Gen 3 - Exhuast

[NickB]

Hi Guys,

I recently purchased a 2004 dodge viper out of state. I live in Southern California. The vehicle was modified and cats deleted. At least that's what the smog shop said. You'll see in the attached photos somthing that looks like a cat but I'm not sure. Not only do I need to add the cats to get it smogged (then registered), its way too loud. Like race car with no muffler loud. I reached out to JonB but he's busy and recovering from an injury. I've attached photos of the current setup. If anyone can recommend how I would go about adding the cats without swapping out the manifold it would be greatly appreciated. I may need more than just cats to reduce the noise levels but I don't even know where to start. P.S. The only branding I could see was the magnaflow muffler.

Photo descriptions:
1)Manifold
2)Manifold coming out to the side of the car
3)Pipe leading to resonator or possible cat??
4)Magna flow muffler
5)Side exhaust pipe

Thank you.

 

[MoparMap]

Definitely looks like a set of aftermarket headers based on where they all merge together. The factory setup has 4 cats total, 1 right on the end of the manifold on each side (basically shorty headers), and 1 right after the bend into the side panel. I'm fairly sure that is a cat in front of your muffler, though probably an aftermarket one. Did the smog shop even test the car or did they just take one look and give it back to you since it wasn't the factory setup? I'm not sure there's any way to get the full 4 cat system back in the car without swapping back to factory manifolds as least. You could still keep an aftermarket catback on it at that point. I bought my 04 with factory manifolds and a Borla catback, but have since swapped it over to M&M headers and the same Borla mufflers. Just did an engine rebuild and cam upgrade recently and it was a little loud for what I use the car for, so ended up putting one cat back in and it quieted it down noticeably. Your muffler is likely your issue as that thing is tiny. If you can pass smog with a single cat you could swap over to pretty much any of the catback systems on the market and likely quiet the car down. It might take a little work to make it all fit together though as the cats really need to be welded in based on where they have to go in the system. Mine are right up where the bend in the pipe is as it comes through the frame so there's no straight section to put any kind of clamp on. I basically just welded them to the header turnouts.

 

[NickB]

Thank you very much for the response. I had a feeling I’d have to replace the manifold/headers. I was thinking of putting in a whole Ballenger setup with cats but I’m afraid of the noise levels. I prefer it be an fun to drive car rather than a loud obnoxious car. The Viper is beautiful and rare and let’s be serious, everyone knows it’s a powerful car so it doesn’t need to prove it by having an extremely loud exhaust. Also I have good neighbors but I don’t want to wake them up if/when I leave the house at 6:30am.
If anyone can recommend a setup it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Steve-Indy]

You might ask Dan Cragin in Alhambra for advice...and, consider having his shop (SPT...Specialty Performance Team) do the work. Great guy, highly recommended, trustworthy...no need to ***** around with iffy, piecemeal work when that level of experience exists in your back yard. 626 588 2882

 

[NickB]

Thank you, I’ll give him a call.

 

[MoparMap]

A full catback shouldn't be obnoxiously loud, though I guess everyone's ears are different. I loved my setup with the factory manifolds/cats and the Borlas. Had a nice low muscle car kind of tone to it. I think Belangers and Corsas sound a little more **** and exotic because they come across as higher pitched to me. When I did the cam swap my car became very loud with the header and catback setup with the cats removed. It was very pulsey so you got defined puffs that I think attributed to that. Putting the cats back in helped to smooth that out some and quiet it down just a bit at the same time. It's still loud, but not nearly as tiring to cruise around in. A total factory exhaust is just a little too quiet to me. It hides some of the character of the car until you really start to get on it.

 

[Stray Cat]

I just removed an entire factory set up from my 2005. Did you find what you want ? I am trying to find a Borla Cat back and then JonB is custom making a set of high flow CATS for me. 4 to 6 weeks out and Borla just delayed my system AGAIN....finding parts for these cars is hard right now. If you need anything off a stock set up, let me know. This car has 14,750 miles on it so hardly used.

 

[hlieber50]

I installed a Bellinger exhaust on my 05 since my driver side factory header was leaking. It eliminated the cross over pipe which keeps the cabin much cooler. My cat back was left stock and the car was louder. The original cats were sold for scrap, worth more than I thought. I bought a new set of after market cats since my check engine light listed weak O2 sensor whIch was actually cracked header. The aftermarket cats were never installed and I would love to sell them. The Bellinger system made the car louder. I later installed the Corsa cat back system too which made the car much louder under acceleration but bumped up performance. You can keep you current sound by just replacing the cats, but with the cross pipe under the passager compartment it gets hot in the cabin. There was a reason Chysler engineers called the cross over the "Ring of Fire"