Hot Rods The right sound, choosing a muffler

I am building my first hot rod and have stumbled upon a question (one among an endless amount). I am putting together a 32 chassis that will receive a 32 glass roadster body. The drivetrain will be a carb'd roller 302 and t5. The question is what exhaust does it get. Initially I was thinking of Flowmaster 40s but I thought that may not sound right. I'm I'm currently thinking of using old style glasspacks as that would give it a more appropriate sound. Are there better options that I'm overlooking?

-Jared

 

Porter mufflers

Lots of videos on YouTube but very solid built and have the right sound.

As per the threads like this that pop up regularly the runner up will be Smithy mufflers.


Both are a tube shaped glass/ steel pack type muffler

 

I've heard of putting the cart before the horse but why are you hushing the horses before the cart is even built?

 

Answer is still...PORTERS.....

 

agree to No Flowmaster 40's - do a search here for threads on this topic - sounds like you have time

 

Porter Steel Packs..........

 

The 40's and the super 40's have a drone at a certain rpm that will drive you nuts.

 

It's not just the mufflers it's the diameter of the exhaust pipes. OHV Chevy's and Fords and even 6 cyl. with splits had that rap rap sound your after but they only had 1 1/2 or 1 3/4 dia. pipes , I'm talking olden times 1955-1960 and maybe later. Now with 2 1/2 or 3 inch pipes the sound is different.

 

Get a pair of Powersticks.

 

I have Borla on my 1952 Plymouth Suburban with early 392 hemi and had Borla on my 1964 Ranchero with a Mustang 302 plus have them on my 2001 Crown Victoria and I am happy with all of them.

Jan in Ojai, CA

 

Not on a HAMB friendly car, I bought a system for my pickup with a Flowmaster 40..Looked way to short to me. Bought a 70 series and still had to add a dirt track auger to tone it down to reasonable.
All these hot rods seem to "sound alike" with 2-1/2"and 3" systems. My 56 has 1-7/8" head and tail pipes and the original 3 tunnel look mufflers and I would move to 2" if ever changed but no bigger.

 

Haha, I think the Powerstick actually increased the sound level. Not much of a muffler!

 

It's got a roller 302 in it? Might as well go with the Flowmaster and get the full Street Rod effect.....

 

Probably to mock things up. Flowmasters, Porters and Smithys are different in size, shape, space occupied and where the pipes have to run. There is always something in the way of something else when trying to achieve the look and sound you are after.

 

Sure will!

Ben

 

Nobody can answer this question. You have to hit shows and decide what you like the sounds of on similar engines and ask the owner. It's all a guess as far as I'm concerned. I'm trying some short Mangaflows on my build, if I don't like them I'll change them. I stayed at 2" diameter pipe, roller 302 doesn't need more for cruising in my opinion. Only you know what sound you are after.

SPark

 

Even the engine family can make a difference. I have run a set of Stainless Works glass packs on my '51 F-1 for years. Behind the mild build 351W in that pickup, they sound great. No drone, not too loud, etc. So naturally I chose those same glasspacks when I built my '62 Merc. The 352 FE in the Merc has very similar build specs (cam timing, compression, displacement, etc) to the 351W, so I figured they would be a good fit. I was completely wrong. The Merc was easily 15 to 20 db louder, like get a ticket loud, piss the neighbors off loud. I ended up having to swap them out for a glass pack with much larger internal volume to get the noise under control. Small things can make a big difference.

Bottom Line: Don't be afraid to try a few different muffler types on the car before you get what you like.

 

Thanks for the replies. I will look further into Porter's and a few similar others as I think that's the direction I'm after.

As for why I'm asking at this juncture, I feel planning builds a better car. I have my frame built and am about to place the center crossmember and rear suspension bracketry. Form factor of the exhaust and placement will keep it from being an afterthought. Dangling exhaust is not as to sex appeal.

 

I had mufflers that were too loud on a modified MEL 430 engine. I installed a interconnecting pipe between the dual pipes, really quieted it down. I have dual Porters on my Olds powered rod. Sounds ok but might have excess back pressure since the straight through cores are stretched garage door springs that I estimate to be aprox 1 1/2" i. d. I have heard they are now available with larger i. d. Greg

 

The short Brockman Mellowtone steel packs. Cheaper than Porters by a long shot.

