Automotive Parts : Generic(also home made parts) vs Name brands

[nk4e]

Well, this question came into my mind while my friend was "making " his exhuast tip.
For the aftermarket and its prices, are we getting the same quality of Pep-Boys or what my friend does. What is the difference between each part. Is it the metal or how it is designed?

 

[niky]

Depends on what you're talking about.

For aftermarket exhausts, you're paying for the precision cut flanges, TIG welds (those are damn expensive if you have them done outside) and the smoothed out surfaces where they've polished/powdercoated/whatever to hide the welds and rough edges. Oh, and marketing and overhead, blah blah blah...

If it's a good company that knows what it's doing, you're also paying for the research and development that they've put into the part. Sure, you can putter around with a custom made exhaust and eventually find 6-8 horses out of it... but some companies go the extra mile in research for a set-up that produce twice that or more.

Of course, if you've got a TIG welder at home and some generic off-the-shelf mandrel bends, and you know what you're doing, you can often make an exhaust that's better than many of the "name brands" (cough... OBX... cough) out there.