newbie to exhaust..
 

I am looking for an exhaust or parts to make my exhaust sound better than factory and get a little power out of it also...
Soo many options and things to choose from with different sounds
What exactly is a ubend delete and a resonator?
I heard that combination makes for a nice sound.
I appreciate the help :thumbsup:

The U-bend is where the factory "bent" the exhaust pipe right after the cat (it looks like a U). The purpose of this is to allow the O2 sensor to sit veritcally. There has been some discussion if this is an obstruction or not. What I understand is regardless if you have a U-bend or delete it, the volume of exhaust moved through that section is virtually the same either way (again, this is from what I understand, not saying it's 100% true, having the U-bend deleted is definately a nicer look).

A resonator is "like" a muffler, used to change the tone of the exhaust. You can see it directly after the U-bend. Mine was replaced due to the seam rotting away and creating a bad exhaust leak. Then I had problems with the after market replacements blowing out baffles in them to the point now, I had the res deleted and will NEVER turn back. Some people feel the exhaust sounds "drony" without the res, in my case, i believe it opened the exhaust up and to me it sounds great.

My exhaust is all stock EXCEPT:
- ZZP PLOG to replace the front manifold
- ZZP 2.5" downpipe with high flow cat and u-bend delete
- Resonator Delete

The rest is stock mufflers and Y pipe.

Here's a link to my web site about my ZZP downpipe install AND comparison to the stock one:
'04 Monte Carlo SS - ZZP Downpipe

There are LOTS of other exhaust options out there and they depend on what you want to achieve. From what I understood, the stock mufflers and Y pipe are not much of a restriction in these cars.

Ok. So if delete the resonator or get a different resonator it will change the sound and I wont have to do anything else?
like a zzp or magnaflow resonator?
how bout the catalytic convertor?
I dont wanna have a deep obnoxious sound, i wanna have a nice tone that wont cost me a arm and a leg.