I am ready to have pipes installed on my truck. It has a mild Chevy 350 .010 over and a mild street cam (Edelbrock Performer) and I am confused about the pipes. I want it to be loud and have a good rumble. I was going to put straight 2 1/4" aluminized pipes on it from the manifolds to the rear wheels but had someone tell me that without "backpressure" the engine won't run right. Should I install a set of 18" Cherry Bombs in them to get some back pressure or are staright pipes ok? It'll be a daily driver in good weather so driveability is important. Thanks!!
Several of my cars have straight pipes to the back bumper. If it affects performance it is too slight to be noticeable
just make sure your glass packs are louvered and not dimpled. the cheap ones at the parts house usually are the dimpled kind. go ahead look inside
Ive got headers to a couple of Smithys then the rest exits out the side on my 292. Its pretty mello until you get on it and then it makes some noise.
I always wonder who started that wives tale. If an engine ran better with back pressure all the AAF dragsters would have 8 mufflers on their zoomies. I had lots of customers that came in for a minor exhaust leak because they were "losing pressure" causing the engine to not run right. 2 1/4" straight pipes will probably be pretty loud. There is a difference between 2 1/4" and 2" with mufflers. It might be too much without a muffler. I've done it with 1 3/4 on flatheads and my own 259 Stude engine and it's not a problem. Have the guy leave enough straight pipe to cut out for a glasspack if it turns out to be too much for you. Loud pipes is a personal preference that can change with age. Some old farts want it quiet and some of us want to hear them rap when letting off in second gear.
I found on a beater that the glasspack kept it quiet at idle and midrange, so as to avoid any noise violations, but if you stomped on it it would rap pretty loud.
straight pipes, 2.5" or 3", and make sure you have a straight section you can cut out and install a glass packs down the road if you change your mind.
I have straight pipes exiting through lakes pipes on the Stude with a stock 350. At idle, its actually pretty quiet with a nice idle rumble. Knock on wood, Ive never been hassled by it, but I know when and where to play with the pipes. On long hauls, I do wear ear protection, just because of hours with that just below my ear could cause damage, I'm guessing. I want to hear it for a few more years.
My opinion... Mild motors got no reason for being loud as hell other than to piss people off. They sound like SHIT. Get something that makes a nice rumble and leave loud to cammed up high compression engines.
This is 100% WRONG!!!! Louvered kills performance.... Perforated Core is the next best thing to straight pipe when it comes to CFM flow..... Perforated core= good flow Louvered= tons of backpressure Research actually shows that louvered glasspack are the worst flowin muffler out there....perforated cores, one of the best, if not the best, can't remember exactly
I like the rumble of a nice pair of glasspacks...had straight pipes on a couple of cars and they just were a little annoying....you can get 12 inch packs that get real loud when you stand on it but quiet enough for around town driving!
if you run pipes all the way to the back there should be no performance lose but i agree with what was said before mild engines sound like shit with open pipes i have glass packs on my truck with 2in pipe all the way to the bumper its pretty quiet at idle but sounds real good wide open
i always go with a nice set of cheap glasspacks. i mean shit what are they 25-40 bucks a pop depending on where you go, and thats if your buddy doesnt have a pair layin around already. they sound good to me.
im running 2 inch straight pipes outt he back on my olds, when i got it , it had louverd glass packs on it, and it sounded good at idle but like shit when your on it, they did my 425 big block olds no justice, sounds much better with out them
On my 318 Plymouth I ran manifolds and 6" of pipe out of a completely stock motor. It wasn't too loud. Maybe a couple feet of pipe out of your 350 should work. The backpressure theory in my opinion is total BS.
Precisely! Someone told someone something, only it was about a 2-stroke ... On a naturally aspirated engine you want negative back-pressure, i.e. back-suction, to help scavenge the combustion chamber and draw in a fresh charge. That's what a well-designed tubular header is supposed to do, using pressure pulses from the other pipes to create partial vacuum. Too much "back-pressure" just collapses that vacuum. On a blown engine, the blower does all that, so all you want is as little resistance as possible, hence the zoomies.
put hollowed glasspacks on it so that way you can tell the cops you still have mufflers! that's what some of us do here.
You are absolutely right,Apple Racing here in Sweden flow-tested some different mufflers a couple of years ago:their own 2,5 inch straight trough muffler actually flowed better by a noticeable % than a straight 2,5" pipe,he explained that with the small dimples the core gets by the perforating,it makes the air "let go" easier from the tube-side than a unperforated smooth pipe.
Click the video in my signature, its Shoenfield sprint car mufflers. Loud but lacks that nasty "glass pack" sound I despise so much. On another note though, I have to agree with many in this thread, if you don't have a really bad ass engine, loud sounds TERRIBLE! nothing worse than when a car rolls by at a cruise or at a show with loud mufflers and a stock/very mild camshaft...all I hear is blub blub blub blub blub blub blub....sounds like shit to me... For a mild engine, summit house brand turbo mufflers sound great with 2" or 2 1/2" pipe and give even a stock engine a nice, tough rumble....but hey thats jusy my opinion, and you know what everyone has...opinions and assholes...
The wrong exhaust can kill the sound of an engine. Just put new 2" pipes on my girl's '59 Country Sedan. The guy she bought it from had 1-7/8" pipes back to 14" glasspacks and dumped it in front of the axle. The little 332 FE sounded like a dump truck until about 2500. Used the same mufflers with the new pipes (all the way back to the proper spot - for a wagon - at the rear of the car) and it's a nice mellow rumble till you get into it. Problem is, now I can hear the right manifold leaking. Damn FE.
Im running a 292 y block with full length headers into 2 1/2 straight pipes that cut out right in front of the rear tires with 3 inch tips.I think its sounds great.its loud as hell .Ive had 5 exhaust set ups in almost three years just to finally realize that at least for now I hate all mufflers.And as far as affecting performance..it doesn't.
If it makes you feel any better, my right manifold was cracked when i bought my galaxie. I fixed the problem with a set of hooker super comps. Fixed it right up! Oh, and I can't tell you how many times I've had my head stuck under the hood and mumbled those exact words.... damn FE. On topic, I'm running 2.5 inch pipes with magnaflow mufflers. Plenty loud when you stand on it, nice idle sound and highway speed tone, but quiet enough to keep the law away. Not technically "traditional", but.....
I have dual Cherry Bombs on my 55 Ford with a 292 out the back and like the sound ! When I replace the motor this winter I am going with duals with "Y" cut outs & Smithys out the rear . The cut outs will have cables so I can run open exhaust and when I need to I can close the cut outs and keep her quiet ! And yes it will be a very cammed up motor too !
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