Your opinions on exhaust please

For my 454 shop truck......

It has 3 inch header collectors. I'm thinking 2 1/2 pipes all the way back. It's a mild 454. I want that mean snarl kinda like the Bullitt mustang had in the movie. I don't want rapping. I've done Smithys in the past on other stuff, wrong sound for this one I think.

What do you recommend?

I refuse to ever use Flowmaster again. They drone at certain RPM.

 

2 chamber flowmasters.

 

Flowmasters have always sounded good to me.

 

I like flowmasters also, but make sure you get 2 chambers to fully enjoy the sound.

 

I have a similar sized exhaust on my BBC powered Roadster. 2 1/2" all the way back to 17" SuperTraps. Sounds pretty good with 12 discs each side. It's not what I wanted, but there is no space for real Muffs in my Chassis.
Flowmasters have always sounded hollow and tinney to me. Never liked them, they don't sound like "Hot Rod".

I have a long Magnaflow on my Ford Lightning PU that has the sound you've described. Also a buddie has a 510" Chevy in a Deuce Roadster, 2 1/2" pipe with Stainless Steel 18" glaspacks that sounds like an old Can-Am car.
Wicked Good!

 

For the love of God do not put Flowmasters on ANYTHING.

Every car I hear running those wussy things sounds to me like it wants to be mean, but is just too afraid.

I know you wrote you don't want a snotty rapping......but......

When I hear a car with a low grumble thats almost loud....I always think the owner is afraid of the cops. Its just my opinion, but that is what I always think. Camaro guys like Flowmasters. Real hot rodders run open pipes (well maybe thats excessive).

To me there is no gray area. Either make it completely quiet or obnoxiously LOUD.

Hey, you asked for OPINIONS.....

 

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I like flowmasters also, but make sure you get 2 chambers to fully enjoy the sound.


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OR.... get a real motor!
Hey joe... I've got the 3" 3 chamber Delta flow series Flowmasters on my car (supposedly the quietest ones they have) and I think I'm fully enjoyin' the sound! "course my car's not a hot rod, it just wants to be!

 

Hot Rod to Hell,

My Fairlane is just a wannabe hot rod too. No matter how loud the pipes are......
It will become a true hot rod when it can do this....

 

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Flowmasters have always sounded hollow and tinney to me. Never liked them, they don't sound like "Hot Rod".

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I'll agree - partially - on the two chamber Flowmasters.
Although, they sound pretty good - and a little too loud to me - with the very short tailpipes on my 32 roadster.

I put a pair of three chamber FM's on my 2002 Supercrew with true dual exhaust - and not just a one in, two out muff which strikes me as a BS deal.
The three chambers have a nice tone, it can be a little noisy when you lay on the throttle, but it doesn't bother the Gendarmes.
They sound a lot like the dual steelpacks/glasspacks from back in the day.
Which is to say, a sweet sound, pleasant to the ears.

Lots of mileage comments bandied about with muff changes, but careful monitoring of mileage before and after the swap to duals gained 1 (one) mpg increase in both highway and city driving.
Reason I mention mpg is due to some of the more interesting stories I hear at the muffler shop.
Not from my friend who owns the shop, but from customers.
He's pretty realistic about mpg and power estimates.

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For the love of God do not put Flowmasters on ANYTHING.

Every car I hear running those wussy things sounds to me like it wants to be mean, but is just too afraid.



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Here's a 2400#, 462" Buick engined, FM equipped car that's not afraid....

 

My car will pull the wheels if I can ever get the suspesion figured out enough to hook up! I HOPE it won't do THAT crazy of a wheelstand though, cuz before the bumper hits, the electric fuel pump does!!!! Any idea what the car in that pic runs in the 1/4? My wannabe hot rod SHOULD be in the low 10's this season! (but it'll still sound gay cuz of the flowmasters!)

 

C9,


Seems odd to see lumber hanging out the back winder of the hotrod

 

O.K. fellas, I never said Flowmasters were gay.

......oh, yeah Hot Rod to Hell, I realized after reading your post on Heidts stuff that your car probably could pull the front wheels! Seriously man, I only wish mine could!

