Engine Sound
 

Ok, so I'm just a guy with a '59 GT and I'm not by anymeans an expert on modifications... in fact my car is as stock as it gets.
I'm looking to give it a good sound by means of new mufflers/exhause systems. So what do I want? I have no idea.

What I do know is that I don't want a sound that's going to be heard 5 blocks away but I do want one that will turn some heads when I start up or take off. And I also don't want a sound like one of those dumb guys putting around in civics.

I'd also like something that I'm not going to have to shell out too much for. I can hold my own in a garage provided I know what I'm tying to do with some insturctions.

So advice, comments, ideas??? Please?

here is my advice. If u live in an area where you do not need aircare or to pass smog, buy an off road H pipe. and keep your cat back system. with good mufflers it will be pretty loud, but shouldnt be too loud. This way you will get to hear her bark nicely and back rap good as well. i paid 400$ canadian for one installed. (under 300$ american i think). you can probably leave the mufflers u have on now on too that way, although flowmasters would probably be the best bet for a nice mean low rumble. If u really want cheap u can throw on a pair of glasspacks (blue bottles, thrush, red hots, purple hornets, ect) on an otherwise stock exhaust system and once they get broken in they sound really nice. i dont reccomendit(although i did it :o) is go to a carwash and spray a good dollars worth of water up both your tailpipes and it will speed this up. lol other wise u can buy cat back kits with pipes and mufflers from various sources im not too sure of and they are usually an alright deal. thats about all i know lol good luck

Did you mean 89 GT?

Sorry, I meant a 95... dumb *** me

I dunno...I did that, and it made both my cats and one of my mufflers rot out. Once the rattling/buzzing sound went away -- a few months later -- it actually didn't sound too bad.

Ok then, another question to make me look dumb... Cat Back means what exatly?

I looked at some off road H pipes and they look pretty simple to me. Am I correct to assume that they are relatively easy to install?? (Bolt on?)

Also I was looking at some exhaust systems/mufflers on the net and I noticed 2 chamber, 3 chamber mufflers. What's the difference?

A cat-back system is mufflers and tailpipes. It goes right after the H-pipe.


2-chamber and 3-chamber mufflers have two and three chambers in them, respectively, for sound control. Fewer chambers mean more noise.

Ok. I'm just going to destroy all respect any of you might have had for me until now by making myself look really stupid here.

How is an H pipe that I would be putting in going to change the sound of my engine? Isn't it the muffler that controls the low rumbling sound? I was under the impression before I made this post that I should be changing just the mufflers... shows how much I know.

I'm sure you guys all hate me for the stupid questions, sorry... I gotta learn somehow.

You might like some 3 chamber flowmasters, they are not real loud until you get on the gas at wot, if you get an h-pipe, get one without catylitic converters, (those things not far from your transmission on your exhaust) if you can get away with it, some places wont inspect the car without cats, but you can keep all that, and just get mufflers, i would just buy the mufflers, have a shop weld them in, it shouldnt cost that much?

H-pipe
 

In respects to your h-pipe question. The H-pipe more or less cleans the gasses as they are being pushed out of your engine. During this process the gases are slowed down. The mufflers more or less just control soundlevel, dependent on if they're straight flows, or have chambers. Removing the h-pipe with the cats on, and replacing it with an h-pipe w/o cats will increase the flow. Obvisouly you could look at it as, the less obstructions...the more flow you get. So without the cats, the gases aren't slowed as much, basically pushing the gas faster inside of the tubes. Which actually shoves it into the mufflers. Did that help you at all with anything?

Catalytic converters act like little mufflers. They do make your exhaust quieter.