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

I think Porters are steelpacks, they're going on my '56 Yblock. Bought as pair of NOS Belond headers from him awhile ago. http://portermufflers.com/video.html Clark is a HAMBer and Porter Mufflers is an Alliance Vendor.

 

I'm 71 and have been around hot rods and race cars since the very early 50s. IMO, Flowmasters suck as far as sound, I dunno about flow and dyno figures.
Smithy's have been sold, so I'm told and are now part of a big corporation and some things may have changed. I understand you can now get them with larger pipe sizes and inner cores than the old 2" max.
Porter site linked above has audio available that sounds great and I can remember Porter mufflers being popular "back in the day".
Dave

 

build
YOUR OWN MUFFLERS TO FIT YOUR SOUND REQUIREMENTS

1 glasspack factory consisting of


American Hydraulics domer w auto stops and dies 3 in to 4 tube, also have a experimental set to 5 in

Louvere tube machine, new hardly used capacity 2 in to 4 in air operated

welding fixtures and turning machine

Original Huth expander and also a home made domer first machine I think huth sold of its type, used to make pipe nipples w tooling

miller CP 200 welder

some fiberglass packing

cutting table for packing

also instruction book on how to do it

for onley 15K

 

#### A simple solution to your problem !! Install a BIGGER CAM !! Mufflers won't make your cam sound more radical >>>>.

 

that's what i'm going to go with on the '54 panel (and they're a hamb vendor). ****my opinion**** flowmasters suck (or any of those style chambered mufflers), they only belong on muscle cars and imports (for street use), i hate the tinny sound of them. i've run a lot of brands of glass packs over the years and still like them. short ones for growl and rap, long ones for mellow tone (of course lots of bends helps too). i have some old turbo tubes i'm going to try on the '36 but i've heard them on a nailhead rivi and they were loud...so i'll see.
so porter or smithy for nostalgia
all other glass packs for good sound/price.

 

I just replaced a set Spin-Tech exhaust with some Smithy's 22"... Sounds much better now..

 

Click the video in my signature, its 3 1/2" pipe into Shoenfield sprint car mufflers then with a pair of speedway T bucket 3 1/2" bare steel sidepipes....turned pointing down in front of the differential. It is without fail that I take the truck anywhere the very first thing people ask about is what exhaust and how mean it sounds, perrfect tone, etc etc....

I did it because I can't stand chambered mufflers (flowmaster) but glass packs are sooooo seriously restrictive. Google muffler dyno comparisons. A 22.00 summit turbo will outpeform most chambered mufflers and glass packs are ALLWAYS the worst performing. The perforated cores really screw up the airflow and even though you can see through them they are highly restrictive.

Clcik my vid and then comment... I love it but be warned, it is a loud setup, but zero popping when I lift, good tone and turns heads

In the second picture the litttle black bumps towards the rear are the uhhh.... "Mufflers" hahaha

Scot

 

NOS in the box early Thrush Turbo 400s bought from a closed down shop inventory off of eBay. Even my mufflers are old... the sound is perfect.

 

I have Classic Chambered glasspack style mufflers on my car, I love the sound and no backfiring! no drone either and the idle is great! I can't say enough good things about classic chambered exhaust, they are modeled after those early corvette sidepipe mufflers, they have baffles on the inside so there is no packing to blow out. I definetly recommend looking into them.

www.Classicchambered.com

 

Cha CHa Cherry Bombs 4 sure

 

Generic 12" glass-paks from the muff shop,216 Chevy six,Fenton headers out the back with 1-3/4 tube,rapppppps! great,...Flows are for billet turds and soccer mom Suburbans

 

I would be curious to compare these against other mufflers, I have trouble beleiving that they gained 100 horsepower over stock cobra exhaust unless it was a flawed system. Like big engine small pipes or something. All the dyno comparisons I have seen on muffflers vs. open headers vs. stock exhaust is usually only 20 or 30 horses max on a healthy engine. The only real way to compare is side by side tests with the same vehicle preferably the same day and if thats not possible than at least with similar weather conditions.

I just hate to leave horsepower on the table over something as simpe as a muffler, after all these are hot rods, not luke warm rods

 

Running aluminized Thrush's from my 283. Mellow but not obnoxious...good rumble. One of the 2 lasted 8 years...the other still going strong for over 10 years. Good value for the price.

 

Lol, we kinda must think a like on this.
Hearing glasspacks on a car says to me; No significant performance to be expected and most likely has a broomstick for a cam.

I've got a set of rusted glasspacks on my recently acquired '57 Chrysler and I think they suck. Always have. I just started the car again the other day after a couple of months for some checkups and was dissapointed by its sound. The packs will be happily replaced by a set of Dynomax mufflers, eventhough it's by far not a performance car.

