New engine, new exhaust, couple questions.

[RangerNielsen]

I'll be putting a new used engine in my ranger, and the old exhaust, or lack there of, is getting replaced from headers to tailpipe. So my questions are,
Where is the best place to get headers and a good cat set up?
What's a good muffler to run?
Would there be issues with running headers, y-pipe, cats, muffler, then an pipe to a 3" stack (other than putting a stack on a gasser)?
I already have the hole in my bed (previous owner), and want to make good use of it. I'll probably weld almost everything except the elbow and stack so I could remove the stack and rotate my turn out if I need to.

 

[RonD]

Header can change engine for more low end power or high end power, they don't add power they just move the power band lower or higher.
Stock exhaust is tuned for mid-range power band.

If you have an EGR system make sure to get headers that have that connection, they come both ways, with or without EGR.

Stack is good for high water so not just for diesels, lol.

"Y" pipe setup is less expensive, i.e. 1 Cat, 1 muffler, and 1 stack

Contrary to popular thinking a bigger pipe is not always better, the size used by the engine maker keeps the "velocity" in the system high enough to prevent back pressure at the exhaust ports, larger pipe will lower "velocity" and increase back pressure which will lower performance.
Hence the myth of "some engines need back pressure", no engine works better with back pressure
Engine works better with high velocity which creates a lower pressure at the unused exhaust ports on that bank.

Mufflers are like musical "wind" instruments, tones are set by the air passages so they can be tuned to higher or lower tones, within reason, you don't want to limit flow.
So best to listen to some other trucks and decide what sounds best to you.

 

[RangerNielsen]

Well, the truck had 1 cat and a 3" pipe and sounded good, just really loud and right under the cab. Still sounded pretty good with the muffler I had put on to shut the piggies up. My truck is supposed to have 2 cats, so I was thinking about factory diameter pipe back to the 3" stack.

My current exhaust is all rusty and what not so I'm getting all new one, even though I could re use my y pipe, but new engine, new exhaust.

What kind of header would I want for a lower power band? Being on 32s for now, a lower power band sounds like a quick an easy way to get better low end torque, and not have to run the truck as high in the rpms.

Would it be an issue to bolt/weld the muffler right after the cat without an intermediate pipe?

Would swapping the arrangement of the pipe and muffler affect the sound or would sound pretty much same, or a lot different?

The exhaust set up I had on the truck, not entirely my idea. Order was: Headers, y-pipe, cat, 3" (about 4' long), and then the muffler; not just some big random pile

How the truck would be with a stack. It wouldn't stick up that high nor have the cat right there, but gives a reference for placement at least.