Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, yes. Kirkers of the auto world. I took a set of those off of an Yamaha FZ750 bike... They sounded like s*** on the bike, but on cars, they can be pretty nice, though I've heard them sound bad, too, in the case of a Super Seven race replica. I think it had a B16A or something similarly honda in it. Very buzzy, but I think it was mostly the engine.
The Protege's engine is nice and gutteral sounding, in comparison, though. Even without a resonator, the FS engine isn't buzzy, but nice and lumpy like a Subaru boxer. Hehe.
Sorry for the rambling. =) I would say go custom, too, if you can find someone to help you weld up the stainless.