Straight pipes - whos running em on a daily ?

Hopefully my car is gonna be at Paso, i have alot to do - the exhaust is one thing.

Are straight pipes with a SBC gonna be too loud ? i know its gonna be loud as ****, but is it gonna be toooooo loud ?.

Whos running straight pipes ?

This is my daily.

Opinions

L

 

so i was in the same situation.i was at the end of my build and wanted a quiet exhaust (gl***packs),and i called a few places,and got a good deal with some dudes that know their stuff.well i got there and dude was like "i quoted you for straights,and if you want packs it'll be 120.00 more." so now i had my impala all the way at his shop with no exhaust,and i thought to myself..."how bad could it be?"
1.noone will drive behind me.
2.i can't even hear the 2 air compressors going full blast(not so bad i guess but if something went wrong i would like to be able to hear it first)
3.i can't have a conversation while driving
4.cop magnet
5.every idiot with a 6 cylinder powered mustang with flowmasters wants to race
6.i ****ing hate it.it ****s.i have this bad*** car i hate driving,and now (after paying for exhaust)i have to order gl***packs and do the work over myself.
7.when i drive next to the median the sound bounces off of it (and p***ing cars) and it's loud exhaust in stereo
8.when the secondaries open up it gives me instant migraines.
and i can't really warm up my car at night or my neighbors get really pissed...,so forget about that late night cruise+snack.
i guess i'm getting old because i used to like loud pipes,but now i just want to be seen and not heard so much.....

 

Well, I've had staight pipes for God knows how long on all my old cars. I've never been pulled over, sounds cool as hell when I drop the hammer on it, sounds mellow just sittin' at a light or tooling around town, rice ricers hate me and it's nice to listen to on long drives...beats the radio. I say go for the straight pipes. Just keep the pipes on the larger side (2"-2.5") and it will sound nice, just no pencil tip exaust. Otherwise it will sound like hell.

 

I run straights all year. I've never had a problem with the cops.

 

i ran straight pipes on my lchevy flletline with a 235..loud as hell,if you wanna be heard than this is the way to go..i never had any problems with any cops,not even in hollywood..got nothing but thumbs up..as long as you dont drive like a *** you wont be treated like one..down fall like hayisnate says you cant have a conversation in the car,and your neighbors will hate you in the early mornings..but hell that didnt stop me..**** the neighbors.it will be loud in your car...my shoebox came with smithys..i like the rumble,but they will definitly not hear you coming..hope this helps you..

 

I ran them on my 56 wagon and I liked it !!!

 

I've got 'em on my daily, a '64 Econoline with a 250 straight 6. In this setup, they sound great, but they do kinda make my cd player useless when driving. You can almost hear it at full blast. No conversations either. Never had a problem with the law (surprisingly)...

 

i got em on a 250 six too, the GF's car, so she gets to have all the fun!

one thing i learned that helps, is to have a hot ignition and the engine in perfect tune, she used to wake me up every morning cause she doesn't know how to properly work the throttle when starting. it's ;ile she has a club foot. no finesse. then after burning up a second ignition module, i went full on overkill and installed a MSD 6A box, that thing now lights off as soon as you hit the key with no throttle input, instant smooth idle, without a choke. no dancing on the throttle to get it warmed up.

 

Couple of friends had straight pipes, one runs it on a 57 Olds. Not very practical IMO.

 

Ive been driving my 429 powered Fairlane as a daily driver for over a year with my exhaust cut-outs wide open and never had any problems. Took the Mustang out once with open headers and got warned, but it had a really obnoxious, boligerant sound and it was at night at a school so...... Pop drives his '55 (which has a rippin' 327 mill) with open fenderwell headers (absolutely no attempt at an "exhaust system" what so ever) and thats been just fine. Deffinetly run 'em open. Sure its illegal but you'll probably get away with it
-Dean

 

if it was about being practical, we'd all be driving toyota camrys.

 

My 53 Caddy has straight pipes. As someone said earlier, go with a larger diameter piping. It's loud when you stomp on it, but not a bad offensive loud....not to me. In Texas where I am, if you're registered as an "antique", no inspection required. So, I usually go for the straight pipes and am never dissapointed or deafened...especially when they've got some length to them and are of a healthy diameter. Seems like the shorter the pipes are the louder they are. Mine Sounds very chill at idle.
-John Joyo...

 

a lot of folks on this board probably DO drive camry's every day!

 

I ran them for years on my '54 and I know a whole room full of people who had em on daily drivers w/ SBC motors and they were fine . Better than fine actually , they sounded pretty *****en . Just make sure you run them all the way out to the back bumper . If you turn them out on the sides of the car , you will be bummed . . . lots of echo and resonance .

