Need exhaust advice

[Ayers Garage]

My 54 Chevy with a small block has exhaust manifolds leading to 2 inch pipes and Smitthy mufflers, then out 1 3/4 inch tailpipes. I will not rap, or pop or anything. Just a smooth rumble. I'm pretty disapointed with the sound.

Now, my new beater, a 70 Chevy truck is getting a small block too. I want it to rap and pop and generally sound angry. What kind of mufflers do I need and what size pipes? I must run some type of muffler, so don't suggest straights. I'm thinking 2 inch pipes with real short glasspacks, like 18 inchers.

Someone educate me here. I need the proper old school sound. My town is full of those freakin Flowmasters http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

[shoebox72]

HB Use Thrush mufflers if you want a snotty rap. The old "BEER CAN" style are a little better but the new bullet type sound great as well. DON'T use cherrybombs they just rumble and don't crackle & rap like the thrush. My experience TIFWIW.

Billy

[burndup]

Take the smitty's out, put pipe in... then you got the exact same system I got on my cadillac. Thats right, NO muffs. Cars around me on the freeway think I'm takin shots at them when I let off the gas! A little loud when coming home late, but so what.

late,

[KnuckleBuster]

Try turning the Smithy's around so the outlet is the new inlet. I got a set of mufflers that came with a little note: for rumble set up as labeled. For more rappy exhaust, install reversed.

Just a thought. Don't know if Smithy's will work that way.

[Paul]

small pipe and short glass packs.

my Stude has inch and a half pipe and twelve inch glass packs with the louvers opened towards the back.

it has a sweet rap,

not only going downhill or decelerating but any time I take my foot off,

small animals shiver in fear and women get moist at the sound

Paul

[chopolds]

Get a set of Brockman Mellowtone mufflers, and mount'em real close to the engine. Brock will make them in glass, steel, or NO packing for you! Get no packs for the best rapping.

[manyolcars]

run straight pipes thru the hollow shell of a muffler

[Fat Hack]

You can run glasspacks, but drill a couple of small holes in the pipes about six inches before the mufflers. The incoming cold air will really make it POP when you let off, and will make a snapping rap on hard acceleration. Leaky collector gaskets will also induce this condition!

[Petejoe]

I guess they use to throw oil or some flamable into the mufflers to burn out the glass in the mufflers back in the day.

[CruZer]

"Back in the day",we ran straight pipes and filled the tailpipes with steel wool and held it in with a cotter pin when we needed an inspection sticker. Once we got the car inspected,out came the cotter pin.One good blast down the road and ,,,,no more steel wool.

[Tim]

as long as were talkin exhuast on a small block, any idea how 2 1/4 straight pipes off manifolds will rap? should be about 1 bend in each pipe and each side about 7 feet long total

?

[DrDano]

I have dual smithy's on my flathead running 1-3/4" pipes. Same problem, no rap at all and it just rumbles. So, out come the smithys and I'm just going to replace them with straight pipes. I say straight pipe or use very short blown out packs. If I had to run mufflers I would probably run thrush or brockmans, they sound pretty good with smaller diameter pipes.

A friend of mine said that when he was a kid he would bust out the glass in the glasspacks by using a garden hose once the pipes were nice and warm and shoot the pipes full of water to blow the glass out. I thought it sounded like a good way to get your ass burned, but who knows, maybe it works.

[burndup]

Tim, your 2 1/4 straight is gonna make the "Saugus" -style sound, a low rumble, almost muscle-car esque. For rap, you're gonna wanna reduce to 1 3/4 after you get the pipes off the manifold...

Quote from my muffler guy:

"You want it to rap ALL the time? we can go down to 1 inch pipe."

The lowriders I see all the time out in whittier are setup this way, usually chevy sixes... sound a bit too farty for my pref.

was also ill advised on a caddy 429...

C'mon man, just do open headers!! did that for a week or so with the caddy, I swear it almost sounded like a dragster!

the people at bus stops loved me... hands over their ears, looked like they may have been in pain.

[53_210]

I was just tightening myself some oil pan bolts and decided my exhaust needed to be a little louder, and I thought I'd try that drilling the holes infront of the muffler trick. Didn't change much, so I drilled them a little bigger (13/64), but I'm gonna wait for tomorrow to give her a run. I'm running a plain old I6 with single exhaust. It raps pretty good, but I don't think it's loud enough. A possible temporary fix before the new exhaust.