Muffler recommendations? With specific limits...

[King_V]

Ok, well, looks like I might be holding on to my car for a bit.

Assuming the inspection (due in June) catches the decaying tailpipe, I'll have to get the exhaust done.

I don't think I can just change the tailpipe right now without having to cut things unpleasantly, so I figured maybe I'll go for full duals as opposed to the single exhaust I now have.

Not going to go crazy, car spends most of its time around 1500 RPM or less anyway. I'll for now keep the stock SO manifolds and cats.

So, I'll need the H-pipe, and everything aft of that.

Mufflers! Finally, my long-winded intro gets done and I get to the point....

I want:

1) Better flow! (duh!)
2) Cheap
3) Stock inlet-outlet size (2 inches I think?)
4) Slight rumble, but relatively quiet.

Let me explain that last one. I usually spend a LOT of time going continuously around 50 MPH, or continuously around 70-75 MPH. Some noise is fine, but when you're going over an hour at that same speed, it grates on you. When my T-bird had bad exhaust, it was a very deep, but very loud rumble. Sounded awesome for about 15 to 20 minutes, but drove me NUTS beyond that.

So, I'd like something that's, at least from the inside of the car, quiet when I'm idling or at a light throttle cruise, holding speed, or even slight upgrades.

If it gets rowdy when I lean on it, that's just fine with me. But for most of my driving I do NOT want to be subject to a continuous droning!

Also, do any of the aftermarket type mufflers come with that weird triangular bracket that is on the back of the stock mufflers? I seem to recall hearing that it requires "direct fit" mufflers from whatever aftermarket company is making the better-flowing ones, but, doesn't that get really pricey?

Thanks in advance for any recommendations. Oh, and if anyone knows where I can get the rest of the pipes (H pipe, intermediate pipes, tailpipes) for cheap?

Huh, weird, Walker's website no longer goes back further than 1992? WTF??!

[gadget73]

1500 or less? Do you idle around town or something? Heck I can't keep mine under 2 grand driving like i'm dead.

I'd say stock duals with some sort of turbo muffler will do what you want. 2" offset/offset and bolt it up. With cats, its pretty much gonna be impossible to get horribly obnoxious exhaust volume so you're pretty safe. Anything flows better than the stock mufflers so you're good there.

[Southern_Pride]

Stock tailpipes are 25.99 a side and the h pipe is 70 from advance auto parts. Some type of turbo muffler for quiet.

[351m]

Cherry bomb Turbo is fairly quiet but has a nice rumble at the tailpipe. In some single systems ('95 Ram van) i have found it to sound more agressive outside while less drone inside then the Dynomax Super Turbo.

[Tiggie]

I have full cats and Cherry Bomb Glasspacks on teh wagon. Has some sound, but not loud inside the car at all. Very little drone. I can still set the occasional car alarm though if I get on it. The '82, with the same mufflers and no cats, was LOUD and droning on the highway. Get offset glasspacks and they should bolt up without big issues (had to bend the drivers side tailpipe on the wagon a little bit, but the passenger side and both sides on the '82 when on without modification).

The turbo mufflers will be stock-like quiet. If you want quiet, the go with the turbos.

[bobtownboy]

I have the advantage of working in a muffler and brake shop.
I can only tell you what works.
Keep your cats and gut them out. Cut off the H pipe right after the flanges.
Custom build a H pipe out of 2 1/2 tubing,Add 2 Magnaflow turbos, with 2 inch tails,but tip them down so they look stock.
You can really go crazy and build some LAKE pipes that cut out behind the front tires that you can open elecetronicly any time(love the noise,you think your going faster)

[packman]

I'm sure some of these guys will chime in on what muffs to get for stock duals. If you get stock Mustang HO headers and stock duals for the CV, you'll probably be happy with Summit Turbos. They have little drone when cruising, but have a pleasant rumble on the outside. This is with BBK headers, H-pipe, and a 2.5" Impala catback with Summit Turbos. I dunno what they will sound like with stock manifolds and 2" duals.



Packman

[King_V]

1500 or less? Do you idle around town or something? Heck I can't keep mine under 2 grand driving like i'm dead.

Well, maybe more like 1700. But I'm not kidding!

I've got 2.73s and keep the thing in overdrive. My 88 T-bird sport, with the same gears, and slightly shorter tires, would do 80MPH at 2000 RPM. So I guess I'd have to hit about 85MPH to do the same in my CV.

Depending on which of my two most frequent destinations I'm heading to, according to my calculations, I'm either doing between 70 and 75 (1700-1800 RPM), or between 45 and 50 (so, like 1100 to 1200 RPM) - with a few stretches 65 (about 1550 RPM) for either of those.

