My point is the Y-pipe is just a pipe if it is not leaking it is do what if was designed to do. If there is a rattle inside of a pipe you do not replace the pipe you empty it. The chances are very slim that what is in the pipe came from the pipe.

I paid $285 for my Stainless OBX headers with a stainless Y-pipe. I did not look up your pipe but I would not go through all that work without a upgrade. I believe the manifolds on the 98 are the older cast iron ones. GM upgraded them in 99 so for you the upgrade would be worth while in sound and performance .

At the time I did my headers the OBX Cat back was not available, I have not read any reviews but you should look into their Cat back also if you are on a budget.

 

Thank You, but my point is my post was about finding a replacement y-pipe, not about why it is rattling. I can pin-point the rattle to a 4-6 inch area. There are a few dents in it in that area, maybe that causing it to resonate - to be honest I really don't care. I'm just gonna replace the whole thing and be done with it. I'm not going to take it off, empty it, put it back on, drive it around to find out it is still vibrating and replace it anyway. I don't have time to screw around with it - I asked for help finding a replacement

With that being said, I think you are right that I might as well do an upgrade while I'm at it. Still researching how far I'm willing to go... I think I am going to just buy some pacesetter headers and a flowmaster street performance muffler and call it good.

Thanks all for your help!

 

i have heard good things about the borla adjustable on a v6. have also heard that leaving the cat helps to calm the rasp

 

With the flowmaster the cat needs to be a kept intact. I can say from personal experience the droning at 70MPH after I gutted the car made want it sound insulate the whole back end. As stated before flowmaster is great under 3000 RPM (with a cat) but IMO they get pretty embarrassing 3500ish. Magnaflow does not have that rumble at idle like the flowmaster but sound much better at higher RPMs. I have run both system on my car. If I had to choose I would stick with the Magnaflow.

 

Yeah, it make a VERY embarrassing sound above 3500. But for everyday driving below 3000 it sounds great, if you like to get on it and rev it up...try something else.

 

Yeah, I'm kinda stuck. I've decided to break down and go for the armored pacesetter headers and a catback system, but not sure which one. It's not a racer, its just my everyday driving car. So I am still leaning toward the flowmaster because I want the sound at idle and lower rpms. I do like to kick it down from stoplights now and again, etc, but that's about it. I've had a ridiculous amount of speeding tickets over the years so I have pretty much given up speeding all together and try to avoid drawing the cops attention altogether, lol. Also, its an automatic so I rarely get the rpms up too high.

But what about the cat...? I had a brand new one put in last summer. But for the life of me I have no idea where I bought it or what brand it is... (I know I ordered it from somewhere then had a shop install it...). Do I need a high-flow cat? Is there really a difference? This is getting expensive...

And I'm a little worried about taking off the old manifolds... I was under the car spraying the manifold bolts with WD-40 and most seem like a B@#ch to get to... And if I break one...

 

Use PB blaster or SeaFoams Deep Creep on the bolts. Another option is CRC's Freeze Off. Spray it on each one for about 30 seconds, then give it a whack with a hammer and screw driver. Also, putting heat to them will help, but be careful when you're near any wires or fuel lines.

 

Will pick up some PB blaster today. I will be able to hit them a couple more times before the parts get here. I am going to order them this weekend - no matter what - but still have questions...

As of now, planning on on pacesetter headers and magnaflow catback. Watched many youtube vids of magnaflow and flowmater... (I don't want any embarrassing noises at all, that's why I am changing exhaust in the first place, lol). BUT what about resonators...? I see they run about $70.00 - the cheapest of all the parts actually. Is that worth adding? A few people are saying it really helps with rasp, but I also don't see a lot of people using them...

 

I went on a bit of a shopping spree this weekend... One thing just led to another... Here's what I ordered: cold air intake, pacesetter armored headers, magnaflow catback, and universal resonator, bump stops, heater hose set (discovered mine are sooo thin), projection headlights/parking lights/brake lights set, replacement fog lights, and the 3 volume second edition set of the 1998 GM Chevrolet Camaro Pontiac Firebird Service Repair Manuals.

A shout-out to this forum for leading me to www.v6fixit.com for the bump stops and heater hoses. If you are looking for either of those, go there!

Lights should all be here by this weekend so will install them then; but the exhaust stuff won't be here til next week so can't work on it till the following weekend. I may post updates if anyone is interested. Should be quite a transformation... This has been one of my most reliable vehicles ever - even when I was too broke to maintain her (I've also taken it across country a couple times), so now that I have a little extra cash I'm going to treat her to some much deserved upgrades

 

if you have not done intake and head gaskets it may be a good time. from what ive seen on here, both common fail issues on high mile 3.8.