Custom exhaust shops near Burlington, VT?

[morgant]

I've gotta do full exhaust on my new Series III 88" that has the 2.8l NA Daihatsu diesel in it.

I can order stock exhaust parts from RN, but I doubt it'll match up quite right—although what's on it actually looks mostly stock—and have it modified to meet the header downpipe (?) correctly. It'd probably too small a diameter to be very efficient though.

I did some research and it appears that Steve Parker probably provided the Daihatsu diesel kit and they offer custom exhaust to match, but they don't appear to ship to the US.

So, does anyone know of a good custom exhaust shop in the vicinity of Burlington, VT? What should I be expecting for a price tag?

[Les Parker]

You could try Burlington Brake and Muffler,on Williston Rd. South Burlington, they did some great work on the exhaust of my 88 RR Classic.

802-658-9410

[KevinNY]

Your adaptors was most likely made by Precision and Conversion in the UK. Just have a 2" exhaust made up and use either a straight through muffler or non at all. Don't forget to add a section of flex pipe near the downpipe.

Edit: I see you have the NA version, then you definitely want a muffler. The turbo breaks up the exhaust note and makes a muffler optional.

[Mike Koch]

Burlington Muffler and Brake is an honest shop that has done some quality custom exhaust work on my vehicles since 2001. It's refreshing that they aren't intimidated by custom jobs and I don't have any reservations in recommending them for this job.

[CMorris]

Vermont Custom Auto Service made a full stainless system for my Mercedes 240D powered Series II 88 and it came out beautifully. They are located behind the airport in the Berard farm industrial park. Burlington B&M are great but they can't do stainless, I did talk to them and they can do just about anything you want.

[morgant]

Well, I was ready to go with Burlington Brakes & Muffler after the first review, but three positives is great. It's esp. comforting to hear where RN folks have taken their trucks.

I don't plan on doing stainless at the moment as it's going to need a new frame in a few years and I don't know if I'll keep the Daihatsu at that time or not. It needs enough work that my money is best spent on other repairs at this time anyway.

[morgant]

Thanks again to all who suggested Burlington Muffler & Brake. I had scheduled for them to look at it this past Monday and had dropped it off in the middle of the night the prior Thursday. They called with an estimate the following day (Friday the 3rd) and had it done for a tad under $400 on Monday.

I'll be picking it up tonight and can't wait to hear it. It's now all 2" w/a section of flex after the down-pipe, plus muffler. Shouldn't be trying to tear itself apart when the Daihatsu is at idle, which'll be nice.

I've only gotten to drive the truck a few times as I'm just trying to get it inspected, but it's a blast. Sounds like there's now something wrong with the rear-right parabolic spring (I already have the shocks as they were leaking considerably) and it's riding a couple inches low on that corner. Doh!

Will have to crawl under it tonight with a flashlight and see... too bad I've been doing all the between garage transportation in the dark of night.

[KevinNY]

Sometimes a very small adjustment to the idle can find a sweet spot where a diesel doesn't shake nearly as much. FYI, that is very near what I paid for a custom exhaust on mine.

[morgant]

Yeah, I was assuming I could adjust the idle to get a noticeable improvement.

How has your 2.8L Daihatsu treated you? What're you running for oil filters?

[KevinNY]

I'm running a remote oil fiter setup that takes common Napa Gold 1568 filters. Engine has been great, have put about 20k miles on it now. Wheeled it from Nova Scotia to Moab.

[morgant]

Excellent advice on the 2" w/flex and muffler. Beautiful and runs great.