......(but your car still wants to sound meaner, I just know it)

Hey these are only opinions here.

But to keep it on topic, and to steer it back to the purpose of this thread....
Can someone explain why they chose Flowmasters?
Maybe info like that can help Hillbilly choose an exhaust.
It might also help me to understand what I am missing......Do you choose them for the flow? Sound? Price?or are ya Skeeert of the cops? (heh, heh)


C9, whats with the lumber?

JT.

 

I am actually in the process of doing some exhaust work on my car right now... I am changing over from an "H" pipe to an "X" pipe, and right now I just have dumps on the backs of the mufflers, but I think I'm gonna run 2.5" tailpipes out the back (the rest of the system is 3") to try and quiet it down a little more (cruisin down the E-way at 4000rpm makes for a bit of a headache on long trips!), and because I'm scared of the cops! Not really, they all dig my car... But for when I wanna get agressive I'm putting on some of the quick time performance electric cutouts! hehehe I have never run this car with open headers before,but with as loud as it is through the mufflers, it oughtta be pretty f'in obnoxious!

 

AAAaaahhhh......CUTOUTS !



you just made my day!

JT.

 

Have you considered glass packs?

I am running glass packs and everyonce in a while consider changing them, but I really figured flowmasters would get laughed out of here. I think they are for camaros or cars from 55 up.

I do like to hear the chopping tinny sound the flowmasters make - but the resonance will kick you ass.

 

If you go to flowmasters website they have sound bytes of every muffler they sell, i think they will have the tone your looking for!! nate

 

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Can someone explain why they chose Flowmasters?


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Long story short on the roadster - built a 2 1/4" system with long as possible glasspacks on it. (Little brother told me I shoulda built a 2 1/2" system - he was right.)
Sounded good though - for about two weeks and then the glasspacks got too noisy.
Built a 2 1/2" system, tried Walkers long glasspack-like Turbo-Muffs. (The ones with the dimples and no packing.
Way loud, really loud.
Installed glass packed Turbo-Muffs.
They sounded great - for two weeks - same deal as the 1st set of glasspacks. Few years down the road they got really noisy.
Finally stuck on a set of 2 chamber FM's.
This cuz they looked like they would do the job and also because they looked like they would last for a long time. (Same reasoning behind the three chamber FMs on the truck.)
They are lasting, but are still too noisy in my estimation.
The noise element helped to a degree by the addition of a 2 1/4" balance pipe that's a little further back than optimum, but that's what we had to do. I was after resonance reduction and not performance.

The reason for both the glasspack Turbo-Muffs and the FM's was due to space considerations.
Both of them just barely fit up in the chassis - which is where they should be. I dislike to a considerable extent exhaust systems that hang way under the car.
Sometimes you gotta do it with collectors etc., but where you can you should tuck the exhaust up under the car and out of sight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Far as the lumber goes ... the roadster is not a show car, but is my car for everyday use. (We're down to two running cars now.)
Sweetie drives the truck and I'll use it for serious hauling, but for reasonable stuff I'll stick it in the roadster.

Some things I've hauled with it:

Seven lugs of naval oranges to give out at Christmas.
(Cruz'n the freeway with no top, red jacket, red knit cap, black car rumble open and full of oranges and me with a white beard made for a colorful, Christmassy and sorta Santa Clausy getup.

A moderate load of stainless steel - towel wrapped around to protect the upholstery, bottom of the steel sitting in a coffee can to protect the floor and the safety belt holding it down.

Same deal with another load of aluminum, although an old bath mat protected the floor here.

8' level and some 8' 2 x 4's sticking out the back window, also retained with the safety belt.
An old guy at the lumber yard watched me load up and then told me that I was stupid to treat such a car that way. Maybe, but I'm careful and so far no damage from hauling.

Rumble full of bags and boxes from Costco, cases of beer and cokes in the front seat. Very little space left for the driver. You know how it goes in Costco. Go in for a $20. item, come out with a bunch of stuff and a dented checkbook.

