The week in review:
Saturday 5/7: Discouraged by how difficult and protracted an over-the-axle 3" exhaust was turning out, I decided to find a Thrush perf core glasspack and stick it in the tunnel somewhere with a pipe out the side like my Mustang. Spent most of those productive day hours driving around the Antelope Valley looking for a parts store or muffler shop that had one. My go-to shop, the only place that probably had one in a 50mi radius, was understandably closed on the weekend. The other 10 (seriously) stores/shops I checked either didn't stock anything above 2.5" or didn't know what a glasspack is. Defeated, I went home and ordered one online.
Sunday 5/8: Time and thought produced a realization that the muffler I already have might fit behind the transmission. It does! It's also dark outside already!
Monday 5/9: The plan is in motion and I get it all mounted under the car, but run out of daylight before running a pipe totally out the side. A turndown underneath pointed sideways will have to suffice for now. Remember the resonance problem I had before? It's majorly back, but earplugs knock it down to a tolerable level now.
Thursday 5/12: Glasspack came in. Decided to keep it in case I need it for something else. Also picked up some 2.25"x 24" tailpipe pieces to run out the side(because dual 2.25s have about the same flow area as a single 3"). Oval tubing is what I wanted, but it might as well be made of gold. I also looked at NASCAR "boom tubes," but they were all a bit....large.
Friday 5/13: I decided last-minute to take the Pinto to work. It went great until a nut holding one of the hangers on rattled loose (I had tightened it, I made sure) and the exhaust started dragging on the freeway at 70mph. I dove off and into a parking lot, threw a window shade down to keep from getting dirty, and managed to pull the assembly off with just an Allen wrench (the only tool I had), and continued on with an open downpipe as before and only a few minutes late. Not bad for Friday the 13th.