Hello Zukiword!

I’m a new member that just so happened to purchase a 1988 Suzuki Samurai with the 1.6 16v change over. I love the car! I just am not a huge fan of how loud the exhaust currently is. The prior owner put a short exhaust on it and I’m curious if someone can point me in the right direction towards a stock or some what stock kit I could purchase. I already have a lot of wind noise with the soft top, but the exhaust is uncomfortably loud, for me that is.

Thank you in advance this is the first of many post I’ll have here .

Are you comfortable fabricating an exhaust system yourself?  If so, check Amazon and Ebay, they have DIY exhaust kits.
An example:
https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Custom-Mandrel-Exhaust-Straight/dp/B07F9JVXZB/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=2.25+exhaust+kit&qid=1634523291&sr=8-5

With this, you decide what size pipe you want to use, pick a muffler and assemble yourself.
A video of such an operation, on a 2 dr Tracker, but similar to what you will have.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqV_DSOB2Hw

The other, simpler but probably more costly option is to take it to a muffler shop and tell them to make it right!  They can custom bend up a tail pipe, walk you thru muffler selection, etc, and all you have to do is decide what you want and pay the bill!

All I can say is don’t use a cherry bomb, previous owner put one on mine and it’s just annoying

Thank you for this!

I wouldn’t mind fabricating it if I had a welder. Also I like the idea of a custom fitment as well. I’ll have to look into some how doing this, as cost is a problem. Even then I might bring it to a muffler shop to see what they’d charge me.

Are you comfortable fabricating an exhaust system yourself?  If so, check Amazon and Ebay, they have DIY exhaust kits.
An example:
https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Custom-Mandrel-Exhaust-Straight/dp/B07F9JVXZB/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=2.25+exhaust+kit&qid=1634523291&sr=8-5

With this, you decide what size pipe you want to use, pick a muffler and assemble yourself.
A video of such an operation, on a 2 dr Tracker, but similar to what you will have.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqV_DSOB2Hw

The other, simpler but probably more costly option is to take it to a muffler shop and tell them to make it right!  They can custom bend up a tail pipe, walk you thru muffler selection, etc, and all you have to do is decide what you want and pay the bill!

So to put it into perspective, if you buy a decent wire welder at Harbor Freight, hood, gloves, etc you are gonna be down the rabbit hole $250-300.  That would exceed the cost of having a muffler shop build you an exhaust, I am sure.  But, you have all of the welding equipment for future use on future projects.  If you have an off road rig, you may soon find a welder a very handy thing to have around!

The above post does not consider one very important aspect - the skill & experience needed to do a decent job with the welder.  I mention this because I've walked that road - sitting on a shelf in my home office is a little Campbell Hausfeld wire feed welder, hood, gloves, etc., I installed a dedicated 20A circuit for it. - there's even a box of scrap sheet (off cuts from my local exhaust shop) to practice on.  I've welded exactly one thing on my car (custom brackets for an LED light bar), it's a heck of a lot easier and quicker to get the guys at the exhaust shop to do what I need done, and not have to worry about proper penetration, etc.

Essentially unless you're using the welder frequently, there's a good chance that your welds are going to be weak and crappy.