200 mile trip to the Southland with rumble packed so full I couldn't open it until some settling took place during the drive. Front seat packed with stuff as well.

More than a few pieces of steel. 3' and under in the rumble, over 3' goes in the cockpit, towel pad etc.

Fairly large pieces of sheet metal although the rumble remains open during travel.

A pair of large by huge drag slicks - one at a time - in the rumble for a cross-town trip.

Several pairs of mounted tires in the rumble. Two at a time at different times.

A couple of acoustic guitars, one at a time, also retained with the seat belt.

A piece of 2 x 4' plywood sitting on top of the padded roll bar, under the top and the front sitting on top of the windshield with bungees pulling it forward.

Four guys - all 6 footers - coulda been five. One in the rumble, three in the front seat. Didn't go far and the middle guy is the designated shifter. The fuel cell is in the rumble and there are no seats in the rumble - just carpet.

Made the run from Visalia to Famoso (Bakersfield Drag Strip) with grandson and adopted grandson in the seat.
The car has three seat belts, but the middle one is usually tucked away out of sight. The trip was an easy 60 miles. Helped considerably by the two skinny teenagers ... which made it easy for this used to be skinny guy....

 

I prefer glasspacks. Flowmasters can make your car sound like you're smuggling trash cans.

 

first off, why do you want your BBC to sound like a SBF?

my daily driver '90 454SS PU has no mufflers but a single cat. and 2-1/2" exhaust. sounds o.k.

last couple big chevs I had the two chamber Flowmasters in and they do drone some but sound nice and throaty.

my coupe has a big chev in it too with 3" glass packs, kinda loud but it IS a hot rod.

I'm thinking of redoing the exhaust on the coupe, pairing up the primaries to run four smaller glass packs under the car to exit out the back.

that aughta sound different.

Paul

 

C9, reading your hauling exploits also made my day!

That is what it is all about!....Too cool.

JT.

 

I used some Dynomax mufflers on my 53 and it was just about right.Summit and Jeg's sell em.

 

Spin Tech Mufflers

Every car I have heard these on, I was very impressed with the note and snarl produced. I'll be replacing my flowmasters soon with a set.

Check out the audio on the website...
-Dane

 

I like the flowmasters for the sound and the price.If you must use a muffler its the only one I can afford.Dynomax are alsoo nice. If you want a good sounding muff and don't care about the price go with Bassanni or Borla.

 

C9
Sounds like our Roadsters have a lot in common; they get used like cars, er, maybe Trucks...
Happy New Year All!

 

I got walkers on the Galaxie 21/2 all the way back. The got a good throat but go into resonance @ 40-50 MPH really annoying.
They say a Daytona cross cures that (with flowmasters also).

The Ol' Man used to run em straight all the way to the end, then hang a pair of resonators on 'em. Good throat, and never rappy/snotty. I never liked the look as well as just a pair of pipes hangin' out the back, but it sounded great.

 

60's...
I'm figuring that SBF was aimed at me. No harm. My point is that the MagnaFlow on that truck sounds so Bitchin' It's the first one I've had and really like it. Sounds like Power.

FWIW, I too own a 1990 454SS PU. And Love it. It's got a HUGE muff and still sounds ok, if not a bit mild. But I can drive it for 8 hours and not be worn out by the noise either.
I need to replace the whole exhaust system and I'm trying to decide what to use. I can't imagine no muffs on that truck as a daily driver! Pretty cool! Got ear drums anymore?

My wife drives the Chevy now. So it's gotta be reasonable. It's what I taught her to drive in about 5 years ago.
Poor truck has over 200,000 miles on and still going strong!

 

i will be the first to second.....spintech mufflers

 

Mild Mitch, the BBC SBF thing was meant for Hillbilly Hotrodder 'cause of wanting his 454 shop truck to sound like Bullit's Mustang..

I've got about 120K miles on my SS, and it's going strong too.

and because I haven't posted a picture of my car for a while here's an older side shot showing the big ass glass packs,



Paul

 

Ok, my own paranoia krept in I guess!
Those are F**kin BIG glass packs!

 

I've wondered about those spintechs... so they sound pretty cool???