Ok i have a little problem here. The one shop in town that does mandrel bending is pretty expensive and they only do 2.5 inch piping. i went to a shop that said they could do a custom cat back exhaust for me for about $115. Heres the catch, they said they only did press bends. I dont know what to do, should i get 2.5 inch piping because the pipe will size down some when its bent? Also i will lose a pretty good amount of power not having mandrel bent piping right? Unless any of you know of any shops in the fargo-moorehead region in ND that do mandrel bends i might have to do this. thanks a lot for your help.
Remember you get what you pay for . If you are looking at getting a 2.25" exhaust and want mandrel bends then look into buying your bends from a seperate place and then having a exhaust shop install it for you .
Vertex Industries automotive section
Check here for bends and piping . They do carry anywhere from 1.0" to 4" pipe , even 2.25" pipe and bends . It is also 304 stainless steel so once it is installed it will last longer .
Another thing is you could use compression bent pipe . It will flow a lot better than crush bent pipe and be cheaper than mandrel bent pipe . Check around some of the other exhaust shops for compression then see what they say .
But if you are set on mandrel bent pipe then I would check on ordering the pieces and having it installed . Just make sure you order everything you need and maybe a little more just incase . I used mandrel bent pipe on my car and had to order another couple pieces while getting my exhaust together . It set me back a little time that could have been spent doing something else . But I do have a stainless steel mandrel bent exhaust under my car now .
Vertex also sells aluminum pipe , silicone hose , and plenty of other neat things . I do highly recommend them and have done a lot of business with them .
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All of the other shops i have gone to today have said that they do press bends. Are press bends the same as compression bends? Would there be a pretty big difference performance wise with a compression bent cat back compared to a mandrel bent one.
Press bends are basically crush bends . They put the pipe into a fixture and use a cylinder to push it into the bend they need . A crush bent pipe will appear to be oval shape in the bends where a compression bent pipe will still have some folds in the bend but will still be more round .
Unless you have a really built engine and maybe running a turbo then you would want mandrel bent pipes . But if you are going to stay N/A then going up to 2.25" with compression bent pipes will do great on your car .
I had the same problem when I started getting ready to install the exhaust in my car . The places in my area did not offer mandrel bent pipes or even stainless steel . The ones that did wanted an arm and a leg for stainless steel . But they did not have mandrel bent pipes either . So I decided to buy the stuff myself and do the exhaust myself .
But the power lose by not having a mandrel bent exhaust is not going to be that big . You probably will not even notice if you go with the right size pipe . I would check back with the place that said they did press bent pipes and see if they meant compression bent .
Check E-Bay and see what comes up for mandrel bends and see if there is a store there that sells mandrel bends in mild steel if you are looking for that . If you are wanting the stainless steel then the company I go through seems very good about customer service .
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