IMO you will want to run smaller diameter pipe ( 1' 1/2" ) to get a good raspy sound . Otherwise it sounds like a camero or a mustang .

 

Loud pipes save lives! I'm running a straight pipe on my daily '64 Falcon wagon, and before that I had them on my '62 Comet, both were straight six cars. I swear by them, and don't think I'll ever run another muffler again. I love the sound, and have never been har***ed by the cops.

 

*****..... put some flows on it

 

I ran 2" straight pipes on my F1 (Dan Collins wifes truck now). I never had a problem with sound, but then again, I had only a cab, so the sound to ME was not bad at all. Never had a problem with cops, and drove it almost daily (until I got the poncho). I plan on doing the same with the poncho. When we had straights on the panel however, that thing amplified the straight pipes to the point where we were shouting to hear each other when we drove it, regardless of the amount of insulation we lined it with.

I can't wait to see the Buick on the road again at Paso!!!

 

hey Ragdoll,hows it goin? my wifes truck still sounds great, but it's a SBF and sounds totally different than a chevy, the SBC's are fairly quiet even through straight pipes if they are to the rear bumper, the valves are much different than a ford. if you have good sound deadener on the floor it will help interior noise too. small block ford motors sound great through straights but are alot louder from my experience. the diameter of pipe should also depend on how built the motor is. you need to maintain a certain level of backpressure, going up and over the rear end will help with that. also crossover pipes seem to help even it out, we did that to tiffany's truck and it helped alot.

 

I find it hilarious how those who are overly obsessed with safety are usually the ones who are against straight pipes. Loud pipes let those Soccer Moms and cell phone users know that you are next to them. Loud pipes keep you safer in today‘s traffic. Mufflers are for Cadillacs and Camrys. If that doesn’t convince you, how about this: Hike your skirt up sister, it’s a Hot Rod.

 

I've been running dual straight pipes, 1 7/8, on my Y-block for about 6-7 years. Wonderful sound, not loud except near peak RPM. I've been running straight pipes on my 39 Ford with SBC for about 10 years, 2", healthy sound, not loud. Both cars exhaust goes to the back bumpers. On the 39, I cut the gl***packs open and totally gutted them. If anyone looks under, it looks like it has mufflers. I recommend Straight Pipes run to the bumper!

 

my flatheads straight pipe'd.. love it.. love the back pressure too..

 

When I bought my '49 shoebox,it had straight pipes down the side.I thought it would be too loud,so I disconnected them.Then I went to the Mooneyes bar-b-que and I had the quitest car there!I came home and hooked them back up.Now I wonder why I ever disconected them.It gets alot of attention when i'm driving around,which is why we drive these things anyways,right?I haven't decided what kind of exhaust I will run on my Merc yet.The '49 has a small block ford,and it's pretty loud.My neighbors don't really care for it when I get up at 4AM to go to work,EVERYDAY!Yep,it's a daily driver too.

 

Running an SBC, Headers, and true 2.5" duals on my daily '64 C-10. It's got turbo mufflers on it with pipes all the way out the back right now. I like the sound. It's deep out back, but from the cab it's quiet and you can really barely hear the exhaust when going 70mph down the highway.

Everything Nate said up there is true about loud pipes, which is why I'm keeping my turbo mufflers. BUT, I'm also going to run a set of shorty gl***packs and capped dump tubes to come out before the rear tire so I can have that loud, raspy sound when I want it.

 

Go with the straigh pipes. I role them all day long and Im a daily driver. Loud and proud, in Long beach.

 

with the amount i dumped into my exhaust they are hardly straight, but sound great. 13 mandrel bends 3" pipe, with the "x" pipe and just behind the axel is a pair of purple hornies reversed for longer life and a better sound. i don't really care if anybody likes it including cops. only problem is with my 57 ford, the 390 under the hood isn't condusive to headers, so i am stuck with the lame *** manifolds which are like bricks. for about $2,000, i can manage to do what it takes to run headers. but that is a long way down the road.

 

8BA flathead, no other way to go!

 

From someone that has tinnitus(ringing in the ears), I learned my lesson(too late) about exposure to loud noise. I think loud pipes sound great, I just wear earplugs to save the hearing

 

i've run straights on many different daily drivers, including the '60 Caddy that I just did. Actually you get a "natural" muffling by running longer pipes to the back of the car.

Do straight pipes and leave a straight section where you can add mufflers if you don't like the sound level.

If it aint loud, you aint proud...

-scott noteboom

 

How about period correct cut-outs? best of both worlds, IMHO.