GLASSPACKS, the anti-Flowmaster: which flow/sound better

12" Cherry Bombs. Pissing off the neighbors.

 

I've been a muffler man since 1977.... "if it aint a fox body mustang then put glass packs on it"

 

Our car is 1947 Chrysler Windsor 7 passenger sedan. It has a stock 440 except torque cam , flat top pistons, with stock cast iron exhaust manifold. I can't decide to use stock or a turbo muffler. It's big car, 139" wheelbase so it can't be too loud. this is like defining porno! And yes there is bad porno.

 

I like the Cherry Bomb add on Speed channel. WE have been disturbing the peace since 1969,LOL.

 

I too have been doing muffler work for a long long time. ( since 1977) Flowmaster has to high a cost to the installer , so I push the Thrush welded muffler. The sound is so close and the price is alot lower. as far as hot rods. I like the old school sound of a glass packed muffler, if its a louvered core always turn the openings toward the rear. Not everyone likes what I like, and I don't want them too. Flows sound nice, the Thrush do too, but glass packs are traditional.

 

Ive been putting together a '50 Chevy sedan delivery for a while and am getting ready for an exhaust system. The problem with the delivery and probably the wagons is the gas tank. It hangs down real low and is offset to one side so there is only room on the drivers side for an exhaust pipe. So the plan is for 2-1/2" single exhaust. I have been researching mufflers for a while and it looks like I'll go with Thrush. They make a 40" glasspack with 2-1/2" inlet and outlet and a 2-1/2" inner core. I was going to use a cherry bomb but all of them I have looked at that have the 2-1/2 inlet and outlet are necked down to a smaller inner core. Kinda defeats the purpose as far as I'm concerned. I dont want it to be obnoxiously loud so the 40" length outta help. I also like the perforated core better than the louvered ones. On a louvered core the faster the flow the more restricted it is. If you dont believe it take a ribbed copper gas line like hooks up to a hot water heater and blow through it. The harder you blow the higher the sound pitch coming from it and the harder it is to blow through it. Their made that way for a reason, to restrict flow in case of a line break.

 

Talk to the engine builders (like Joe Sherman) and they will tell you how much power "Slowmaster" mufflers make......http://speedtalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10580&highlight=flowmasters

I personally like the less "tinny" sounding mufflers. The chambered ones have that "ping" sound at idle. Give me glass packs, or "turbo" style.

 

does anyone want any custom MADE GLASSPACKS???
BEEN THINKING OF FIRING UP THE GLASSPACK FACTORY THIS WINTER
would cost more than storebought stuff as I dont buy a truckload of materials
been thinking of doing some 3 in cases with 2 in louvered core with a narrow louvre cutter and not dimpeling very deep maybee short and loud??
would have to get the big truck running and get the American Hydraulics domer to town before winter,

dont really care about making money but want to feel productive doing something i think is usefull

e mail me at mrmuffler@loretel.net put on a headder

the 3 in cases are good and loud and easy to get mounted under a car and can be made in any practical length


was thinking some of these would sound real nice on a 235 with a split, dont hear many loud splits at any car shows??

 

Porter steelpacs on the Vicky. Listen to them on their website-
www.portermufflers.com

Terry

 

my dads 66 c10 has smithys and after years of havig then on its starting to sound louder and louder and better and better. my 65 f1 has chery bomb but we cant really tell cuz theres an exaust leak and the motor is running kinda rough. but we love the smithys and i would recomend them. (mom hates them cuz she says its "to loud")

 

cherry bombs without a doubt

 

flows on my nailhead... great sound, not cartoony like some. i just wish they were thinner, i may have to go with something else when i bag my riv..

 

Flow better? Well, Flowmasters, as they're the "master" of flow (says so right in the name). Sound? Every motor has it's own sound.
Example 1-I had a 64 Vette in my shop with a bone stock small block and Flowmasters. Had to be one of the worst sounding cars I ever heard. After the customer paid me to build a slightly wicked 406 small block, that same exhaust system sounded amazing.
Example 2-I just took the wicked 406 out of my Elcamino that really had a loud, raspy pop to it. You could here it a 1/4 mile away, and sounded wicked. I put a mild 350 in it, and those same Spin Tech mufflers sound like glasspacks

 

Love tha Smitty's..16's for that quiet, yet vicious rumble!

 

tell us a little more...do you have pictures of stuff you've done in the past. i'm curious......

 

Flows remind me of living in Oakland.

I really like the Purple Hornies that are on the car right now.

