"My dune buggy has flow-masters and sounds like an old, fat lady walking on a foggy pier, farting with every step...wearing tin can undies." Well, that sez it all...
I sold a ton of Cherry bombs in the parts house I worked in in the late 80's early 90's. The didn't even come in boxes they came bulk and we put them in a barrel on the end of and aisle in the store and guys would grab them out of the barrel. They were cheap and loud but have no "tone". I plan on running Porters on my 48 as they give the sound I want and I want sound way more than loud. There are a number of videos showing different cars with Porters on the net.
Loud pipes saves lives. If you are going to drive a hot rod it should sound like one. I've got 2.5 pipes and flow masters on the 283 in my '34. The 283 is not stock but not that radical. It sounds way better than straight pipes on a low compression stock cam engine that sound a lot like small Farmalls or John Deeres. I'm 72 and way bit opinionated.
I have a very similar setup SBC and ran straight pipes out the back for a bit but that lasted about a month or 2. It was just too loud. I put the dynomax mufflers back on that came with the car (I think they are super turbos) , they sound good not too loud not too quiet;, but they do drone around 900-1100rpm....
1 7/8 pipes short bullet mufflers past the back of the car for just the right sound with a stick shift
I agree with Billy Bandit, I have Magnaflows on two of my cars and I like the sound and I have got thousands of miles on them and they still sound good.
I sell way more magnaflows than any thing... flowmaster went to the bottom quick....but held the ***le for a long time...... on my 4bangers I run split exhaust with 10'' motor cycle mufflers and out dual lake pipes.... has a nice hot rod sound but not too loud cruising.. and my flatheads I split the exhaust side to side 12'' gl*** packs out dual lake side pipes...on my 460,351 and 302's... I run the magnaflows , split dual same side in and out to live lake pipes... real cool sound...just finished ready to do over is my 375hp 327 in my 58.... put borla's.... horrible...
I have Magnaflow knockoff's on my 47 that came to me with them installed. Stainless steel body, same basic design as Magnaflow's, which means it's a straight through perforated pipe inside a large chamber stuffed with fibergl***. They operate the same as a gl***pack, but the body is much larger with much more sound deadening material to quell the sound waves. High frequencies exit out the perforations and get caught in the muffler body and the low frequencies p*** through out the end pipes with the gas flow. It's a good design and they sound good, not too loud, no droning at all, but still flow well and don't choke the engine. At idle and lower throttle settings it's rather quiet. A**** a bunch of hot rods at a show or rod run you don't even hear it. But when you put your foot in it the volume comes way up and that low frequency boom sounds great. And when your sitting still and stab the throttle and release it you get that typical gl***pack bark and rap under deceleration. You get that same rap under decel when driving it too, down shifts when stopping, especially on a long downhill run, really brings it out. Overall it's a great exhaust note, very b***y, sounds grown up, but maybe a little too quiet for a hot rod Model A IMO. Good for a larger car, especially a sedan, or a road car, a little too tame for a hot rod. Just my opinion of course, your mileage may differ. These facebook reels won't embed like youtube videos will, but here's a good example of how it sounds inside the car, with the wind noise and radio going: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1406191542848220
I'm trying to save what little hearing I have left. I like a low rumble a lot more then loud. I've grown a custom to having a conversation with the person sitting beside me while cruising down the highway at 70 mph. As a result, my 49 truck has the entire inside of the cab covered with body insulation/sound deadener, high flow cast iron exhaust manifolds, a single 2.5" exhaust, a single 2.5" inlet & outlet Cheery Bomb gl***pack (at 4 years old and 30,000 miles, the red paint is still present, so the openings must face down stream), and a 2.5" tail pipe out the back of the truck. Sounds pretty good at an idle, sounds good WOT, has a nice low rumble at 70 mph, and I can still carrying on a conversation with the p***enger. Exhaust sound is a personal preference, every one has a different opinion of what sounds good.
I agree with primed 34...If its a hot rod it should sound like one! 'Since no one has posted any suggestions....' HeArs my few : * Without at least 9.5:1 CR it CAN'T sound righteous ! If you spend good $$ on a decent camshaft...don't kill the idle with an X-pipe or H-pipe ! (It will sound like a F-1 engine or a 6 cylinder) 2.5" pipes give the engine that 'b***ey' sound ! (maybe NOT ideal for max performance but..Max-performance is open headers) Cams with a tight LSA 107-110* has the nice stutter at idle and blazing acceleration (require hi-test gas and M/T for good street manners) Duration numbers favoring the exhaust side..( example 220 intake-226 exhaust) L-79 has good numbers for a 283 (gives the exhaust note that THUMP sound at idle) Run pipes all the way to the rear bumper. .(NO turn downs unless you like ROAR!) Go with straight pipes to begin with..all that exhaust piping will quieten it a LOT ( don't rule out truck....big round case mufflers for quiet and different sound) 6sally6
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