 

I put the Porter shorter Steel Packs on my 1939 Ford Cpe - with 327 SBC and 30/30 cam - 2.5 inch Vette Ram manifolds - 2.5 dia pipes. Really sounds nice -

 

I have Powersticks on my '50 Ford with a 302 Ford in it. 2 1/4" with pipes to the muffler. It's loud upon acceleration but sounds nice when just cruising. I may add an X this winter to try to tame it a bit. Overall, I really like them a lot.

 

I'm surprised that the Brockman Mellowtones only showed up once on this thread - I thought they were more poular than that. Anyway, I love mine. They sound great with the flathead (avatar). Not too loud, but you definitely know there's a V8 in there. Especially when there's a foot on the gas.

Edit: they’re steelpacks.

 

Really, there are different types of mufflers that will result in significantly different types of sounds. Among the different types of mufflers are different brands, different sizes, etc that will also change the sound, but less than the type will. So first figure out what type of muffler you want, by the type of sound you are going for. Ask yourself, what era are you building the car too? Traditional hot rods used glass pack mufflers for performance exhaust up until the mid 60's when Turbo mufflers came out. Glasspacks have a distinct sound to them, they are loud, they basically just reduce the high frequencies and pass the lows, since they are a straight shot they flow well. They rap when you floor it, and when you let off the gas, and you may get some popping too. That is a traditional hot rod sound. Teen age hoodlum, hooligan sound. Attract the Police and pissoff the neighbors sound. Porters or Smithy's are traditional, they actually sound pretty mellow. Cherry Bombs are for hooligans. Mid 60's the Turbo muffler came out and that became the muffler of choice for many hot rods, muscle cars and pony car's. The Turbo muffler is chambered, not a straight shot, and they cancel some low frequencies as well as high's. They have a much more mellow tone, and they don't rap under heavy throttle or deceleration, and no popping. This was THE sound when I came of driving age and this is the tone I always thought exhausts should sound like. 2 1/2" pipes from the manifolds/collectors back to Turbo mufflers, and maybe 2 1/4" out to the rear bumper unless the muffler shop had the dies and could bend up 2 1/2" pipes over the rear axle. In that era we thought glass packs were cheap and only used on low buck cars or low riders. Then along came the chambered exhausts that use sound wave reflection to cancel frequencies, hence the Flowmasters. They have what I call a metallic ring to them, very distinctive, very easy to tell Flowmasters. That is a modern 2000's sound. Magnaflows are basically glorified glasspacks. My 47 came with inexpensive imitation Magnaflow type mufflers, and they do rap under acceleration, but are pretty quiet otherwise.

So what era are you shooting for in this build? Figure that out, and buy mufflers that meet that era. A roller 302 sounds to me like a modern build. I may be wrong, but I have a hard time thinking a 302 can have a traditional exhaust note even through a pair of glass packs. Get the longest you can fit under the car, that should help tame the note. Or try some Magnaflow type mufflers.

Here, these will quiet it down quite a bit when idling around, but sounds like a glass pack under acceleration, no popping when decelerating.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Stainless-...hes-Offset-In-Center-Out-199826-/401488940773

 

Yep, and they sound killer.

 

I'm partial to Smithys mufflers, piped out the back, they have a great tone that harmonizes well with the quick change and blower whine. Like a well tuned orchestra.

 

You have 2 things to decide. 1st, how loud do you want to be, 2nd, space is always a problem on a 32. How large of a muffler do you want and where do you want it to be. I have a 32 with a 342 stroker and a 5 speed. If you're curious, send me a pm.

 

Now that Im old and deaf I like really quiet exhaust on anything I drive on the street and my farm tractors. I still enjoy the open hedders on my 55 chevy wagon.

 

high or low compression engine?
A stock roller 302 won't sound much different with straight pipes vs glasspacks if its a low compression engine.
Next, Headers or cast manifolds?
"the sound" is made up of a lot of components coming together.