly.

NOTE: It is essential that the complete exhaust system be support from the engine. NO supports shall be connected to the chassis. If chassis supports are used header/muffler cracking is likely to occur.

Here is the price list for the exhaust components (sorry prices of SS has gone up quite significantly):

#	Item Description	CAN dollars	USA dollars (see note below)	Comments
A	304 SS exhaust header	549.00
B	2-inch oval performance CAT.	199.00
C	2-inch OBDII round performance CAT. with O2 bung	239.00
D	6-inch SS muffler	214.00
E	SS tail pipe with clamp	20.00
F	6-inch aluminized muffler	76.00
G	Aluminized tail pipe with clamp	15.00
H	SS band for 6-inch muffler	14.00
I	Exhaust manifold flanges (plasma cut – ½ inch CRS)	20.00		For the person who wants to make his own header
J	Donut sealing ring	3.95
K	Flat CAT gasket	3.50
L	O2 hole plug	4.50

Prices do NOT include shipping or Canadian taxes – shipping and taxes are extra.

NOTE: Due to currency exchange rate fluctuations USD prices will be confirmed at time of order.

If you pay via PayPal I will have to add a non-cash payment charge as I have not built the fees into the price.

Prices are subject to change without notice.

Contact e-mail address

if you are interested

NOTE: Use these ideas at you own risk - no warranty or guarantee implied or included. Tom