Where is the cheapest place to buy a whole new exhaust for my 81 300sd? I've already been to a couple of muffler shops and they both said that they couldn't do anything for me. Thanks in advance.

Check your yellow pages for muffler shops that advertise custom exhaust work. Go to your local parts store and ask the counter guy if he can recommend someone for custom exhaust work.

Exhaust work is more of an art, and you need to find an artist.

Happy Motoring

RBM

And you DO NOT need to put in OEM exhaust to replace the old one unless you are stickler about that...
Do a little bit of searching and you will find what people have done
I.E. http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=111222

I wouldn't recommend straight pipe but it will give you some samples of other exhausts setups...

NONE of the local muffler shops will mess with this. Also, i havent seen one shop that has the round mufflers like the 300sd has in the rear. My center mufflers also have several holes big enough to put a couple of fingers in. i would rather replace the whole thing with OEM stuff. I have read that thread on the straight exhaust put on that SDL. Sounds cool but i'm not interested. I want the car to be as quiet as it can be.

do u want new mufflers? cause i have a rear muffler in pretty decent shape.

oem stuff can be pretty pricey. do u have a budget? if not u can order them from fast lane.

__________________
198? 300D ???K - Future DD
1989 300TE 285K - traded in '12
1984 300SD 186K - Sold in 08
1978 300SD 330K - Died in 05

Performance Products and Fastlane are both good options for exhaust components

I believe that a complete OEM type setup will probably run around $500-$700. The paperwork with my car included the bill from Midas in '92 to replace the exhaust, and it was around $500 back then.

There's an exhaust and welding place on a small airfield near me that will fabricate anything you want for a modest price - perhaps you need to look in more rural areas? They made up a system for a Chevy 250 fitted to a 1965 Land Rover for $180. It really is something of an art bending and fitting all the tubes to fit properly, but didn't take very long and worked well when they were finished.

Once the system rots out on my '85 I would happily go back to them and have them make me something, I would probably eliminate the "kidney resonators" under the middle of the car though.

Kevin

__________________
'85 300SD

I've priced the center section and the rear muffler on several sites and that comes out to around $330. I know i'll new a few other parts. Basically I just want a complete exhaust that works about the same as it did when it was new. I really don't care if its homemade or not. How much are you asking for the rear muffler?

If you want your car as quiet as possible (I wasn't nessisarily talking about putting a straight pipe...read the whole thread....) you will probably want new resonators and new muffler...

if you read the whole thread you will see information about other exhaust setups apart from the straight pipe. I agree that it is a tad bit obnoxious.

Have fun...

Exactly..... The only other useful info in that thread is the info posted by you about your setup. Again, i'm looking for the cheapest place to buy OEM EXHAUST, not custom, not performance. BTW, your exhaust is FAR from quiet.

I guess I misinterpretated this...sorry.

I'm sure you've seen the straight pipe video by now. That system set me back $150.00. The noise price is a little higher though.

Some former gas stations that now only do repair work have pipe benders and will do custom work, but they wont drop what their doing to do it. There is one by me that will do it only when there is nothing else to do. When I neede exhaust for my motorhome I left my phone number and told him to call me when he had an opening. I took 6 weeks but I got Duals put on for $235. You would be suprised how many old service stations have the equipment but hardly ever use it. The real muffler shops hardly touch anything they have to bend anymore.

__________________
1959 Gravely LI, 1963 Gravely L8, 1973 Gravely C12
1982 380SL
1978 450 SEL 6.9 euro restoration at 63% and climbing
1987 300 D
2005 CDI European Delivery
2006 CDI Handed down to daughter
2007 GL CDI. Wifes