Hey all... I blew my OEM muffler about a week ago. The wagon sounds loud as hell, something I actually enjoy, but the possibility of getting a $300+ fine for noise pollution is keeping her in the driveway. Here's my situation: I put a Hooker header on the 2.3L engine, removed the catalytic converter (kept the shell on for visual inspection purposes) and adjusted the carb during the summer for a lean mix. As soon as it got cold, I forgot to richen the fuel mixture so I got a few stall outs. So, what do we do with a moving stall? Downshift and pop the clutch, right? It starts the motor back up, but with my exhaust modifications I left out one important detail: THE MUFFLER! Apparently my driving habits with a standard muffler caused a HUGE backfire that was so strong it blew up the OEM muffler. So, now I need a good aftermarket muffler that will be able to deal with the strong backpressure of downshifting and no emission controls. I was planning on going the Flowmaster route, some say not to. I know I'll need an offset/offset muffler with a 2-1/2" I.D. pipe. Any suggestions? Sites helpful.
AFAIK the "turbo" style mufflers are pretty much the same, so if the Flowmaster sound trips your trigger then I say go floor it. Personally I used a Walker turbo style on my '74. I'm not into the tooth rattling noise levels anymore. Mine's quiet 'till I stand on it then I hear the intake more than the exhaust.
Summit makes a good quality, great price " turbo" muffler.
This is all helpful, but how about brand names? Do they really matter, or will any "turbo" or "easy flow" type muffler work? I don't want to end up blowing another standard equipment type muffler again.
Well I've had my Walker for a few years, and it's still in great shape (It's even still shiney :P) I'd bet just about any decent muffler would work ... unless the same engine off pat the gas dump the clutch thing happens. That's a recipe for an EXPLOSIVE backfire that'd shred a Flowmaster. I knew a guy who did that on a regular basis in a 2.3L Fairmont. eventually he managed to split the exhaust manifold!!
Several years ago, I had a Flowmaster on my pinto for, oh, a couple of days. I can honestly say that "muffler" wasn't much, if any quieter than a straight pipe. You could even hear the "whump whump whump" of the exhaust pulses while it was being cranked over. The rest of the exhaust system consisted of a full length Hedman header, a catalytic converter, and 2.5" pipe.
Just a few weeks ago, I replaced my Borla "hemi" muffler with a Dynomax super turbo, and finally I have a sound that I like. I got the largest muffler that will fit in the Pinto. It is part number 17748, which has a 20" long case, and 2.5" inlet/outlet.
My current exhaust system has a Ranger shorty header, with the outlet modified to 2.5". The Borla sounded good at idle and low power cruise, but was annoyingly loud on acceleration and climbing hills. The new Dynomax is much quieter. You can still hear it, but the noise isn't overpowering.
The downside to all the relative quietness is now I can hear all the other squeaks and rattles the car has.
I went through that too StrawBoss LOL posterboard...the squeak & rattle exterminator!
I had my wife drive while I crawled around the car killing rattles after replacing my interior