Old-Timer told me once that he used to get new glasspacks, stick a torch down into them and heat up the fiberglass until it was glowing, then plunge the whole thing into a water tank.

Essentially, "pre-aging" them for that certain tone we all love, right out of the box.

He also said something about installing them backwards. Can't remember why.

 

delete

 

First let me say this Fuck how it flows if it sounds Cool.
I have Cherry's on my Falcon and Smitty's on my roadster both sound Bitchen. But it is not only the muffler that makes the sound it is also the tail pipe and the bends that make the ultimate sound. I have Flowmasters on my Fairlane and they also sound very nice but it is more of a function of the tail pipes echoing the sound.
Just my .02

 

My '54 Ford has a y-pipe single, no bends, 2 1/4" Pipe with a 13" no-name glass pack about a foot behind the cab, then straight out the back. Louvers to the back. Its got a 4.3 which is iconic for its strange exhaust note. The sound is a cross between 70's Chevy truck with a glass pack and a motorcycle.

I'll eventually replace my $30 exhaust system with actual duals. One day. Resonance isn't really a problem since its a roadster.

Right now I'm debating on putting a single Thrush Turbo on my daily driver '89 Oldsmobile. Its got a 3.8 and sounds like a air conditioner. I want some sound, but not too much resonance.

 

I'm putting dual exhaust on my SBC w/Hooker headers and DEFINETLY CHERRYBOMB Glasspacks! Old school truck...Old school sound! "My version of Retro Reverb" I like to here mine over the Euro cars that sound like my lawnmower with a blownout muffler!
"I too like life through a wrap-around windshield !! " Great Quote

 

CHERRY BOMBS! 2 inch inlet and outlet. Love the rappppppp sound they make. Before those I ran some blue Schmittys. Still gotta go with the cherry bombs, they're pretty inexpensive and last a long time. Anyone ever run any purple hornies?? Always wondered how those things performed.

 

The Smittys on my Lincoln are the bomb!!

 

Agreed agreed agreed. Especially the part about the Thrush decal.

 

Might take a look at Hooker Max Flows. They are straight thru glass packs that look like turbo's. I'm running them on my BBC, and they sound great. Nice low rumble at low rpm. Fairly aggressive under heavy acceleration, No rap or crackle. Lots of positive comments. (Don't like Flow Masters either!)

 

I agree with some of you that don't like the sound of Flowmasters. If you have a gutless piece of shit motor, that can't pull the steam off a hot dog, the Flowmasters sound terrible. However, if your motor actually has some "nut" to it, the Flowmaster sound may impress you.

 

close to 40 years ago I used to take some Walker glass packs and fill them with gear oil and soak them then put a little fuel in them then take the ox acetlene torch and fire it good and then open the oxygen after it got hot, they were noisey then
used to build a lot of splits for all models, not much technology but they always rapped, just had a buzz box to weld them up, the cast iron must have been a lot newer in about 1963??
so I always was a wanna bee muffler man way back and I used to use a lot of electrical conduit for stacks and stuff, used to braze it together, and a lot of flex tube, that was so cheap even I could afford it then I am thinking it was not much more than 25cents a foot

used to saw out the bends and reweld them together again to fit

before i was drafted in 1966 I had a 1956 Ford and I think the tailpipes were a $1.45 ea or some other ridicullus cheep price
I do rember the building and the first tail piper bender a Huth in Fargo about in 1965, they had jack stands and about 25 pieces of misbent pipe under the car why I dont know, but Ilook at the building every tiME I drive past it

 

Im pretty happy with the Hushpower II's from Flowmaster. They are not as deep sounding as a flowmaster, but not as rappy as a glasspack.........pretty much right in the middle of the two, with the size of a glasspack.

Attached, you can see a picture to show the size of them where I took a picture of me re-creating the running board brackets.

 

I had some thrush glaspacks on my 69 pontiac 350 c.i. motor and it sounded just right! (Loud when you got on it) When I got my headpipes redone at the local Merlins muffler shop they talked me into replacing them with the glasspacks That had the correct angled outlets. I figured they were cheap, why not? Now the car sounds like it dosn't have any mufflers at all!!!
Not all glasspacks are created equal, neither are muffler shops, when I checked the car out later I found that they welded one pipe together, and clamped the other one. Then they ran the new headpipe right next to, (touching!) the starter!!!!! Not only will this overheat and wreck the starter but id have to drop the exhaust pipe to change the starter. These Ignorant assholes should of been working at McDonalds instead of on my car!!!

 

I like the sound. Are those the glass or steel packed?