Thread: What kinda mufflers do you guys run?

Tweet

We car guys know that the sounds coming out of the exhaust is an important element in the overall appearance of the car. The exhaust note has to match the era we are shooting for.....ie, Flowmasters are great, but don't really fit what we want on a traditional '50's style hot rod. For that kind of car something like Smitty's or glasspacks is more in tune (pun intended) .

Over the years I've used everything from glasspacks to Cherry Bombs to Corvair type turbo mufflers to etc. I try to tailor the sound to what I want the car to be. On my '27 I wanted a nice tone so I went with mufflers from Stainless Specialties. My friends said they were too quiet, but I drove the car daily and if it were too loud that can wear on you a little over time. But on my '23 I wanted it loud and in your face, so I went with open lakes headers at first, but the sound was more like a truck with holes in the mufflers, so I built baffles that quieted them down and to me have a more pleasing tone.

So, my vote kind of goes for Smitty's on an early type rod or custom, Turbo or Cherry Bombs on a 60's muscle car, and Flowmasters on more modern cars like 5.0 Mustangs and the like.

Don

Tech I was just gonna say the same thing.
I love them old glasspac's my brother ran them on his 76 trans am
when we were kids. I later ran them on my 67 mustang, then on
a 69 buick la sabre. They sounded great with the old V - 8's. Kurt

I run cherry bombs with the fiberglass all burned out. Real nice and loud

Well it would appear that there are some rather strong opinions on the muffler question! That’s what makes hot roddin’ so special – there is rarely “one right answer” when the question involves a matter of taste and preference. Any free flowing system will probably perform about the same if the pipe is sized correctly.

I have to agree with the above comments, re: make the sound fit the era of the car. I had Smitty’s on my ’57 Corvette and they sounded mighty fine back in the sixties. I lived in a small town in the mountains of Southern California and one night a friend encouraged me to try a little trick he’d learned from his brother. As he explained it, you find a nice long downhill grade, get a bit of speed up, turn the ignition off and pump the gas a few times and then turn the ignition back on, and a “big back fire” will ensue. Well sure enough – there was a big backfire and two red hot cores clanked out the tail pipe. The Smitty’s were – needless to say – not quite the same and as I drove into the driveway, my father informed me that the sheriff had called and already shared the details of my little stunt. The fear of God was further underscored as I was lambasted for potentially starting a forest fire. The Smitty’s got replaced with Cherry Bombs and I was instructed that a reoccurrence of my shenanigans would result in a loss of my driving privileges.

We have a local shop that gives a lifetime guarantee on the Dynomax. I like the sound of Flowmaster 40/50 series on the newer cars and they comply with most noise ordinances. Depending on where you are, the local “authority having jurisdiction” can put a damper on how loud you can go – I have Hooker Straight Shots on my Harley and was informed that to avoid a ticket, I would have to install the baffles - still good sound, but not quite the bite of a V-Twin with open pipes.

Have fun selecting what you like!
Glenn

Lately, I've been using Velocity series mufflers from Heartthrob. It seems like many mufflers, especially stainless ones, have what I call the 'Mer-cruiser' sound - at idle they sound like they're running underwater. I like mufflers that are nice and sharp at idle and under hard acceleration, but don't have the annoying drone on the highway. The Heartthrob Velocities fit the bill for me.