Quote Originally Posted by John Palmer
Basically its a money choice, "pay the man now, or pay him later". I had the same choice and went with 2 1/2" mild steel bends and tubing with plans to have the entire system ceramic coated after the car comes back apart for final paint. I've been quoted $600 to $750 to ceramic coat the entire system headers to tail pipes. So in retrospect it's close to a "toss up" in overall cost between coated mild steel vs. a stainless system in materials, IMO. Also one more thing to consider when you build the system is the lenght of each piece. Several coaters have told me that five feet is the largest piece that would fit in their ovens when doing ceramic. For me the most important design element was to have the exhaust not exit under the car to eliminate the rumble noise. Mine goes out the rear and sounds good.
John, the ceramic coater I spoke with can do a maximum length of 6 feet and needs the mufflers to have either flanges on both ends or to use slip joints. I just DO NOT want to end up with any exhaust leaks. If I was going with SS everything would be welded. Like you I am going to go out the rear with the exhaust to reduce the noise level in my roadster. If I can reduce the heat as much as possible (ceramic coating & Lizard skin inside too) and still have a high quality appearance I will do that. I am just NOT SURE what is the BEST way to connect the mufflers to the exhaust pipes and have the BEST possible appearance of clamps...open for suggestions!