Hey guys, hope everyone had a great thanksgiving!

I currently have a 2001 monte 3400 that I am trying to make as bad-*** as possible. Currently I have a CAI, dual flowmasters, prog-tuner, ported and polished MAF ---and am planning on buying a magnaflow high-flow cat with built in u-bend delete (part# 23433). I think that the last thing I can do to my car that is not ridiculously expensive is replace the resonator. I've read many forum posts and see that taking it out all together does not yield a positive result in sound. On the other hand, replacing it seems to make many people quite pleased. I was wondering if anyone knew of a direct-fit high flow resonator that I could purchase. If there are any skeptics on the 3400, every part I bought for it was meant for the 3800, so don't be shy to send info if it is just for the 3800. I know there is a few of you on here with the 3400, and in my opinion the car sounds very nice, I often get compliments from friends who drive much faster cars (mustang gt, Z28, ect...) on how well the car turned out. I am like many on here, (college student with limited funds) and was too broke to cough up enough cash for the superchaged 3.8L. It seems like most of you guys know your **** pretty well, so any help is a good thing. Also, if anyone has any ideas on what else I can throw under the hood or under the body, let me know.

Thanks Guys!

Ryan

I'll have pics posted soon, I think some of you may be impressed how my 2001 ls turned out.

 

Yeah post up them pics!

i think your next best mod will be a full exhaust. its not at as expensive as you might think. if you buy a prebuilt kit like the ones you see online... yeah they will hurt your pocket... but a local shop can turn on out decently.


to give you an idea for about $400 i had a complete system done. im using the stock down pipe, had the factory cat replaced for a high flow unit, a can magnaflow muffler where the 1st resonator was, some piping, a glass pack muffler where the second factory resonator was, and then equal lenght piping to dual tips. all using 2.5" dia. parts.

it sound great and has no restriciton! so if flows nice.

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i think your best bet would be to find a local shop. i doubt you need a new down pipe, but if you want it go ahead. but a local shop can install a high flow cat, remove that pesky Ubend ( my car didng have it...i think it is a new thing), install a single glasspack to take the place of your resonators, and then link up to your mufflers.

now what size mufflers did you buy? 2.25" or 2.5" either way have them run all the piping in 2.5" if you plan on doing boost later you might want to consider 3" but that is kinda large for the mods you have now and you'll have some room to grow too.

 

Thanks man, I've read just about every forum post on here and see that you grant the greatest knowledge out of all the people on here. This is what i have in place of the factory exhaust

system--http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-05-Monte-Carlo-Dual-exhaust-with-Flowmaster-Muffler_W0QQitemZ190037497520QQihZ009QQcategoryZ33 630QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

So from there, I plan to go backward and get rid of the resonator and replace it with this

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...2452&rd=1&rd=1

OR this

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...4266&rd=1&rd=1

Let me know which you think would give a heartier grumble [sound more like a v8 ---if you dont catch my slang ]
I dont know if the glasspack would be quieter than my stock resonator, but the direct bolt on would be louder than stock--says the sell. So i await your opinion before i buy either of them...or if you can send me a link to something better. I do all my own install work btw, so no need to worry about installation costs if your factoring that into your decision.

Once thats in, I already have my eyes on the magnaflow highflow cat with the ubend delete ( this is a definate purchase--2 birds with one stone). I am at school right now, but when I head back home, Ill be sure to take pics!

Thanks again,
Ryan

 

if you want a deeper sound get the down pipe first and then remove the first resonator. and leave the second that is next to the gas tank. for a deeper rumble you might want to step up to a larger down pipe.... but that will prob kill a good bit of your low end torque. for your current setup i feel your best with a 2.5" system. for the mean time get the down pipe first, then cut out the 1st res and replace with 2.5 pipe. if you can try and run 2.5" pipe up to the Y-pipe atleast to make the most out of the 2.25 mufflers you have. well GL and enjoy.

 

When you say downpipe, you mean the direct fit highflow cat right? (Magnaflow part 23433) If not,I dont understand what you are talking about with a downpipe. I already will be buying the new high flow cat that includes a downpipe and ubend delete. I am satisfied with that. My question is the resonator, and I asked which would be better to purchase of the two I posted. Upon your post however, I was unaware that there are two resonators in the 2001 monte carlo, I just saw the one huge one when I was under the body (the one directly after the ubend). My question regarding the large resonator was should I go with a small glass pack, or replace the entire thing with the direct fit bolt on that I posted. I also am uncertain to what you are talking about with the exhaust setup I installed (f you can try and run 2.5" pipe up to the Y-pipe atleast to make the most out of the 2.25 mufflers you have. well GL and enjoy.) Does this mean that I remove the resonator that comes right after the ubend and replace it with regular pipe up to my y pipe?

Thanks, sorry for the confusion.

 

i got the u-bend delete, and high flow cat, and resonator gone, just with the mufflers now, and it sounds really good, you'd probably be happy with that and especially happy with the performance gain

 

yep you got it. get that setup from magnaflow... make sure it is 2.5" dia though. after the magnaflow unit (Downpipe and cat) run fresh pipe (2.5" dia) to your Y-pipe. cut out everything along the way.

the fact that you have 2 1/4 mufflers and the remaining Ypipe is 2 1/4 will help to reduce some sound but like Wizkid posted you will be very happy with the results. it will deff be much louder then stock.

im asuming you have the DHP power tuner? right? what all have you done with it so far?

 

so no resonator...good cheaper for me

I see you pay close attention to the output diameter, 2 1/4 flows really much different from 2.5 flows in terms of sound and preformance?

 

yes it does cause even though the stock is said to be 2.25 its actually less more like 2.1

besides even at 2.25 its a 10% increase in diameter and flow increase exponetially with diameter increase. and if you calc with the true 2.1 its more like 19% increase in diameter! that is very nice. and thats just from the pipe alone...not counting the less restrictive cat and mufflers!

 

I see that the size really does matter...even if it is a small amount
bigger is always better apparently

Last question, in regards to the bigger is better--would the exhaust note change much depending on the size of my exhaust tips? The ones that came with my set were too short (6 inches long with 2 1/2 inch diameter), so I bought longer ones --

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Round...spagenameZWD1V

And was curious if the tip output diameter increase would yield as positive or negative in sound
Also Do the resonators in the tips really matter much? (the resonator only run for about 5.5 of the 8.5 inches) ANNND would the fact that they are bolt-ons not weld ons, kill the sound?

So really id like a hand in regards to-
tip diameter
weld on vs. bolt on
resonator in tips
Plus a personal opinion, slanted tip, or just regular round

(At this point, I would think that they resonators in the exhaust tips would help a bit --on the fact that I am removing the huge resonator--which people said is a bit too unrefined)

Let me know guys, thanks again for the help...as you can tell I am OCD about these small meticulous things