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How do you get a hot rod Exhaust note

7K views 22 replies 16 participants last post by  Fat F100 
#1 ·
G'day all, I was wondering if anyone has any Suggestions or information regarding exhaust and mufflers set ups that make a Clevo sound good.

First off, its for a XC Falcon with a Mild 302 that still being built up so that's all I can tell you now engine wise.

The Funny thing is that all the Muffler shops I ring are telling me to stay well away from the Turbo, S pattern - Triple Flow type Mufflers, but heaps of the cars in my old car Mags have them on there exhausts so I cant figure out why they are all saying bad things about them?

I'm being told to go for a set of, complete straight through Mufflers twin pipes on a 2 1/4" System with one Balance Pipe.

If anyone has any ideas or tips please feel free to leave them or email me.

Also does anyone know what is was the GT HO mufflers were like? I have been told by some people that they were a straight through round shape muffler and others have said that they were a Triple Flow turbo type.

I don’t want it way over the top loud, but a nice firie Hot Rod note would be just what I'm after. I have been told that on a twin system using smaller pipe like a 2" with small straight through's will give a real firie crisp, live, note. Where going to 2.5" pipe in a twin will give a deeper note but lazier, sleeper, loose note. Anyone with experience with this please feel free to offer all you know. Thanks!
 
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#2 ·
best thing for a good note is a cam with a lot of overlap!! but really.. whatever you do .. make sure its legal !!

For a stock or mild 302 I would not get straight through because of the noise..you will get a lot of droning if you aren't careful too.

I am happy with the XA but it's got a cam in it .. perhaps you should just go to a cruise that has XC fords (oranything withg a cleveland for that matter) and see what sounds the best and ask the owner.
 
#3 ·
"Dyno Max" make's a great muffler that sound's good, is free flowing, and doesn't cost an arm and a leg.
You might want to go larger on you pipe's, say 21/2 -3in. This will ensure free flowing exhaust.
Hopefully your using a good set of header's?
 
#4 ·
Genie extracters 4-2-1 (long ass secondaries, they finish just behind the front seats)

2 1\2" collecters

2 1\2" mandrel bent system

2 1\2" offset\offset "Mega Flo" mufflers (straight through)

dumped before diff

^^WRONG!^^

that on a 302 with mild heads and mild cam, ment i wasn't making power above about 3000rpm (if that), awesome acceleration, but crap high up, not enough back pressure.

the new system, im told, will be better,

Fitted Genie's

2 1\2" press bent

X-Pipe

Triple flow mufflers

Duel out

EVERYONE tells me that clevo's need backpressure, ive even seen 1\4 mile runs from guys that go from 3" mandrels to 2 1\2" press bent exhausts with X-Pipe that drop as much as 1 to 1.5 secs off their 1\4 miles times

*shrug*

Guess you can't argue with the majority

Az
 
#6 ·
SAvageAz said:
Genie extracters 4-2-1 (long ass secondaries, they finish just behind the front seats)

2 1\2" collecters

2 1\2" mandrel bent system

2 1\2" offset\offset "Mega Flo" mufflers (straight through)

dumped before diff

^^WRONG!^^

This is the same setup I have on my XE and power went UP 25 kw @ the wheels! I had same extractors and a 2.5 inch single before that. Go figure?

If you're after a nice note, just copy the Phase III exhaust system...man they sound horn! :) I believe Lukey makes a muffler almost identical to the HO's.
 
#7 ·
May i remind you that was on a near stock 302 :D

it was absolute crap for power, it was so loud i used to set of house alarms, as i drive up the street, not to mention car alarms in car parks, yeesh. but like i care, it cost me nothing anyway :D

QLD Transport got me at 112dB @ 10m from a 45° angle from the rear of the car @ 4500rpm (like it would have made much difference to what angle he got me at on a dumped exhaust)

i just used the good old excuse "Must have a hole in the muffler mate" that coupled with the fake 4" tip out the back, they believed me, and gave me 14 days to change the exhaust, and report back to QLD transport for inspection, 3 days later , the 302 went bang, dropped a bigend bearing, hence the rebuild.

Moral of the story is that you CAN have an exhaust too big.

Az
 
#10 ·
Mine were all done by a professional sound engineer. He wanted v8 sounds for a new PC game called "Tuff trucks".

He taped 2 microphones on my rear bumper and the sound recorder recorded onto a DAT (Digital Audio Tape).

Brenden
 
#11 ·
Are you thinking of the sidepipe style crackling exhaust which gets relly high pitched as the revs increase? If thats what you're after then try 4-1 extractors, 2 1/2" pipe and only 2 big chamber mufflers in the system. It has to be a dual system and no balance pipe or it won't work.

Be warned you might lose a bit of power without the balance pipe, but the sound changes heaps when one is in, i've found most rods don't run balance pipes.

I just changed the setup on my 351. It was exactly as listed above and sounded pretty tough down low, but I wanted more of a roar up high instead of the scream it had. So i've put an 'X' pipe in now and extended the pipes out the back, they used to dump just after the diff, the note is much deeper up high now.
 
