34 Street Rod exhaust

[rhphotord]

Anyone out there have experience building their own exhaust system from the headers back? Is it worth the effort or do I capitulate and just take it to the muffler shop? Welding and fab is not a problem for me.
Any thoughts on mufflers? Running a small block Ford with a warm roller cam and tube headers but I am up in the air on mufflers. Had Flowmaster 40's on a Mustang but they gave me splitting headaches from the resonance and noise. Don't want the same in the 34 but I want a noticeable but acceptable rumble. The car will be fully insulated and sound proofed. I appreciate the feedback.

[X38]

If welding and fab is not a problem, then neither is the exhaust. Doing it yourself gives you the oportunity to take your time and get it tucked and run neatly. Put in a cross-over while you're at it. Just make sure you keep a safe distance from things like fuel and brake lines. Allow flexibility in the hangers for vibration and heat and contraction movement.

[345 DeSoto]

I have block huggers on my hemi, bought an exhaust kit from Summit for $200 or so, and a pair of Porter mufflers. Best money I ever spent on an exhaust system. The Summit kit has all sorts of different bends and straight pipe in it, and is MORE than enough to do a complete system...and the Porters sound perfect...

[Uncle Bob]

Just some other thoughts on muffler experiences.

Many folks have complained about resonance from the Flowmaster 40s. I put a pair on a '64 Savoy with a middlin' 440. It was the sweetest sounding car I've ever had (I've run the gammut with Turbo, Hemi, steel pack, glass pack etc.). Had that idle sound that many like, barked beautifully off idle, and mild rumble goin' down the road. I put a crossover pipe in, the system ran full length to the rear, over the axle, and no special insulation for the interior, just the normal jute mat. I'm guessing the crossover evened out the sound pulses/note as others have said they get the same result.

Then there was a '40 Ford coupe with a flathead I did back when. When I got it it had old glass packs, standard bullet shaped about 2 ft long each, typical two pipe system. It had no interior when I got it. It sounded horrible. Resonance, and tinny to boot, just crappy sounding no matter idle, acceleration, or cruse. I figured it was just the cheap, worn out mufflers. I ended up upholstering it before getting around to the exhaust. I went low buck on the insulation and used the foil coated bubble wrap stuff from the home improvement store. I learned something interesting. As you would expect it made the sound inside much better, less intrusive/annoying. The surprise to me was how much better the car sounded OUTSIDE. The tinniness went away, the sound got very mellow at idle and at speed. The best I can figure is some of the sound waves were bouncing off the uninsulated floor before hand, and the way the insulation worked changed or eliminated that secondary sound.

It then occured to me that with similar exhaust parts and layouts I'd had glass and steel cars that ended up with different sounds.

The point of this long blather is that I'm convinced there's more to sound quality than just the parts/brands used, which would probably not be a surprise to a guy who designs/installs audio systems.

[Frank The Plumber]

I have a set of brand new mufflers from a maker that I'm dying to try, custom made 4 inch diameter tube 30" long, 2 " pipe size, have a stainless steel wool packing inside, good quality too. And I know the guy who made them real well, his name is Frank the Plumber, When the heck would you ever get another chance to make your own. You can play with the pack, you can adjust the resonance holes and you can place air flow interuptors in the tube to tune the note, you can install a valved h pipe to adjust the tune from crisp to mellow. At a certain point an exhaust system can become a musical instrument, you just have to watch your back pressure readings to make sure you don't pop a muffler, if you keep it flow through you can really have your own sound.

[X38]

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And don't fall into the trap of too bigger tube. 2" is plenty. Plenty.

Here's one I prepared earlier.

[bbrocksr]

Build it yourself if you want to be satisfied.
Bill

[CWPASADENA]

Originally Posted by bbrocksr

Build it yourself if you want to be satisfied.
Bill

I agree;

I have been building exhausts for my cars for years. I feel I can do a much better job then the muffler shops. It takes a little time but in the end, it is very rewarding.

If you do not have a lift, try to build the exhaust before the body goes on the chassis if you have a choice.

Chris

[X38]

Originally Posted by CWPASADENA

I agree;

If you do not have a lift, try to build the exhaust before the body goes on the chassis if you have a choice.

Chris

But make sure will be removable frrom below!