So the Civic needs a new exhaust. The downpipe is rusty, the mid-pipe is only half there, and the muffler is in a different state, presumably. Basically the whole thing terminates right after the cat, and the stuff before the cat looks bad too.
My first thought, as always, is OEM. The muffler and midpipe are only about $120 each and available on Amazon (ships in 1-3 months, which is fine.) However the down pipe is an additional $180, making the total bill around $500, give or take. Also the stock muffler hanger is completely NLA, so I’d have to magic something into life for that. While I was at it, I could spend another $100 for a new, non-EGR header. So for between $500 and $600, self fit, I get a new stem-to-stern exhaust.
Sort of balking at the cost of that, my 2nd thought is aftermarket land. Looks like headers+downpipes are not particularly expensive, but I’m having an exceptionally difficult time finding any that are listed as working for an 86. Apparently the 3rd gen Civic is much unloved. If I could spend equivalent money to get a superior product, that seems like a no-brainer to me.
Third option would be go to a good exhaust shop and say “make it so” and then they would do so. The downside is that’d probably be expensive to do everything. The alternative to that would be to just have them replace what is missing, which I could probably do for under $200? Ooooooor order the muffler, keep the rest, and tell them to connect the two? That is where things get muddy.
What does Oppo think?
Bonus doggos for your time.
