exhaust helpfor my 83!!
 

I have a 83 Z with stock exhaust. The time has come for her to growl!! I need your help because I have no idea whaat is gonna sound the best. Here is what I am wanting, and you can give me your opinion...
I want her to have a deep growl while at an idle. I do not have a cat. Next question is do I do true duals or not? This car is my DD, so not really looking for performance. I really appriciate thhe help!!

Re: exhaust helpfor my 83!!
 

Unless you do a full exhaust (headers on back), you probably won't notice a huge difference in sound because the manifolds and tiny y pipe choke off exhaust flow pretty good. If you're going to do the whole thing, your best option for shorty headers are probably Dyno Don's. He does AIR and non AIR, and he has an awesome 3" y pipe. If you don't want that, Hooker makes the 2055's or 2460's. The 2055's are better and have a 3" y pipe, but they also come with AIR. The 2460's don't have AIR but the y-pipe is only 2.5". As for catback, really up to you. I like Flowmaster, I know a lot of people don't. There's lots of options.

True duels probably aren't a great idea on a DD. Clearance is tough, and on something you're driving every day, this can be a huge annoyance.

Re: exhaust helpfor my 83!!
 

^what he said^

I have true duals but mine is not a daily driver, so it doesn't bother me to avoid the speedbumps and such since it's a rare occurrence. You'll want to invest in a full system from the headers back.

Re: exhaust helpfor my 83!!
 

I had planned on doing the full system. I do not have headers however. Don't think I want them either. I have heard that they leak pretty bad. I was just wondering what everybody likes on their cars in the way of sound.

Re: exhaust helpfor my 83!!
 

One of the most restrictive exhaust components is the exhaust manifolds- if you want the car to "growl" you will almost certainly end up replacing the manifolds with headers, and from a performance, economy, and time standpoint replacing them along with the rest of the system is a wise choice. Properly installed headers will leak no more than properly sealed manifolds, gasket choice is just a bit more critical with them due to a smaller sealing surface area in some cases. The note or tone of the exhaust will also change to a degree with headers- imagine the noise a flute makes by having a straight tube with varying holes placed up and down its length and a tuba which uses longer, larger tubes to achieve the deeper bass notes. A manifold is much like a flute where the headers are like the tuba, and your exhaust will achieve more bass with longer and larger headers.

Brand I believe is immaterial, if it's well known and been around awhile you will find a video of the installed product on you tube. Go with a mandrel bent, aluminized or stainless system to prolong its lifespan, and stick with single unless you never plan on lowering the vehicle or never hitting a pot hole. Best of luck,

Re: exhaust helpfor my 83!!
 

Thank you so much Berlinetta!! I like the way you used the flute and tuba to better give me a mental picture as to what you are talking about!! Do you think that I can achieve the same sound with a mild cam? I have heard that the cam also makes a difference in the way the car sounds. Iwas also wondering what kind of muffler you have on your car?

Re: exhaust helpfor my 83!!
 

If you want a lopey/rough idle then a cam is needed. As said, do headers back. A crossflow design muffler should be at the bottom of your list if your looking for max power. If you decide to go that route, then use a cutout. If you can live with a single tip then do a straight through muffler. I love the way the dynomax ultraflow mufflers sound. Nice and deep cruising, loud and deep when on it. I have only heard that setup on a stroker car though. I am doing hooker lt, mufflex y, and a 4" sinister system with the ultraflow. I am also doing heads, intake, cam, all kinds of junk.

Re: exhaust helpfor my 83!!
 

The trick with headers is that for the first (however many) times you run the car, after shutting down you have to tighten the header bolts. Eventually they will be seated and stay tight, but it takes a few times.

Re: exhaust helpfor my 83!!
 

Do what you will, but when my stock muffler rusted out and I put on a flowtech thinking it was going to rumble, I was pretty disappointed. It wasn't until I did the whole system (like I said, I like Flowmaster, but to each their own), I really got the sound I wanted.

The more exhaust flow you get, the more sound you get, simple as that. The factory manifolds and y pipe are the biggest choke point in the whole system, so replacing just the muffler doesn't make a whole lot of difference because the flow is so bad with the stock stuff.

Re: exhaust helpfor my 83!!
 

83 cars suffer from a super restrictive exhaust - from the manifolds on back.

If for example your car is an LG4 car with a dead stock exhaust, moving up to a set of dyno don's, a 3" cat, a 3" cat back, and the necessary carb tuning will pick up 35 to 45hp, an awesome exhaust sound, and a few MPG. You may not believe the hp increase, but those of us who have done it have dropped over a full second off the 1/4 mile.

Re: exhaust helpfor my 83!!
 

"If you want a lopey/rough idle then a cam is needed." is exactly my sentiment. It will not change the overall loudness necessarily, but will give you the "rump rump" at idle. The oly reason I would call valid for a cam swap is for more power where you need it. If you plan on doing a whole bunch of performance mods, then a cam will be on your short list regardless.

