What's the meanest sounding exhaust ...

...for a stock V-8? I want it to have a loud rumble, but I don't want poping and backfiring when I let off the gas. It's a big block 4 bbl., but it's not built enough to make Flowmasters sound good.

What do you all think?

 

You could try my old High School favorite, the Cherry Bomb...they are cheap enough...Smithys are real quiet, I have them on my A Truck....Littleman

 

They're not "traditional" exactly, but Flowmasters and other chambered mufflers are my favorites. They come in a lot of different pipe sizes and "series" so you can find one you like.

On weak engines, I like the 2.25" Flowmaster 2-chambers, they sound great. Not a pretender deep rumble, just a nice healthy sound. No popping.

 

I have always hated that. Is there any way to avoid it other than x-pipe? It's going to be really tight under my truck. The mufflers will be wherever I can fit them. Will smaller exhaust tubes help? I will be running lake headers, so I can un-cap them when the need arises. Won't be stock, either...

 

I bought these header glasspacks from hooker (I think they were hooker) they were black and the baffles were reversed so they were ridiculously loud. I only used them for a month on my SBC then gave them to my father-in-law to use on his 68' SS 396 and they sound even better. They were around 24" long so they didn't pop much. They draw attention that's for sure. Turbo tubes sound awesome but they SNAP a lot. Try the Dynomax website, they have a player where you can hear their products. My 2 cents.

 

I think this is relevant and hope this doesn't come off as a highjack, but what causes that popping with certain mufflers? And why does the placement matter? How does the x-pipe aleviate this? Anyone have the quick scientific answer to this?

 

My stock 305 in my '91 Caprice wagon sounds tough as nails with headers and one Flowmaster. Worth the $$$ in my opinion.

 

Like ryan said - x-pipe, mufflers as far back as possible to eliminate rap with flowmaster hushpowers.

 

I also use just glasspacks on straight duals on my 46. I like the sound and they aren't too loud unless you really hop on it. Makes a nice sounding exhaust that is bearable to my 5 year old daughter if I just cruise around.

 

purple hornies behind a 450 horse 396 realy loud but no poping and the exhast dumps right behind the cab in a 71 chevy pickup

 

I HAVE AN IDEA BUT I DONT KNOW FOR SURE,I BELIEVE THE X PIPE HELPS BALANCE THE EXAUST PRESSURE AND HELPS WITH SCAVENGE WITCH PULLS THE EXHUAST GASSES THROUGH THE PIPES,IM THINKING PART OF THE POPPING IS THE EXHAST GASSES BOUNCING OFF EACH OTHER WHEN SCAVENGE IS TOO LOW OR NOT BALANCED.THE FARTHER BACK YOUR MUFFLERS ARE THE LOWER THE PRESSURE ON THE ALREADY SCAVENGED GASES IM SURE............GOD I HOPE IM CLOSE.......ANYBODY KNOW FOR SURE BECAUSE I WANT TO KNOW AS WELL!

 

I know a guy who swears he has a stock BBC in a mid 90s pickup. He has headers, dual 3" pipes to Flowmasters and no tail pipes. There is about 2' of pipe before the mufflers then turndowns after.

Its loud and mean sounding... sounds waaay faster than it really is.

 

I actually own a CD full of different mufflers being tested on the same basically-stock Pontiac 455, and I can tell you for sure that Flowtech "Terminators" with no crossover sound beautiful. They test 22 different muffler models, with and without crossover, and the Terminators are hands-down the best sounding - rumbly and deep, without that damn Flowmaster "underwater" sound. The Flowtech Raptor, on the other hand, sound horrible. The Terminator flows at 88% according to the chart, and the Raptor only flows 48%, so avoid that shit like the plague.
(For those only interested in flow, the Dynomax "Ultra-Flo" and "Welded Ultra-Flo" don't sound as awesome, but according to the chart they flow at 100% the same rate as a straight piece of pipe. NO loss of flow. That's pretty amazing. Flowmasters are like 50-60%.

 

You are describing it as a popping or backfire. That is different than a rapping sound. The amount of rap you get is affected by the pipe diameter. Smaller, more rap. I would guess that crossover pipes would soften this also. To avoid the rapping, I go to a larger diameter pipe.

But you are describing a backfire. If you do not have any leaks in the exhaust system, you should not get the popping. The leak allows air (oxygen) to suck in to the pipe when you let off the throttle. The exhaust coming out of the engine is rich when the throttle is closed and the motor is deaccelerating. So you have a rich mixture coming out of the engine, oxygen getting sucked into the exhaust pipe, a flame from the exhaust port of the engine therefore you get the bang. This was told to me by a guy that put some pipes on a car for me and makes sense. When I get a backfire like you describe, I can usually find a leaking exhaust manifold or a leak close to the front of the exhaust pipe.

Neal

 

My daily Big Block 454 Suburban has stock cast iron exhaust manifolds that come down into one 3" pipe for about 3 feet before hitting a 3" 50 Series Flowmaster. Then 3" pipe all the way out to the turnout behind the rear tire on the passenger side. No cat converter.

It pretty much sounds like a bad ass Big Block Cigarette style boat when it is idling. Deep throaty fairly loud sound. I almost like it better than dual exhaust except for the lack of two pipes at the rear.

 

I just installed a set of Aero 3030turbine mufflers on a big block, For A cuustermer that wanted a differant sound than everybody with flowmasters. They sound pretty dam cool and dont have the popping or rap that your worried about.

 

You have another vote here for Flowmasters. I like the sound of the 40 series on a street car (have them on my 390 Galaxie), they are louder than the 50 series.