My '60 NewYorker with the 500ci engine has a pair of large Dynomax mufflers. 2.5" dual exhaust. I still did tone them down a little with a pair of resonators at the rear. Car sounds very good now imo, for a fullsize cruiser ofcourse.

My '62 stationwagon has a pair of 10 year old 3-chamber Flowmasters under there somewhere and they sound pretty decent. But that's mainly because they must have been saturated by carbon buildup inside. Only when you really step on the throttle you'll notice that Flowmaster sound.

I mounted the same 50's series Flowmaster mufflers under my '65 Chrysler 300 convertible recently, but since these ones are brand new, they are way too loud. Especially for this kinda car. I'm going to replace them soon with a set of regular turbo mufflers orsomething like that.


'57 Chrysler;



'60 Chrysler NewYorker;

 

the original cherry bombs are great, even on old imports, I don't have a converter, 25 years old and no emissions here, sounds nothing like a jap car whatsoever. the older bigger engines sound more like a brittish car, anyway,the newer cherry bombs seem to lose the packing pretty quick, i ended up using two header flanges, the pipe side,i welded 5/16 bolts in the holes, then i used a gasket between it and an identical header flange on the cherry bomb, with a couple of clamp on hangers i made, all i have to do is unbolt three nuts, weld a flange to a new cherry bomb, new gasket and hang it,can change one in about 20 minutes. will be nice to see what it sounds like with the big dual sidedrafts and the new cam. I get a lot of people asking what kind of engine it is because it doesnt have that annoying weedeater sound. anything below 2000 cc's belongs on a lawn mower, unless it's really old.

 

42hotrod.....what length of Schoenfelds did you use?

 

Two chamber Flowmasters are hot rod/ race car loud. I think given that I'm making my '51 merc more of an elegant + gangsta car, I would only do three chamber flows, or something else.

 

Cherry bombs on all my projects - and you only earn the right to call my rides slow if you actually beat them.

 

"I like Cherry Bombs myself but the sweetest thing you'll ever hear is a well tuned flathead singing thtough a set of Smitties"

What he said, my flatti in my '53 coupe sounded so sweet...I did the smitties...would put them on again anytime

 

Well, I'm definetly worried about performance. I love the way most glasspacks sound, but I'd rather not lose HP. The 429 I built should run pretty strong, around 480 HP and 580 ft lbs.
I'll probly go with some turbo style or thrush mufflers, but i DEFINETLY want an old school sound, the car's gonna look like rod from the 60's.

also, DUAL 2 1/2" or 3" pipe?
anyone think 3" is too big?

Here's that pic of the car everyone wanted to see

 

I put Flowmaster Hushpower IIs on my flattie. The took away the drone of the glass packs. Sounds like a flattie still. H&H recomended them

 

When you want the right sound its Smithys period

 

I got 16 inch glasspacks on mine not sure of the make. I think they were just some off-beat cheap brand but they sound damn good with 14 inch echo-tubes. My cousin has a '66 Plymouth Fury III with a 383 Commando motor complete with 3 inch exhaust and 13 inch Cherry Bombs with the tailpipe in front of the rear tires. Sounds great when he dumps the clutch. Really Wails.

 

I've got Magnaflows on mine. Worth the money. Good low rumble at idle, don't deafen you on the interstate, but will rattle glass when you stand on it!

 

I went to buy a pair of cherry bombs to run my big block on my run in stand. the auto parts stores around here want 60 bux a piece for them!!!

 

I've run your run of the mill Cherry Bombs for years, cheap and sounds great. However, placement of the muffler is as important to tone as the muffler itself. If you position the muffler close to the engine, it's going to snap, pop and rap more than if you place them back further. The same can be said for headers. It comes down to exhaust velocity when it hits the muffler.

I'm running a 383 Mopar in a 57 Ford. Stock manifolds, 2.5" pipes. 30" cherry bombs cut down to 12" and welded back together, placed under the front seat/driver floors. Full exhaust out the back to 4' chrome tips. The tone is great. Not ridiculously loud, but you're certainly aware that I'm coming down the road. Nice deep rumble at idle, but screams when I wind it up. I don't want to wake my whole neighborhood up when I come in and out at odd hours, but I love hearing that roar when I jump on it.

The 3" vs. 2.5" is something you need to decide. The 429 could certainly sustain 3" exhaust, but if you're running a factory cam, manifolds, or the motor is built primarily as a street motor, you may benefit from the increased back-pressure to generate torque. If the motor is built to run in the upper RPMs, go with the 3"

 

i ran a set of the baffeled pipes on my 56 chebbie witha little-bitty 283,098 cam. made sound sweet. love em

 

No question about it ....nothing purrrrrrrs like one of these

 

cherry bombs,and mellow tones...

 

Smithys!!!!!