Re: exhaust helpfor my 83!!
 

I have been "listening" closely to alll of you!! Liike I said before, she is just my DD. Don't really care much about performance cause I don't plan on being at the track every weekend. Thats not to say I won't put a mustang in its place every now and again!! lol. I'm just going for noise. That's why I thought of the cam. I know they give more noise. I am making an appointment next week for my guy to look at her and tell me what he can do on the exhaust part of it. I want a deep bluh bluh bluh when at an idle. I love this forum, because i know you guys know exactly what I'm talkin abouot!! I think that is so cool!! Thank you again for all of your input!! Oh, and I really, really wanna stay away from headers.

Re: exhaust helpfor my 83!!
 

IMO,...putting a "lopey" cam in there with stock exhaust manifolds isn't gonna do much for ya. might even lose performance?

i had a stock 88 iroc once that sounded real nice. whoever had it before me chopped the muffler off and just ran some tips out the back. the cat acted like a muffler. it wasnt stupid loud at all. however i dont know what inspection or emmision laws you have to deal with. that's something to consider.

do some research and be patient, it will be cheaper in the long run.

I have to disagree with some of these posts. Don't think that you need to get a completely new exhaust headers back to get some rumble. Of course this won't help performance, but you will certainly notice a difference in sound with just a muffler swap, restrictive exhaust or not.

I put an 80 series flowmaster on my stock LG4 305 and it was loud and aggressive. That was with a cat as well.

Fwiw I love the sound of a hooker aerochamber with no cat.

Re: exhaust helpfor my 83!!
 

I think I willl go with the 80 series muffler. That seems to be the top choice of many. I do not have a cat on my car. The guys that had her befor me took it off and welded a straight piece of pipe in its place. In Illinois there are no emmision restrictions(thank goodness). I really hope it stays that way. So, are you saying that you would stay away from a cam? This fall we will be switching from the stock 305 to a 327.

Re: exhaust helpfor my 83!!
 

I would place the flowmaster at the bottom of the list of crossflow for performance and sound. I had one on a 92 5.0 rs. I busted the guts out of the cat and it was still quiet. I even went to a larger intermediate pipe and that didn't help. I have heard the hooker on a car and it sounded good. I would suggest a single in, single out 40 series flowmaster. It will sound way better than the crossflow 80 series and be louder. It won't be as deep as the dynomax ultraflow. Then put a electric cutout on it. That way when you want really loud you can flip a switch.

Re: exhaust helpfor my 83!!
 

i'd probably wait til fall when you put the 327 in to do the cam swap.

Re: exhaust helpfor my 83!!
 

Ive got the hooker shortys & a flow master (have no clue what size/came w/car) that sounds nice, even though I prefer other brands over flow master. The advice about the cam was also good.....You can good sound, but why not upgrade performance too???

Re: exhaust helpfor my 83!!
 

That is very true!! Get a two for one deal!! I also was looking at the dynomax ultra flo!! I heard one awhile back, and its got more of that deeper sound that I'm after. Only problem is, I have someone willing to get me the Flowmaster at cost. I prefer the deeper sound of the Dynomax, but looking at price here. I'm torn!! lol

Re: exhaust helpfor my 83!!
 

Hey, does anybody know anything about the Dynomax Race Bullets? Been lookin them up too, and they sound awesome!! Have that nice deep tone. Just wondering if they will be too loud? The cops around here aren't too bad about that, just don't want it to be annoying!! Ya know?! I plan on driving my car a lot, and wanna be able to carry on a conversation with my passenger!! lol

Re: exhaust helpfor my 83!!
 

I have had bullet mufflers before. I ran 3" duals with x pipe to the rear axle on my h/c/I 00 ss. Car was way, way to loud on the inside and defianantly turned heads, everywhere. If you can live with a single, hidden tip. Then any straight through design will be your best sounding and best flowing. It won't be annoyingly loud. Save your pennies, stay with a single in, single out muffler. A flowmaster like that will be cheaper than the crossflow. For what's it worth. I ditched the duals and went to a 4" mufflex with magnaflow on the ss. I liked it way more than the duals. I have a 4" mufflex w/magnaflow on my h/c/I 97 z28 and I am going with a hawks 4" sinister with a ultraflow on my mild built 88 gta. Think mustang 5.0 with 40 series flowmasters volumn, yours will sound similar with a single in/out.

Re: exhaust helpfor my 83!!
 

I'm with the Sheikss on this one.

Re: exhaust helpfor my 83!!
 

I have also been checkin out the Flowmaster super 44 too. Then last night a friend told me to check out the lsp loudmouth series. They sound pretty nice too from what I can hear on you tube anyway!! ha ha. I guess my problem is Iknow what I want her to sound like, just not sure which to go with.

Re: exhaust helpfor my 83!!
 

There is another exhaust called the rumbler. It is like the slp loudmouth with a bullet muffler that helps kill some of the drone. I will pm you a link.