So I recently heard about a local car shop that claims to be the tip-top specialists for MINI and BMW. Obviously, I was excited. There are no places in-town that specialize in MINI. There is only one place that will do modifications on MINI, in fact.

Anyways, I email this shop. Quite a few problems with it...

One, it took him FOREVER to get back to me. Seven days, in fact.

Here's his reply:
Hello david.Im sorry i did not get back to you asap,Yes i am familiar with one ball system.Better breathing room for the engine and improve performance.My shop rate is 65.00 per hour this job will take about 3 hours and material.guesstimate will be around 300-350 just for exhaust without tips.It might be cheaper if you look for your own tip. if you have any further question please call 208-288-1631.thx jeff.

The first thing that caught my eye was the fact that his sentence structure is so poor. The third thing? $300-350 for a ONE-ball exhaust...

Anyways... This is the only shop that will do the mod, so far. I attempted to contact a local exhaust specialist shop, but 1) they haven't gotten back to me and 2) they probably won't be much better on the cost.

I don't feel like getting scalped for a simple exhaust modification. Are there any places near Boise, ID that anyone knows of that will perform this mod for under $100, like I've heard everyone else getting it done for? I'm willing to drive around 100 miles. Unless someone can give me a place to sleep, then I'll drive any distance that I can do a two-way trip in three days or less.

Thank you all in advance.

 

$300 for one ball?!?!
i did mine for $50!
keep looking thats a rip!

 

What kind of sentence structure were you looking for at an exhaust shop ?

I would just about bet that most exhaust shops also arn't on email all day, probably not how they usually interact

 

Any shop can do the one ball. Take your car to a local shop you trust, ask them to put the car on the lift and show them what you want done.
I did this at a local Maxi. They had not even worked on a MINI but did the mod in about 15 mins and charged me $40.

 

You think a tire shop would? Only place in town I trust. They let me get a warrantee on tires I didn't even buy from em. Got em off Tire Rack and had em shipped to the shop.

 

I'd call, not e-mail. Most shops are more phone oriented. If you buy the one ball tube (available from a couple places), and take it there, it will be fast and quick. You can even do it in your own driveway with a sawzall if you're up for it....

Matt

 

No way to jack up the car high enough. And can't find a ONE-ball 'tube'...

 

Raise the vehicle enough to remove the exhaust, use arm and hack saw to cut through resonator pipe,


clamp resonator eliminator in place http://www.minspeed.net/MRE.htm



More fun than having someone else do it for you.

 

Nice work!

 

Ahh its just all the more reason to save up for an Invidia, Alta, or some other exhaust.

 

Wow the guy owning that shop should get a mouthful. How can he sit there and blatently BS someone. Makes me . Go to ANY muffler shop and show them what it is and get a price.

 

Ya, I intend to replace the system within the year anyways, when I twin-charge the car. (I'll be making twice what I make now annually, with fewer expenses.) So to spend so much on such a dinky system to not have it for long would be a waste to me.

I'll check out a muffler shop and the tire shop I mentioned before.

 

yeah definitely goin in person and showing them wat needs to be done will get you a cheap price..i only paid $50 as well here. i think they only took like an hour? or so maybe less
i wasnt there to watch..i had to drop it off cause i had work

but $300 from that shop..that's crazy..

 

My mechanic gave me an offer to do one-ball + a pulley swap for 200$, which is still less than your $300 offer. Material? What materials? As far as I'm concerned with a one-ball mod, all your materials are right there. It's all cut and weld. New tips? What's wrong with the old ones? You can even replace the tips yourself. I'm not sure if they are really "specializing" in MINIs.

 

Got mine done in Phoenix for 40 bucks including new tips!
I just removed mine, pay for shipping and its yours...then its only a single weld, but im sure you can shop around and find somewhere that'll do it for under 100 bucks.

 

Sounds like a misunderstanding - I'll bet he's quoting you for a custom full exhaust without a resonator. Call and talk to a real person and explain that all you want done is a simple hack and weld.

 

Shoot, my pulley swap cost me $280.

You mean the ones that were pulled from the bottom of a beer can...? Haha.

 

This is not a "Specialty MOD". And Definately your gut is correct, stay away from these guys, and find a Mieineke Muffler shop for this. It takes less than hour, about 70-80 bucks including parts labor....
If you search NAM threads, you will find instructions and photographs for any muffler shop NOT familiar with this modification. Print them out and take em with ya.

I did just that here, mechanics were eager to learn, and were appreciative for the business. I left instructions and photographs with them for their tool box ......

 

I emailed a photograph of the before/after diagram along with a real photo of the undercarriage of before/after.

I'll look for some instructions too. I'm sure I have it bookmarked - I remember a very detailed one.

 

hmmm...time for a new mechanic?

 

contact minspeed.net - mandrell bent 1-ball pipe w/ SS clamps is 125 bucks. a local place can install for 25 bucks.

 

Why pay $150.00 (incl Shipping) for a $15.00 dollar pieced of pipe ?

It sort of takes away from the purpose of a One Ball Mod when you start racking up the $ $ $ ?

All muffler shops have the part. So don't waste your money. Put the $150.00 towards a CAI.

Just my opinion.

 

I had an awful time trying to find a shop who would do it. I went to four different shops in my area with printed out diagrams of what I wanted done, all the quotes were between $175 & $250, and none seemed too interested in doing it. I ended up just buying the pipe from Minspeed & doing it myself. Got a pipe cutter from Autozone, basically it's free, you just need to leave a deposit which you get back when you bring the tool back. From start to finish it took about 1.5 hours in my garage. One thing I'm curious about, for everyone who had a shop do it, did anyone have an issue with the tail pipes not being centered when it was done? I know with mine they weren't, I had to go back and loosen the clamps and make a few adjustments to get it right. I'm just curious, because I'd assume the shops would weld it, and therefore be less able to fix any alignment issues. Anyway, it's a nice little mod, and even with the overly expensive Minspeed pipe, I was still happy with it.

 

your being mis-leading -

1) first its a mandrel bent pipe ( 2 bends) made on jig and the SS clamps cost more than 15 bucks alone.

2) NO muffler shop has "the part" - they can making something up and often for less but doubtful it will be mandrel bent. Regardless, its an eye balled piece - could work fine or could cause problems. So price and quality is directly associated to the shop you go to.

 

I would guess from the response he was quoting you for a new exhaust system with a single muffler. I would go back to him and show him what you want done and I would guess that he would end up being very competitive on price.

The one-ball tube is nice, but my experiences with the better muffler shops is that they will do a mandrel bend connection if asked.