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  1. #1

    Default Muffler help... Glasspacks or ?

    Hello everyone,

    I have been meaning to do something with my car's exhaust since I got it. The previous owner took out the cats kept the H pipe and replaced the stock mufflers with two glasspacks.

    The car surprisingly isn't crazy loud but it does drone on the highway and at WOT it sounds like an old truck. I have been debating between getting Cherry Bomb extremes, Dynomax Race bullets or Loudmouth LM1 resonators. Will these be louder than the glasspacks? Also do you think they will improve my WOT sound? What else would you guys recommend? I don't want it much more quite and don't want to spend too much money but I am open to other suggestions.

    P.S. I know I am getting in to LOUD and in many places illegal exhaust territory but I live in a very rural area and the police around here seem to care less about how loud your car is as long as your driving it safely and not purposely trying to cause a disturbance .

    Thanks in advance for replies.

  2. #2

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    I like the sound of the dynomax stuff from walker. It's reasonably priced and always has fit well for me

  3. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by 2nd chance cobra View Post
    I like the sound of the dynomax stuff from walker. It's reasonably priced and always has fit well for me
    Yeah I was kind of leaning towards the dynomax stuff. Like you said they are priced good and seem to flow well. I just don't know what it will sound like compared the glasspacks.

  4. #4

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    Much better (subjective). Less or no cackle. A much smoother mellower sound. Glass packs are for big 4x4s with gun racks and huge tires. Look at the dynomax systems at summit or napa . They have made a million of them, so they fit well and there are usually coupon codes out there
    Last edited by 2nd chance cobra; 04-16-2017 at 12:59 PM.

  5. #5
    Moderator wraithracing's Avatar
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    I HATE GLASSPACKS!!!!!! IMHO they sound like crap on everything!

    Dynomax makes some decent mufflers and the price is right. Flowmasters give that ole' school sound, but can have a drowning issue on some vehicles. X pipes help to eliminate the drone no matter what mufflers you are running. Best of luck as long as you stay away from Cherry Bombs!
    ​Trey

    "I Don't build it hoping for your approval! I built it because it meets mine!"

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  6. #6
    FEP Super Member erratic50's Avatar
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    The best sounding exhausts have headers and strategically placed expansion tubes. Mufflers are useful only when the car needs to be quieter....

    If you like it raw and loud like we ran when I was a kid growing up in rural Nebraska - we always started with the cheapest oversized Napa glass packs we could get. They weren't much more than expansion tubes when we were done - our stuff sounded awesome but was LOUD.

    here's how we did it: cap one end of the packs you have and pour them full of diesel fuel and let them soak overnight. Put them in a burn barrel and toss a match to them. When they are done burning and cooled off, rattle can them and toss them back on. Run at least 2 feet of pipe after the mufflers and DO NOT make the pipes the same length and do not fire them both the exact same way. 5-20 degrees of difference from straight to one another on one plane will avoid drone.

    Your car will sound like a nasty little bitch with this setup - believe me.

  7. #7

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    If you are looking for loud you are on the right path. I've got a set of 40 series flowmasters I can't wait to get rid of. I can't even hear my radio. I think I'm getting old because I'm actually looking for decent flowing exhaust that isn't loud.. Never thought I'd say that.

  8. #8
    FEP Super Member gr79's Avatar
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    Have a straight thru 2" Cherry Bomb glasspack on my Ranger 2.3 with band clamps, extra hangers.
    Heavy and loud, but will not blow out if engine 'afterfires'.
    Soon as i figure out the intermittent late ignition timing glitch, regular muffler goes back on.

    The Cobra 2.3t has a Cherry Bomb 16805 turbo muffler. Lightweight. Installed 10/2011 still good shape.
    Connections are stainless Easy Seal band clamps. They do not distort pipes like u clamps, more solid, no leak like welding.
    Added hd pipe hanger near front of muffler. Adds extra support.
    Single stock stainless 2.25 pipe cat back to sport tuned twin tips. The tips always added a little sound personality.
    Muffler was much louder all the time without any tailpipe.
    Quiet city/highway.. Nice resonate hum at 2000 rpm.
    Not loud on accell. No popping, etc on de-accell.
    Got unexpected favorable comments from co-workers that car sounds good when leaving work parking lot.

