stainless steel vs aluminized steel, mandrel bent vs regular bent

Well at this point I have the headers on (Dougs) so that is that.

Fired up the car last evening and WOW! Sounds great but LOUD!

SO I really need to decide now on exhaust. Forgive me but I am going to try and vett this out online cause my mind is swimming.

I am really himhawwing back and forth....

One shop is local -- 5 minutes away -- and said he can do a system in 2.5" aluminized steel....fab an x pipe, and add tips....for under $500

Another shop is 25 minutes away but does stainless steel...he says it will turn orange/get some surface rust but it will never rot out....so it sounds like he is using 409...I dont know if I like the sound of that......do the magnaflow and TTI stainless steel kits do that too?

Anyways, he figures $600, and that was with no mention of an X or H pipe and tips is "to be discussed" still.....

I have to flat bed the car to either shop --- first shop will charge me only $30 for that....not sure what the second will, as he has a buddy who lives in my town and has a flatbed...but i would guess $50-75 at least....

I could probably buy the Magnaflow system I have had my eyes on and take it to the local shop, but not sure what he would charge me to do that.

I do plan on some time in the future modding the 318 I have or maybe going to a 340 or 360....actually, the engine I have now is slightly modded with an eddie 750 carb and performer manifold....the idle seems a bit lumpy...not sure if itys cammed or not yet.....so I want to do the exhaust right with something that will work now and later if I do make mods....doesnt make sense to go super cheap now and then spend the same money later again....since "super cheap" is just a matter of a couple hundred bucks it would seem....

I also want the sytem to work well and look good....afraid that having the X or H pipe made custom wouldnt be worth it as I assume some tuning goes into that design...and I have heard that the X pipe makes a real difference in low end....with a 318 I need that I think...

I was under the car yesterday and seeing the way the left header is so tight to the tranny etc, and not a straight shot, I am concerned that I wont be able to mount up the kit myself without having to go to a shop for welding and maybe some tweaking anyways.....and shops hate that......so I would rather take the whole kit in and pay them to do the whole job...I wont save much by asking them to just tweak.....

I dont know if the Magnaflow kits have enough "extra" pipe up front to tweak etc to fit to the collectors.....it wouldnt make sense to have to have the shop add in aluminized steel pipe into an otherwise all stainless system. I did email Magnaflow on that but no reply yet....

SO MANY DETAILS to consider!#-o n And so many different opinions out there, all with great points to make.

Guys, I am THIS close to having this done but need to decide today. Trying to get this done while I am on vacation from work next week.....