So, yeah, it spends most of its time in the sub-2000 range! Except for pulling away from a stop, of course.

Anyway, so those are the RPM ranges that I absolutely can NOT have droning!

Keep your cats and gut them out.

Can't do that - need to pass emissions, in New Jersey, which is pretty tough. Besides, with my usual driving, the cats aren't much of a restriction.

As to all the other posts . . thanks, I'm going to have to consider . . . who else makes the turbo mufflers besides Cherry Bomb, Magnaflow, Summit, Dynomax, and, if memory serves me, Walker? Or are Walker and Dynomax one and the same?

Basically, as long as it's peaceful inside under idle and light throttle, stock-levels of sound or close to it, I'm happy. Don't wanna disrupt my neighbors too much (I actually like my neighbors!), so I just want it to have a bit of authority on the outside - it will be immediately apparent that these aren't factory mufflers, though it may or may not be apparent when idling.

What it sounds like on the inside when I nail it, well, heck, once I get past maybe 1/3 or 1/2 throttle, I WANT to hear it!


ASIDE: the droning I really couldn't stand was from my T-bird. Apparently, the front-wall of the mufflers (that 2-into-1-into-2 quasi-dual system) sort of peeled/rotted away from the inlet pipes. So, effectively, I had 2 inch pipes sticking a few inches into the mufflers via 3 inch holes in the mufflers.

Sounded great - but got VERY annoying when driving for extended periods, probably because of the nature of the opening in the muffler, the rumbling was half coming forward to an area under the car right below the interior! Bleah!

(Oh, and a 1970 Chrysler I'd had that I didn't think things through before choosing the exhaust, it would be very annoying cruising right around 45 MPH. A few MPH above and below that, and it was fine)

[packman]

Other considerations for my exhaust were Force Automotive Products muffs, but the smallest size they come in is 2.25". I didn't see anything mentioned about sound control in the description like I did with the Summit Turbos, so I turned away from them. The other alternative that came out a little while after I did my duals were Thrush two-chamber turbos. They were over $10 cheaper than the Summit muffs, but again, nothing mentioned about sound control. Though any turbo muff will be louder than stock muffs.



Packman

[351m]

Sounds like a set of Magnaflow straight thru muff might do the job fo you if you wanna hear it at higher throttle. get the 18" case ones and they should go right in place of stock. Should sound perfect with the cats.

The thrush 2 chambers I assume you mean the Thrush Welded? Perfect if you want a Flowmaster sound but for half the cost. My cost here was $48 each while the flows were $119 each... I only looked at the price of the flows for comparison, the only thing I have every hear that flowmasters sound good on are a 700+ hp car or a 3.3L v6 Caravan LMAO...

[packman]

....the only thing I have every hear that flowmasters sound good on are a 700+ hp car or a 3.3L v6 Caravan LMAO...

:lol:

Though I do like the sound of Flows on 5.0L engines. I also love the sound of them on my friend's 406 sbc. The price though is what turns me off of them.



Packman

[351m]

Hmm, I must be tired... or drunk, my spelling sucks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5pvGeCw560

[crown vic muscle]

everything behind the cats off of a 92-97 vic works well. slight rumble, still sounds mean. pm me for a vid
cost me like $60 for everything to hang it and the h pipe and mufflers from the salvage yard. no mods, just bolt it up and go play!

[SLYDAWG]

Mufflers

"I want:
1) Better flow! (duh!)
2) Cheap
3) Stock inlet-outlet size (2 inches I think?)
4) Slight rumble, but relatively quiet.
So, I'd like something that's, at least from the inside of the car, quiet when I'm idling or at a light throttle cruise, holding speed, or even slight upgrades."

Dynamax Super Turbos. They are the old 'hemi' mufflers. Dead quiet inside at a steady speed, slight deeper than stock rumble on the outside at idle, deep rumble upon accelerating.
No resonance of any kind at any speed.
Have them on both the racecar and the 02 LSE. Racecar picked up .1 at the track after switching from a generic turbo muffler. Had them on the LSE for a coupla years now. Will become slightly deeper as they 'wear in'. Still no resonance.

Highly recommended!!

[murphmobile2]

These cars are dead quiet if you have your cats, so regardless of what muffler you choose you won't notice much of a noise increase. I don't recommend the Turbo mufflers, not enough to be noticable with cats on the car. I had a pair of them with no cats on the car, still fairly quiet.

Don't go chambered / fully welded. You'll get drone.

Go with glasspacks. $25 apiece. Doesn't give a major sound increase either. Just has a better tone overall, more of a slight growl. They only get noisy if you cut off your cats. Your local auto parts store will carry those.