Howdy everyone,

As stated in the title, I'm nearly a complete noob to the AMC and these forums (I've been browsing for the last month or so and thought it was time I should join.).

Where else better to begin, than to start with a few basic performance related questions. I have a 2000 TH Sports, all stock standard as far as I'm aware. I'm hoping to get as much performance boost as I can on a rather restictive budget (roughly $1200) and after everything that I've investigated, exhaust seems to be the place to begin. I could be wrong, however. The following is what I'm aiming at so far, but I'm looking for decent advice and opinions, thanks:

1) Magnaflow 2.5" 91006 cat converter
2) Redback/Wildcat 2.5" Extractors
3) Redback 2.5" catback exhaust system

I've considered the Magnaflow 14586 and the Lukey LR2779 (AL4-5597) mufflers and I've pretty much ruled out the HM, Pacemaker, and especially the RPW extractors [I've had a shit experience with RPW lately. Still waiting for a part for over 6 weeks that was supposedly in stock].

My reasoning for going with the Redback and Wildcat combo is that they are bolt on and I can possibly do the work myself, also I haven't come across any valid negative comments about these products yet in my searches. I don't care too much about what the muffler looks like as long as it performs.

Thanks much for any and all input. I look forward to your comments.

Cheers

P.S. I hope this is the correct location for my first thread :~]

Why have you ruled out the HM headers? They seem to be the go for Magnas.

When you say you've 'investigated' these mods, have you searched the internet generally, or AMC? Modifying a Magna is quite different to, say, a Falcon or Commodore.

I say this as if if you are on a restrictive budget, I would change the rear muffler only. I can't recall if the TH Sports had a straight-through muffler or not, but if it doesn't, this is where most of your performance gains will be had.

If I can find the thread.., the HM's were mentioned to be thin and had a tendency to crack, yet this does only come from one source. I haven't been able to find them for sale anywhere either. I have looked at Ebay, Best Muffler and a few other places, maybe i've missed something? I've searched various forums, e.g. Here, FastMagna, ModifiedMagna and Ford & Commodore sites as they have popped up during searches. Restrictive budget, well roughly $1200. I could do a bit of the work myself, but I'm no pro and I have a good mechanic that works for reasonalbe rates. I don't know about the value of reflashing the ECU? There may be other options that I'm not aware of? I'm a bit ignorant of the stock standards for the TH Sports. I haven't had the car for long.

Not sure if you have the 3.0L or the 3.5L, but I just fitted a Lukey rear muffler to my 3.5L TJ and I love it. Makes a noticeable difference in power and sounds nice.

If I can find the thread.., the HM's were mentioned to be thin and had a tendency to crack, yet this does only come from one source. I haven't been able to find them for sale anywhere either.
I have heard that Xforce extractors are thin and tend to crack, but I haven't heard anyone complain about the HMs. Forum sponsor Mits-fix sell them. Drop him an e-mail or phone up for a price.

It's a 3.5L. Thanks Red for the reference. From what I've come across here, Mit's-fix (Mal?) seems to have a reasonable rep. Bayswater, correct?

If you are willing and able to save more, hold off and get a 6G75 engine conversion. Makes a massive difference.

Otherwise I would say rear muffler, then centre muffler/resonator and cat (high flow). Extractors won't give much, but if you get hm are the best IMO.
I would do 380 cams before extractors, but as I said before the engine conversion is best option.

Thanks Brett, It is another thing that I've considered. Too many options.

Do you see yourself having the car and putting little mods into it over a long time? If so go the 3.8... If you get extractors and you are going to mod the car you will always want more.. and after the extractors you will want a new intake... and a light cam... and an tune, and by the time you've done that you have already spent much more then a 3.8 would cost.

Lol, Sounds too rational. Yeah, I'll most likely have the car for a minimum of 3 years. A litte bit of history: I bought the car off a mate of mine for the price of rego ($500), because the clutch had burnt out and he did not want to put any more money into it. So, I took the car and had a new clutch put in, not even thinking of upgrades or performance at the time. Since then, I noticed the fuel mileage wasn't all that great - roughly 450km a tank, city (wife complaining about cost. Her 4wd SUV gets better mileage). I began doing a search for ways of improving this and I found that it might be possible to do this while also, getting a slight improvement in hp at the same time by going with a high flow exhaust system. Personally, my preference leans more toward increased hourse power ;). The car's exhaust system from the Cat back is the same age as the clutch, about 6 months old. The vehicle also, has roughly 173,000km on it, so a 200,000km service is not far around the corner either. The 3.8 conversion seems to make the most sense in the longrun, but due to being somewhat ignorant in relation to car perfomance, etc. I thought I'd get some input from people with a little more know. I guess it all comes down to investigating the cost. I appreciate the opinions, thanks.

in all honesty anything you do apart from a tune will result in worse economy, best bang for buck is the 3,8 conversion.... nice modern motor and better economy if pussyfooted and more torque when the foot is down.... win/win

If 200,000km service is around the corner, put your $1200 towards a 380 conversion. Aforementioned Mits-Fix specialise in supplying and fitting these conversions.

While the 3.8l engines don't look much on paper (175kw at the engine in 380s), they are massively hampered by the 380's restrictive exhaust system. The 6G75s are good for around 160kw at the wheels in a 3rd gen, which is around a 30kw increase from standard. If you have a 3l engine currently, the power gains are likely to be even bigger. In comparison, extractors and a full exhaust might gain you around 5-10kw at the wheels :)

Thanks again. The 3.8 conversion seems to be the consensus. I'll look into it.

Well......I looked into the 6G75 conversion and for the time being it's a bit out of my affordability range (I've had a few extra outgoing expenses that I was not expecting); however, I have gone ahead and made the following upgrades:

Redback 2 1/2" catback exhaust + 200cpi Zetti s/s bullet cat converter.

Responsiveness has definetly improved and there is a pleasant, not too loud (wouldn't mind if it was a bit louder, actually), deeper note now. The old exhaust with only 8000K, I need to get rid of, but I believe I still have a bit of a wait before I can list it in these forums.

It will probably be a little while before I consider any more major upgrades, but for the short term I'm looking at replacing the shifter nob with a Neo Chrome one from SickSpeed. Also, need to replace the broken antenna and I'm picking up a "dash storage box" from el3ment. The car has never had one since I've owned it.

Think I'm going to have to create my own thread in the "Member's Machines" forum.:)

Cheers