Exhaust is one of the biggest improvements you can make on an otherwise stock car.  Exhaust mods will also add many horsepower to a modified car too.  There are a lot of different parts you can get as far as exhaust goes.  You can get different materials (steel, stainless, etc.), different sizes (for headers: 1-5/8", 1-3/4", etc., for cat-back kits: 2-1/2", 2-3/4", 3", etc.), and you can go for different sounds (mufflers, resonators, cut-outs, etc.).

I am looking for two main things from my exhaust, performance, and durability.  The performance part is pretty easy to find.  Almost every exhaust mod out there will give you some kind of performance gain.  But, the durability part is a little harder to come by.  That is why I went with Stainless parts, and got my headers coated.

This cat-back is made for LT1 fourthgen cars.  But, since the thirdgen and the fourthgen are very similar 'underneath', it will fit a with a few small modifications.

I originally had Edelbrock TES headers, but to be honest, I hated them.  The looked like crap, weren't the best quality, and weren't as large as they said they were.  They claimed 1-5/8" primaries, but only measured 1-1/2" at most points.  The Edelbrock's had the AIR tubes, which is one of the reasons that I ditched them for the SLPs.  Also, the Edelbrock's were 1-5/8", and the SLPs I ordered are 1-3/4".  And, the SLPs are stainless steel.

I decided that the old burnt stainless steel look wasn't gonna cut it anymore, so I decided to get my headers coated.  I was going to go with Jet Hot, but then I looked into a local company that also does coatings.  I knew they were around, but I didn't think they had anything that competed with Jet Hot...I was wrong though.  They are called "JC Tech coatings, and are located in the Village of North Syracuse.  The finish is called "Cermakrome", and is similar (if not better) to what is offered by Jet Hot.  The main reason I went to these guys was that they are a small, local company, not an assembly line.  I knew it was going to get done right, and if I ever had any problems, I knew that they would stand behind their work.  Here are the pics...
 

I also had them coat the inside of the headers.  This is supposed to help keep them cooler, prevents corrosion on the inside surface of the headers, and I think helps the exhaust flow better (because the tubes are smoother on the inside).  The insides are not polished like the outsides are, which is why they are just grey instead of a silver color.  Here are some pics of the insides...

Here are some pics of the headers installed:

These are the header gaskets that I use.  They work pretty well...I never have leaks, which is pretty good considering headers are notorious for leaking.

In the picture below, the upper gasket is how they come.  But, SLP headers don't have a continuous flange that connects all primaries, so I trimmed the gaskets to the shapes you see on the bottom.

Fel Pro Header Gaskets
(click to enlarge)

This header reducer/coupler or whatever you want to call it basically took the spot of my catalytic converter.  I got this part to make my exhaust system able to be taken apart.  Without this, the y-pipe would be welded directly to the intermediate pipe, which would cause problems if I ever had to take any of it out.

I needed a muffler, but I was too poor to get a new cat back, so I just got a Flowmaster muffler instead.  I was looking at all the different mufflers that they had available, but I decided on the 40-series.  Why?  Because everything that I read said that it was the loudest one that they had.  They are definitely right, because it is loud.  The only complaint that I have about it is that it is a little "snappy".  I think next time I will look into a muffler with a little less interior resonance, because it is a little too noticeable for my taste.