  9. #9
    FEP Super Member erratic50's Avatar
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    Turbos quiet cars up to the point that mufflers are not exactly NEEDED. Especially if you turn the exhaust down to hit the ground when it exits.

    Flowmaster 40's - especially 2 chamber models - are ungodly loud without tail pipes. Just a few feet of pipe with a curves away from one another and down and unequal length make them sound REALLY nice. With proper gear selection, throttle vs RPM produces no drone.

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by erratic50 View Post
    The best sounding exhausts have headers and strategically placed expansion tubes. Mufflers are useful only when the car needs to be quieter....

    If you like it raw and loud like we ran when I was a kid growing up in rural Nebraska - we always started with the cheapest oversized Napa glass packs we could get. They weren't much more than expansion tubes when we were done - our stuff sounded awesome but was LOUD.

    here's how we did it: cap one end of the packs you have and pour them full of diesel fuel and let them soak overnight. Put them in a burn barrel and toss a match to them. When they are done burning and cooled off, rattle can them and toss them back on. Run at least 2 feet of pipe after the mufflers and DO NOT make the pipes the same length and do not fire them both the exact same way. 5-20 degrees of difference from straight to one another on one plane will avoid drone.

    Your car will sound like a nasty little bitch with this setup - believe me.
    I defiantly agree with what you said about the expansion tubes. That's why I have been looking at the LM1s and Dynomax Race Bullets. They seem to be pretty much straight through expansion tubes without the Fiberglas in the cherry bombs. The only reason I don't really want to re use the cherry bombs is because I have heard they wont last long due to them not being stainless like the other two.

  11. #11

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    I have also heard good things about Flowmasters like you guys have mentioned. I know a guy who has FM single chambers and they sound great on his 305 Chevy (Y pipe, no cats) but it isn't very loud compared to the glasspacks I have now. Do you guys think they would be louder on my car?

  12. #12
    FEP Super Member erratic50's Avatar
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    Talking about this stuff really takes me back.

    If the mufflers are not subjected to moisture retention - in ability to drain out the condensation - they last a long time. My brother has a set of 2.5" Napa glass packs we burned out and installed on his 1979 Grand Prix back in 1990. We drilled 1/16" holes in the muffler at its lowest point which was the low point in the entire system. Everything from packs to pipes is still intact on the car.

    This car has a 73 Buick 350 (355) in it that we tore down and threw in .030 over flat top pistons and ported plus shaved heads on. It makes 11.5:1 compression. We threw on an old wildcat 4 barrel intake and a PE stage 2 cam with Rhodes leakdown lifters. We cut apart and ported the manifolds. My dad knows "quadrajunk" carbs - and what part of what linkage where to bend - to make them work like they are supposed to but he likes to see flames out the pipes when your foot is shoved through the floorboard so it is REALLY fat on the back barrels with disgusting amounts of timing advance thrown in. We would routinely throw several feet of flames out each pipe as that nasty little motor revved to 8500 RPM. It makes right around 400 HP setup that way - would be more if it wasn't so fat on the back barrels probably.

    Sounds intimidating as hell. No idea what my dad was thinking helping us build that monster, but then again he also helped me track down and buy my 1986GT.

    I would always laugh really hard when I would run my brother. The typical thing was he would either trash yet another stock rear diff or get impatient and stage first then smoke another TH350 on the trans brake or I would tree him off the line and beat him by a fender at the end of the 1/4 with my mostly stock 1986 GT. He never once beat my car - ever. Hilarious.

    The Prix has been up on blocks and hasn't been driven in 5 years but it was subjected to countless Nebraska winters before. The pipes are still all intact and obnoxious as ever last time we fired it in the fall.

    Remembering some of the exhaust builds we did makes me miss my 1974 Galaxie 500. That one was another crazy but determined high school kid build when it came to the pipes. It got a very similar treatment to the Prix except the W had large diameter shorty headers and D0OE fulie heads paired with a fairly lumpy cam for a daily driver.

