im needing some advice here on exhaust systems - chev V8 - dual exhausts - i want a exhaust sound thats like the mustangs of old had . whats best mufflers to use & size?? Thanx
small block fords have a sound of there own, put enough cam in small chevy and it will sound so good you wont care about small block ford sound. just my .02
To some folks it does " sound just like a Harley". Of course it doesn't but they really think it does and they are happy or at least talked themselves into being happy. Masters of cognitive dissonance. So what elements did a factory mustang exhaust have ? I'm not up on them enough to have much input other than what's above
66-67 289 Hi-Po dual exhaust had H-pipe, conventional mufflers ahead of the axle, plus glasspack resonators behind the axle. 68 302 duals- H-pipe, resonators ahead of the axle, transverse muffler behind the axle. Both had the aforementioned restrictive exhaust ports. That wasn't entirely a joke. It does make a difference to the sound.
Chevy V8's come in a lot of sizes...so did old Mustang motors. What ever muffler you choose, it will not sound like a Ford. I am not exactly sure what we are trying to figure out. Almost everyone used glasspacks back in the day. Maybe thats what you want If so, look up Cherry Bombs, Thrush, Smithy, etc.. If you want low and throaty tones, you might want something like Flowmaster, Magnaflow, Dynamax, etc.. My advise(for what its worth), find someone using the same set up as yours, and if you like how their's sounds, look underneath If you hear a Ford that you like the sound of, knowing what they use, might not net the same result.
I have been through a lot of mufflers and gone from straight pipes on 235 Chebbys with split manifolds to gutted mufflers. My observation is that of all the mufflers I've ever put on a car what is referred to as the old 'hemi' muffler, that is as non-restrictive as can be had, makes even a bad ass chevy sound like a gentleman's car. Not too loud, and not too tinny. I got my last set at Blair's when I lived in Pasadena. No idea how you'd source them otherwise in other places but they are the tits.
If you you mean that sad noise Mustangs in the late 80's and 90's made, it's because they, like the comparable Camaros, used resonators instead of mufflers. I still hate that "fake horsepower" sound that the new muscle cars make.
Speaking of old sbf sounds, i used to buy genuine corvair turbo muffs from gm and they had a great sound. The so called turbos muffs today don't even come close to what i remember.
I have had some luck with changing to a camshaft that swaps firing order on #4 and#7. Done this for guys with old mercs and fords that did'nt want the sbc sound. Kinda makes the engine sound more like a big mopar or mid block ford, gets rid of the harleyesque sbc rapapap. Use whatever mufflers you want, it may not sound like a mustang, but it won't sound exactly like a small block chevy either.
I got a set the other day for an OT project. I plan to mount them at the very end of the pipe after the axle, sort of like resonator only system. Man I hope I like it. We'll see
Fake horsepower sound . Thats a good one. Yes the newer cars will sound different because they are not running the higher compression that some of the old muscle cars were. Things are different like cam timing etc., which has a part in it. As does the precision of the fuel injection. Horsepower is horsepower and the new cars have lots of it, some made with turbos, some made with blowers etc. I had a 2004 Mustang SVT Cobra, supercharged 4.6 DOHC which had MRT H pipe and magnaflow exhaust. The blower whine was awesome, and the exhaust music was sweet. And the horsepower was by no means fake, neither was the sound the V8 made.
Those old GT350's running in the vintage road racing circuit still have that sharp-edge sound, while still putting it to the Curvettes in their class. A gennie USRRC/ FIA race spec 289 Cobra with Webers and a LeMans cam will get your attention And if you really want to make the brainwashed never-had-anything-but-a-Chebbie types stand around with their mouths hanging open, show up with a decent FE with a lot of squeeze and a lot of stick- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBQ1mGW58J4&feature=related
brockman mellowtones will be going on my apache. badass sound, good price and they can make em glass or steel packed at multiple lengths http://youtu.be/W2X5_aM1FBM http://youtu.be/SQXNWWtbKZ0
O, and i cant tell ya how many times since i put em on that "car guys" i come across hear me pull up and yell "what you got in there 383, 413!!" Before it was always-"slant six? 318??"
Great muffler and great sound, I must have sold and installed a couple thousand of these. That being said, I just don't see them being a pre-65 traditional rod or custom component. Flowmaster est. 1982.