I also agree with an X-pipe instead of an H-pipe. There is another good thread on here about H-pipes (which I think would apply to X-pipes, also) and placement.... Basically,as far ahead in the system as possible.

I had a late model 4.6 Mustang with no cats, an X-pipe, Flowmaster 40's and turndowns. Man, did it sound mean! ...and that was just the stock 260 HP 4.6 V8.

Malcolm

 

The popping I have experienced comes from one of two things. Like JW said, a lot of times it comes from the most minuscule leak in the system. The other possibility is a large diameter system, or short system dropping from redline to idle. I can't tell you, scientifically, why it pulls a pop out of the pipe, but that's where it occurs.

My advice to avoid pop is: 1-Like Ryan said, install a true x pipe. If this isn't possible, at least go for an h pipe. I disagree that you need to go as far forward as possible though, I would use the crayon trick: run a crayon line down the pipe and where it starts to melt, install.
2-Don't run wide-open pipes, you need some sort of muffler, although many will say open pipes sounds the "hardest". 3-Run glass packs as far back as possible, and resonating tips at the exit for the "rumblyist" sound. If you want more sound inside the vehicle, keep the glasspacks under the floorboards.

I found the perfect exhaust for my car after a lot of tweaking and a big part of it included switching from wrapped headers to coated. I just love the sound of the primaries meshing into the collector without any insulation or carpet down.

The resonating tips came once I realized they were popping and were too uneven sounding for me. They let the exhaust flow as it wants through the entire system, but makes sure it's a nice smooth exit right before it hits your ears.

 

I've got magnaflows on my galaxie, but I chose them based on the "walk softly and carry a big stick" philosophy, as one of these days i'm going to buy that forged stroker kit and fulfill the big stick end of that phrase. They aren't loud, but they've got a low rumble at idle and a great sound when you jump on it. For what you're talking about, they are NOT what you want. Much too quiet.

 

A fellow in my Dad's Imperial club has 2 1/2" exhaust behind a 440 c.i. wedge with exhaust manifolds (not headers). He is running 2 chamber Flowmasters in front of the axle, then uses 12 or 18" glass packs at the tail end as resonators right before the megaphone tips.

This takes the "tinny" sound away from the Flows, and help give a deep, mean rumble unless he stands on it, then it sounds like a pissed off Roadrunner. (The car is a '63 Chrysler 300)

My 2 cents
BRT

 

In my experience an H-pipe within the first 24in or so of the headers yeilds the best deep rumbly note and will sound like a traditional musclecar. You lose a little of that 'dual' sound with a true X since the pipes merge. X's do give a nice high-strung sound in high rpm's though.
Also H's tend to be cheaper and easier to do.

 

THANKS! It's the '59 dodge wagon from my ATF project. We're going through it so we can tow/push start my rail. It's got an original 77,000 mile 4 bbl. 361 wedge with good compression and stock manifolds.

How about this...2" duals with an H pipe and 24" Cherry Bombs right ahead of the axle? But, do I really need a crossover pipe on a stock motor?

I'm confused by the X pipe thing...I usually run an H as close to the head pipes as possible. How and where do I run this X, does it make more power, sound better, is it more efficient or ?

 

I would just run a 2 1/4" exhaust with the mufflers as far back as possible...

Sam.

 

An "x" pipe is just that.... it connects the two pipes by merging them together as opposed to connecting them with a central pipe.

I have read a lot about how they are the best way to make a decent system better. I know that even in mild performance builds, they are a huge benefit.

For fitment, take a crayon and mark from the collector back to the rear axle. Drive the car around the block. Place the x pipe where the crayon starts to melt.

 

Go with at least 2-1/4 diameter pipes since the tubing bender is going to pinch them down dramitically anyways in the bends (I'm assuming you're not going with mandel bending).
You don't need an H and it likely won't add any power for your set-up, it'll just sound better.
If you do the H, add it a few inches after the pipes straighten out from the downward angle from the manifolds.

 

Ditto

 

the popping and rapping is caused by excessive back pressure. more back pressure = more and louder rapping. Sounds like shit IMHO.
A crossover will help mellow it out a bit, but if you are running to small of a diamiter exaust, then it will always pop because of the back pressure.
I have a close to stock (cam, port matched intake/heads and extrude honed stock exaust manifolds) 302 with 2 1/4 straight pipes, no cross over, no mufflers and I get NO popping or rapping at all.
Sounds sweet and mellow when it's just cruising but gets loud and really pissed off sounding when I romp it.

 

I just got back from Dave's muffler here in Sonoma. He's got a new set of flowmasters to go on the car. We're running an X pipe (just because now I'm all curious) and 2 1/4 inch tubing with the mufflers as far back as possible.

Thanks again guys for all the GREAT advise. As we all know...this place is fantastic!

 

It sounds like the 2" exhaust + the 24" mufflers is going to deliver quite the opposite of what you are wanting = relatively quiet with popping on decel. I've got 2-1/4" pipes with 24" Imperial glasspacks on my stock '66 Chrysler 383 and it's mellow with some "rap" around 3k and up...

On the other hand, the Cleveland in my F100 is relatively stock with cast iron manifolds, 2-1/2" duals, and 2-1/2" x 18" glasspacks from Summit (CHEAP!) welded in roughly 30" behind the collector flange and it sounds deep with some "crackle" at idle... almost like it has some serious compression (which it doesn't.) The bigger dia. keeps it from popping and the short length of the 'pack keeps the exhaust relatively loud.

On yours, I'd run 2-1/2" pipe, wouldn't sweat the cross-over, a short/large dia. glasspack, and some turn-downs just before the rear bumper... those would add some of that rumbly resonance from the soudwaves bouncing off the pavement, but wouldn't choke everone out of the car like a system that dumps in front of the axle...