#12 ·
I understand that street Clevelands prefer Tri-Y headers feeding into one large turbo muffler through a single 2.5 inch system. Windsors seem to prefer dual systems. I think it's got something to do with the timing order. I've had both and my current 351C sounds really touch and pulls well and has HEAPS of torque. Don't be tempted to go too big on the bore. A milo tin on the exhaust tip will make you look really 'cool' like the rice-boys (Jap turbo 4s).
A bit of back-pressure is an advantage for bottom end efficiency and economy. I'd go with cone-over Pacemakers, because i had a new Genie extractor that cracked after 13 months. I got a free replacement, but I was surprised considering how alot of people rave about them.
 
#13 ·
Rhett said:
I understand that street Clevelands prefer Tri-Y headers feeding into one large turbo muffler through a single 2.5 inch system. Windsors seem to prefer dual systems.
Just a small foot note on this one. This is for stockers. Modified Clevelands can't breathe properly with a single system.

As for twin system sizes.

Stocker 2.5" single or twin 2" is heaps.
Semi stocker twin 2 1/4"
Mild/Wild 400-600hp 2 1/2 twin system
Some do go twin 3" in their Clevelands but I do think thats going a tad overbored. Maybe these systems are good for 600hp+ applications?

A note about extractors tri y 4-2-1's are good to about 6000rpm. Tri y's give low down power but kill topend.

4-1's are good for topend ie cars that have a 3000rpm+ histall or camshaft profiles that start their power after 3000rpm.

Brenden
 
#14 ·
Rhett said:
I understand that street Clevelands prefer Tri-Y headers feeding into one large turbo muffler through a single 2.5 inch system. Windsors seem to prefer dual systems. I think it's got something to do with the timing order. I've had both and my current 351C sounds really touch and pulls well and has HEAPS of torque. Don't be tempted to go too big on the bore.
A stock/slightly modified cleveland will run well with a single 2 1/2". When the mods start getting a bit more intense a single 2 1/2 will strangle them. I used to run tri-y's and a single on my stockish 351, it ran well enough. But when i put in a better cam, minor head work and x-cellerator manifold it was too restrictive, so I changed to tri-y's and a dual 2 1/4" system, which suited that setup perfectly.

Now i'm running my current engine with heaps done to it, I reckon i've picked up about 6 or 7rwkw by changing to 4-1's and a dual 2 1/2" system (with an X pipe) over the tri-y's and dual 2 1/4" system.

The benifits have not been dyno proven just yet, what i've quoted are my gut feelings. The LPG system can't supply enough gas for my current engine so I have to get that sorted out before really testing it.
 
#16 ·
Straight throughs are better but the EPA doesn't like noise pollution.

I have very restrictive mufflers on mine. The inlet/outlet pipes are opposite but the muffler has three bends in it. My muffler is a called triple flow muffler. Which I used in an attempt to make it a tiny bit quieter with a twin 2 1/2" system. Yes it did quieten it down and did rob me of power. I've driven the car beside police vehicles and never been pulled over. I think my cars db is somewhere around 110-120db. I am allowed 96 or 98db legally. A mates runs straight throughs and is a tiny bit louder.

Straight thoughs have no bends inside the muffler @ all.

I do have heaps more of those sound files 650mb worth in fact.

Brenden
 
#17 ·
Good exhaust work

I guess the biggest question here is :

Who knows of a seriously good exhaust shop to put the gear together.
I've seen some butchered systems in my time.

I too am looking at fitting a twin 2 1/4 mandrel bent system with X Pipe and Dynomax Mufflers.

Any advice on a really good exhaust shop with results would be appreciated.


XXESP
 
#18 ·
Re: Good exhaust work

ESP said:
I guess the biggest question here is :

Who knows of a seriously good exhaust shop to put the gear together.
I've seen some butchered systems in my time.

I too am looking at fitting a twin 2 1/4 mandrel bent system with X Pipe and Dynomax Mufflers.

Any advice on a really good exhaust shop with results would be appreciated.


XXESP
Hallam Performance aka Barney's exhausts do a good job.

Brenden
 
#19 · (Edited)
When I first got my XB GT, I had a set of Twin 2" Pipes and Straight Through Mufflers with a Balance Pipe pretty much as per Factory Specs. The engine was pretty standard at this stage. Idling around and driving it normally it was very quiet, but it had a really good note when you gave it a boot full and still wasn't too loud.
 
#20 ·
ive got a 302 in an XT, and i just bought a GT dual 2-2.5inch performance exhaust for it. it has one balance pipe, and twin performance mufflers (one on each side). it sounds so fu*@'n beefy!!!!!!!!!
 
#21 ·
we got an old xa to wreck with a 351, pulled off the exhaust and the 2 mufflers were totally different, giving an UNREAL sound,
 
#22 ·
Talkin of hot rod exhaust notes, has anyone on here heard a 427 SOHC motor?? Do they sound like a Chrysler Hemi?? Coz they are the bomb through a set of zoomie pipes!

As for the thread question, I think that the twin 2 1/4" option that u suggested in the initial post is the way to go. For a bit of added noise effect, dump the pipes over the diff.
 
#23 ·
I have a F100 with 351C running Crane F260 Cam (Large!) with 4-1 Custom extractors & collectors running back into a 3.5 inch single system to a Edlebrock 3.5 inch muffler then into a 4 inch resonator. I have been told that it sounds awsome. I know what it sounds like, I know it probably is too loud, but nothing sounds like a motor with a BIG cam & a Big exhaust!
 
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