HOLY BATMAN!! Mein neue Flaumeister ist sehr laut!! (Flowmaster just installed)

[Rufblackbird]

Hi All,
I really hated my exhaust system...it was a dual in single out, with pipes that were smaller than the outlets of the heat exchangers. Here's a clip of what it sounded like:

old muffler, 6.6 megs

After reading a lot of Leland's posts, and recommendations for the Flaumeister from Jack and Bill, I placed an order with Jeg's...I got the dual in dual out Flowmaster, PN 42582. I really wanted an Edelbrock or Borla muffler instead, as I'm not a big fan of Flaumeister, and I had an Edelbrock system on my Trans Am, plus a Borla dual in dual out on my '76.

I couldn't find any muffler shops in the area who would be willing to fabricate what I needed for me, so I found a local welder/fabricator in Baltimore that agreed to do it after seeing a pic of Leland's Magnaflow that I sent him. I also duplicated Lee's shopping list for mandrel bends, but now I think only 1 U and 2 90 degree bends would've required less fabricating, as far as exhaust oulets sticking straight out. The muffler was too wide for the outlets of the heat exchangers to match up with the inlets, so the 2.5" inlets were chopped off.

Let's just say I got to his shop at around 4:30pm, and left at 9:30pm. I pretty told him exactly how to do everything...all he did was cut and weld. Personally, I felt that I could've done a better job, but only problem I had was I didn't have any of the equipment here needed for the task... If I were at home, it would've all been done at home. I was getting really tired towards the end (got up at 4am) and just left the outlets like so, until I figure out which way I like it most.

Anyway, holy mother of god, this thing is freakin' loud!! The reasonance (or drone, not sure of difference) is unbearable from idle to about 2400 rpm, then right at 2600 it's just full on flat six music I have some vid clips that I just took; unfortunately my digital camera's mic didn't pic up the resonance that well. I'll try with the digital camcorder tomorrow. I apologize for the vid quality and content; kinda hard to film and shift and steer at same time ...you can see how it sounds in reference to RPMs.

exiting the base, from 5mph to about...uh...nevermind , 14.2 megs

at idle to a few revs, 15.1 megs

Any ideas how to get the resonance sound out, without resorting to Campbell soup cans or tennis balls? Without the resonance I would be really happy, as the speed limit on base is pretty slow, and even though I haven't developed a headache from driving it yet, it's really irritating me.

I'm still undecisive on muffler tips...

[Rufblackbird]

Forgot pics of the muffler

[II6]

Hmmm,

my .02$: Maybe if you added extensions past your valence, and directed straight toward the back of the car, it may help? (they won't look very stealthy, though)

[Oh Haha]

Nice.
I am installing a Pro-Flo setup tomorrow. I am going to cap off one outlet as I don't want to cut my valence. This muffler is the same as FM but half the price. It's for a 93-03 F-Body. What did you do about the muffler straps attaching to the bracket on the motor plate? I am going to have a tab welded on to the muffler so it should work just like the factory setup.
Wayne

[Rufblackbird]

muffler straps? Oh...I'm doing some research on finding a place to obtain them; so far there are no straps holding it on.

Thanks for the $.02, II6, I'll keep that in mind.

pic from the rear:

[Oh Haha]

I checked the local semi-truck stores today but they did not have anything that would go around the muffler for straps. i am going to use HD hose clamps for now. I think i will just fab some out of aluminum strapping when I get the time. I agree with II6, I think it would look more "racy" with the tips straight out the back, ala, the early sport mufflers.
Wayne

Very nice video clips. I like the sound inside the car when you accelerate, but I really dislike resonance and wouldn't be able to live with that.

That's why I went for a 2 in 1 out.

[Thomas Owen]

Jeff - check your deck lid alignment. The left side looks pretty tight, and you may lose some paint.
Regards,

[Rufblackbird]

hmm....never noticed that. Thanks Thomas!

[Bill Verburg]

The resonance issue is odd, w/ the 964 I had a minor res at ~2k w/ the 3.8 nothing. It does give new meaning to the term "loud pedal"

[Rufblackbird]

Bill,
I'll try get a better clip today; the resonance is unbelievable from idle to ~2200 RPM...

Oh, and if it makes any difference (shoulda mentioned this earlier), this is a '72 with the 964 widebody, '78 SC motor with pre '74 heat exchangers. It sounded good when I stuck my head out the window to get away from the resonance...just gotta find someone to film while I drive!

[Alan Cottrill]

I kinda like your old muffler. was it a fabricated set up too?

[Rufblackbird]

Yes, it was. It was basically two pipes that came together on one side, connected to a glasspack (more like a cherry bomb painted black) and a really small outlet welded on. It sounded alright, but I could literally feel the restriction it was causing.

[Jack Olsen]

Could your welder have gotten the inlets/outlets reversed?

The resonance will go away if you cap one side. As I've posted before, I sometimes use a soup can on one outlet for city driving.

[tobluforu]

I could not stand the drone of my muffler as well, so I welded mini dynomax's to the muffler. Not only did it quiet it down tons, but the car runs better as well.

[masraum]

Sounds good, on my system I could hear the resonance at the low rpms. Funny, I just never had my rpms that low. I second the possibility of changing the orientation of the outlets. That may help some. I wouldn't drive long without muffler straps. That puts a bunch of stress on your heat exchangers.

An idea for muffler straps. I found some relatively soft metal straps (kind of like plumbers strap/tape) with holes every inch or so at Home Depot when I had my flowmaster. I just bent them around the muffler and used 2 stainless screws. THat worked really well.

[Craig 930 RS]

FWIW, the resonance under part to full throttle on my 3.6 Varioram with B&B headers and Flaumeister (breathe.....) is pretty intense from 2,200 through 3,100 -

[Rufblackbird]

Steve, thanks for the idea! A trip to Home Depot is now planned for today.

Jack, how do you "secure" the soup can to the outlet? Have you had problems with it falling out?

oh...and yes, the inlets were the ones that were cut off:

[Jack Olsen]

Originally posted by Rufblackbird
Jack, how do you "secure" the soup can to the outlet? Have you had problems with it falling out?

I use a hose clamp. I've had no problems with it falling off.

Here's a piece of a previous thread:

I used an aluminum can that could only be opened with a can opener on one end. Campbell's corporation made the perfect inner-diameter model (and that meant a free bowl of soup for me, along with the rust-proof cap -- all for less than a buck).

I took a second can that could be opened on both ends, cleaned it out as a tube, and taped it to the end of my 'cap' can for painting. I shot high temp paint into the tube to create the faux black opening on the bottom of the can (like the tunnel entrances Roadrunner paints for Coyote in the Warner Bros. cartoons).

Here it is installed on the tailpipe.



Here's a side view that shows the slit in the aluminum that allows it to compress over the tailpipe.



Here's the can. You'll notice that I put a steel wool pad in there to reduce the possibility of any drum-head effect between the exhaust gasses and the bottom of the can.



Project cost: Less than five bucks. Funny looks you get for having a soup can on your tailpipe: Priceless.

Originally posted by Rufblackbird
oh...and yes, the inlets were the ones that were cut off.

It was a long-shot, but I thought I'd ask. My shop was tack-welding the thing together when I pointed out that they had it oriented the wrong way. They had to cut it apart and start over.

[Rufblackbird]

Thanks Jack! I remember reading your post on the soup can, but not the detailed instructions.

I don't know what's worse...living with the resonance, or soup caning it off and continued to be tortured with my roommate's motor-mouth whenever he rides with me to school.