And I don't know what to do with it. Ok, you're probably asking yourself, "Where did a 16 year old boy, who is constantly fixing his elky, have a lot of money?", or you're not. Here's the situation. My stepdad can no longer afford the payments on my ATV, so he said that when we sell it, I can have any portion of the money to get a hard tonneau cover for my baby. Thing is, I can't decide if I would rather have that, or if I want my car converted to dual exhaust with Flowmasters. It's gonna cost around the same amount either way. So here's my question, is a tonneau that great of an investment? Either way, my car becomes cooler, either by sound or by appearance. Do covers really increase gas mileage? I have a 4 barrel carburator, so would it make a difference for me? Sorry this is so long, but I want some other opinions, and I can't just keep taking my stepdad's, he's just one guy. Thanks. :-D

Well its really your choice,but if it was me i would go with the dual exhaust. The bed cover can wait,BUT if you haul something allot,or need the cover for added protection,then buy all means do the cover first,the good thing about the dual exhaust is it will actually increase your gas mileage a (little) because your getting rid of excess back pressure, kinda "loosing" up the engine, it will run better, perform better,and there is nothing like a nice 2-1/2 aluminized exhaust system rumbling out the back to the honda boys at the stop lights, true. the cover is essential,but i had one and took it off, it was the 'gaylord"hard style and its been sittin in my shop for over 2 years, i dont miss it. Maybe it gave me better gas milage at one time, but with the new engine,it doesn't matter,preferabley i like the look with it off, again its up to you, the most important thing is that your happy with the choice,belive me both are good choices! Good Luck....Jim

If you plan on doing the dual exhaust right, you'll either need to modify your existing crossmember or get something like the G-Force crossmember. Either way it'll will add to the expense of the dual exhaust system...throw in a set of good headers and it's even more. Your choice, it's your car...if it was my decision I'd go with the cover. You don't state what the current mileage is on your Elky, if it's high then you'll be looking at a rebuild sooner or later. Once you put the duals on, you'll want more engine goodies I'll bet, (Frankensteins theory) you've created a monster, yourself. Why not work on the appearence and build a nice 350 as time and money permit and do all the performance work in one shot? Your 16 if you plan on keeping the car awhile and you probably do, work on protecting the car from deteriorating, the cover will help protect the bed from exposure.

I'd have to go with the dual's, nothng beats the sound of a V8 through sweet, sweet flowmasters.

Depending on you're emission reg.'s, I can see where a true dual exhaust would cost about the same as a hard cover. But if you're smog exempt then ~$350 should be a ballpark figure excluding hedders. I just paid $240 for a custom installed 2 1/2" system with a h pipe from the hedders back coming out at the rear qtr.'s on my project car. She is smog exempt and I supplied the Dynomax ultra flows and reducers. Sure does sound a whole lot better than Flowmasters....

I had a cover for my 86, but did not like the look. I took the darn thing off. Also, it was far too low to be any use except to protect the bed and provide weather protection for things that were not over 3 feet in height. When I got inside for any reason, I had to crawl on hands and knees to get to the front. UGH!

...a custom installed 2 1/2" system with a h pipe from the hedders back coming out at the rear qtr.'s on my project car. She is smog exempt and I supplied the Dynomax ultra flows and reducers. Sure does sound a whole lot better than Flowmasters....

Gotta agree. I have dual stainless 2-1/2" pipes ending in stainless UltraFlo's, and the sound is incredible. When the "go pedal" goes down, and the secondaries come open, the thing sounds like a Nascar. But it's still quiet enough to be "reasonable" around town (not that it isn't louder than other cars, but it's at a level where you can still talk to your passenger).

H-pipe is next, but it's rather expensive, in my case, since it has to be made of stainless.

If the price isn't too bad, and you can get away with it at inspection time, then dual exhausts are a thing of beauty :)

Joe