  13. #13

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    When they still made and sold them, it was straight Thrush mufflers for me. Condensation issues were easily dealt with by simply installing them with their seams up. They lasted seemingly forever, and sounded better with age when all the packing was gone, like a string of firecrackers at the back bumper at WOT.
    Mike
    1986 Mustang convertible ---> BUILD THREAD
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  14. #14
    FEP Super Member erratic50's Avatar
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    Yea - we were never patient enough to wait for baffles and packing to burn out. That's what soaking them in diesel and throwing a match to them was good for.

  15. #15
    FEP Super Member gr79's Avatar
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    late 60's-70's
    real sound no fake sound effects or tricks
    spun lock construction

    A lot of hp factory dual systems sounded fine

    Thrush/thrush header mufflers- straight thru round type, very popular, metallic sound- compact, reversible, lightweight, no packing.
    glass packs- raspy gas packs- heavy
    sidepipes- vettes, amx, cobra, factory or add on.
    hemi mufflers- whatever they were/are
    cut out mufflers, resonators only
    chambered system- arguably the best sounding factory type
    cut outs, dumps -quick to open for racing

    everything is still made except for Thrush round- collector items
    similar may be under another brand. simple design.
    Cherry Bomb Ol' Skool Hot Rod Muffler may be the same

    later on flowmasters, Supertrapp exhaust came on the scene 80's?
    welded, ss

  16. #16

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    Flowmaster 40 series.

    Sent from my 5017B using Tapatalk

  17. #17
    FEP Super Member erratic50's Avatar
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    Just pulled the tailpipes off of a stock 86GT that's running 2 chamber series 40 flow masters in 2.25" tonight. It sounds mean idle to 2200 then transitions to being a bit less obnoxious. Drone is there but avoidable with the correct RPM selection.

    Personally, my 86 has BBK headers and a MAC X and runs 2.5" series 40's. My car was WAY more obnoxious than the car with stock headers and h pipe. So bad that I put tail pipes on it instead of running dumps.

    A stock 86 isn't completely terrible with series 40s and dumps

  18. #18

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    I have stock headers, and H pipe, with flowmasters. "Had" to take the tailpipes off (the hanger was rubbing on the driveshaft), and I've conveniently been too lazy to put them back on. Lots of classmates, coworkers, etc ask me things like "Did you get a new catback?", or "Did you straight pipe it?" (kids my age are even dumber than I am, and I'm the one without tailpipes! ). I just tell them no, I've done nothing. Anything under 2000 rpm is loud, anything above is tolerable, probably due to headers.

    I work downtown, and park in a parking garage. I've never been able to figure out which car it is, and it doesn't seem to matter where I park relative to it, but everytime I start my car to leave, their alarm goes off

    and @wraithracing, there's just something about a 55 chevy with glasspacks at WOT. It fits.

  19. #19

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    One car i bought had a cherry bomb welded straight to the flange after the gutted cat. Couldn't even tell. Not very loud, sorta just sounded like a small exhaust leak.

    I had a 88 crown vic wagon, when i bought it the mid pipes were rusted out. I ordered exhaust, but wanted to get the car through saftey. 2' of exhaust pipe was $15 at the parts store plus $4 each for a coupler. The mufflers were completely blown out and tail pipes were rusted through everywhere. I bought cherry bombs instead for $17.99. They were the right length and had a coupler on each end. When i fired it up, sounded completely stock. The fan was louder at wot. Guy at the saftey place when he fired it up said, wow sure is quiet. Pretty obvious you have no exhaust leaks. Didn't look at the under side and passed the car.

    I was trying to get a fail so i could get another temp tag.
    2 1986 cougars (both 4 eyed and 5.0)
    1 1987 cougar

  20. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by erratic50 View Post
    The best sounding exhausts have headers and strategically placed expansion tubes. Mufflers are useful only when the car needs to be quieter....
    But then what do the "expansion tubes" do for you? Make it louder? I have this idea in my head that glasspacks actually make your car louder than no muffler at all (straight pipes). I realize making the car louder is the goal of this thread, so I just want to get it straight.

    Reason i ask is, I'm trying to make my car quieter, so say in theory i added some of these "expansion tubes" elsewhere in the exhaust in addition to the mufflers. Would it get quieter or louder?
    Brad

    '79 Mercury Zephyr ES 5.0L GT40 EFI, T-5
    '17 Ford Focus ST
    '14 Ford Fusion SE Manual

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