About a 18 months ago I installed 2 22" smithys mufflers on my Duece Got them new from Speedway as this was a new build everything was new. This month when I started the car (it gets run all year here) it was louder..Uh Oh! I looked at the mufflers and..Wow completely gone total rust out 720 miles on the car all the rest of my homemade exaust including my headers perfect! car is run to temp 190d thermostats Buick 215. Notice the blue paint is still on the mufflers it is hardier than the **** they make these things out of! I contacted Speedway but no offers to make these good...However they agreed to take the other two new Smithys I had bought but not installed back. I do not recommend these mufflers too anyone! Whats your experience? Sabre62
that ****s, i have a pair on my dodge that are about 3 years old and 10000 miles with no problems.....is that both of them rotted like that?
A few years ago I had a '39 Ford. The previous owner had installed a dual exhaust kit with a pair of Smithy's gl***packs on it. He did a decent job welding it all up and it sounded nice. I think the exhaust had been on there around 2-3 years (probably around 7000 miles) when I got the car and took a look underneath it. Both gl***packs looked similar to the ones in your photos. I was pretty disappointed with them. To be fair the previous owner did drive this car year round here in Minnesota where we use salt on the roads in the winter. I'm sure that didn't help with their longevity. However, I work at a repair shop and sometimes customer's budgets dictate that we get the 'economy' line exhaust parts for their car. Even the cheap line of exhaust from most places lasts WAY longer under similar conditions. I've got a pair of Cherry Bombs on the car I bought last fall. I don't think they sound quite as nice but have held up very well for the 5 years they've been on this car. Jay
Yep, that's Smitty's for ya! Replace them with Porters or Brockman Mellow Tones and you'll never buy another pair.
Cherry bombs here, had 40" that were silent! Have 34" now, nice sound. (350 Chevy w/ Vortech heads) These mufflers have been on there for 20,000 miles. (a little louder than at first, but still no rust)
I've had mufflers rust out like that too. In my case they were mounted at a slight angle and condensation would sit in there and rust 'em out from inside. I dunno if that's an issue here, but having them mounted level will definitely help. -Dave
I was thinking about putting Smittys on my 57. Always heard they sounded pretty good. From the picture it looks like condensation puddled at the back and rusted through. I wonder if putting a small drain hole at the lowest point might help. My .02
I've had a set of smitty's on my car for about 4 years now. If your 720 miles were spent running for 10 minutes at a time they never got hot enough to get the moisture out.
......Go with Porters mufflers..... have them on my 39 ford for 8 years.....you will not have a problem
I have older Smithy's on my Merc. The paint is faded, but very little rust. They sound great. I have heard that the new Smithy's arren't as good with quality. I guess the rumors are true. If I have to replace them I'll go with Brockman or Porter.
I've had a couple of sets with no problems. But, as stated above, angle of install or rake of car and time running each time it is started will make a difference on how long almost any muffler lasts.
I have only heard good things about Porter Mufflers. <iframe ***le="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2mS-Mlt7xaM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I'm thinking it would sound like a pinhole in your muffler. I had a set on my '41 Tudor, and although too quiet (stock flathead) they did sound nice. Still, Brockman's or Porter's are the way to go. Smitty's aren't built like they used to be, but the other two are still super high quality.
Many new cars have drain holes in the muffler but you can't seem to notice a difference in sound for some reason. I KNOW they're there...but like you I would have expected them to be noisy if I hadn't seen (and heard) them myself!
Hmmm.....I just put a pair of Smithys on my 63 Biscayne last Saturday.... Running about 3 feet of pipe after the mufflers...with a 283 mild build up. Love the sound...exactly what I was looking for... Hope they do better that that... I did buy them from a fellow that has had them for many years, so they are older ones....(They were still in plastic bags in original boxes)
Article in the latest ( but dreaded) Street Rodder mag. talks about mufflers. Says Smithy's are now made by Patriot Exhaust Products and are guarranteed against blow out or leaking and I'd say you got a leak.Patriot #(909)5995955 Give a call ,can't hurt none.
very glad to see this line, I was just getting ready to order a pair of smitty for my 28 truck Think I will look at other options thanks
Proably what happened. People are too quick to knock a product without evaluating numerous variables.
Patriot does indeed make the Smithy mufflers. Patriot is the Ermie Immerso (3 time AMBR winner) company that has been building the Smithy's since at least the 60's. So while the ownership of the company changed 11 years ago, Smithy's have been made in exactly the same way for the past 40 years. In fact on the same machinery. The only thing that has changed is the shade of Blue has slightly changed over the years as the paint companies deal with the Air Quality Management issues. It looks to me like that particular pair of mufflers rusted due to unburned condensation, and 720 miles in 18 months would suggest that the car was probably not driven for long enough periods of time to burn out the condensation so it just continued to build up inside the muffler. There is also a fair amount of rust on the clamp that he used to hold the muffler on, suggesting that moisture is a bit of a problem. If the OP wants to contact me directly I'll see what we can do about a replacement for him on these. Don
My first set of Smithys rusted through in about 4 years,and 5000 miles. On the second set I drilled a 1/8" hole on the bottom of the rear end cap. Seven years,and another 7000 miles,they still look new. On my 47 the Smithys are at least 14 years old, the paint is burned off the ends,but no rust through.
I've had several sets of Smithys over the years - sure like the sound. I did the small drain hole thing just in case and this probably helped them last.
Won 3 times with 2 cars. Both are now in the Petersen collection. Watching the bidding for these 2 cars at the estate auction showed the determination and deep pockets of the Petersen to preserve and share Hot Rod history. I tried to buy the buck for Ermie's Thunderbird Exhaust Products streamliner but I was quickly outbid.
The Jalopy Journal
