Exhaust Question

Hey People!!

I picked up another Mustang a few weeks back and I'm curious as to what I should change. I used to have an 87 Notch that I immediately put and entire exhaust on from shorty headers, offroad H pipe, Dynomax mufflers to the 2.5 pipes out the back.

I never mixed and matched... I did it all at once. So I have no idea what the individual changes will do.

The new car is an un-molested 92', five speed with only 35k miles on it. It's going to be a daily driver for the most part. I want to keep it tame enough for the wife to drive as well. I have a car to race... don't need two. So I decided first to not put on headers. I'll probably keep the stock 2.25 rear pipes as well.

We do have emmissions here... but the car is title in a non-emissions county and I'll be able to avoid swapping exhaust every year. So right now I'm thinking of keeping the factory mufflers and swapping in an offroad X or H pipe. It's cheaper than pick out mufflers too.

One thing I'm curious about reading thru old threads is why to non-catted cars smell more than catted cars? It doesn't make sense to me unless the fittings aren't done very well and it's got an exhaust leak.

Otherwise those gases should be going out the back!

Oh well.... I'm just curious for opinions and thoughts. I just want more sound at WOT and I'm trying to keep the cost down..

thanks for your time!!!

Hey Killer... thanks for replying... but you missed my point a little. I don't want to do a complete exhaust change. Been there, done that. I just want a little more ear candy... that's all.

V8ONLY... I disagree slightly... These cars are somewhat choked with four cats and a set of mufflers. Removing the cats even on a stock engine will definetly free up ponies. But I'm going to take your advice on the smell part. I don't want my DD stinking me up all the time. The wife would hate that as well.

I guess keeping the stock cats and an aftermarket pair of mufflers would be the way to go.

OR.... would getting a high flow pipe WITH cats to go with the stock mufflers be better???

Hey.. we must have been typing at the same time... =)

I need to crawl under my car. I haven't crawled under a 5.0 since I sold my 87' years back. I just remember piecing together my Dynomax unit. So you guys are telling me the factory mufflers are welded in... not clamped. Dang... I must have forgot about that. Welding isn't something I can do... darn.

But the center section (between the headers and mufflers) is bolted in, correct?

Cuz then I could buy a high flow catted center section that will give me better audio and keep the stink out, right? I can bolt stuff... just not weld. I'm trying to avoid the cost of taking it someplace for weld work. The never like it when you bring in your own mufflers and just want them to do the labor. They don't make the moset money out of you then...

What do you guys think?

ninety15.0 said:

I have mixed feelings about this one. first off the car is virgin! So from that standpoint i really wouldnt want to do much of anything to it. On the other hand...this would be a great platform to build a nice streetable car with improvements in the right areas.

Headers arent going to make a big difference in sound or performance. (Im guessing we are talking about shorties) So i wouldnt even consider putting any on. The stock LX catback is a nice piece...there is no reason to change than out either.

This leaves you with two viable options. You could change out the mid pipe for the O/R X you have. This will make it loud, emissions non-compliant, and stinky. Or you could weld a set of mufflers into the stock catback and leave the stock mid pipe...OR when money allows replace the stock mid pipe with a catted X pipe.

I think a catted X with some welded mufflers will be the best bet. You will get the sound and performance you are looking for without the smell and emissions crap. I know you dont have emissions testing now...but that O/R X is going to make the car quite loud for a DD or something the wifey would want to drive. JMO

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Yeah I guess I can't say this enough... I'm not looking necessarily to free up
some horsepower because I'm not touching the engine really at all. I know that
will be tough to do... cuz the urge will always be there. Thankfully I have another
car to get that type of aggression out.

I really want to keep this thing tame and reliable. Otherwise absolutely... I'd be
swapping the gears tomorrow. I've been down this path before. I simply want
to gain some audio loving out of this girl.

I don't want to stink... so either keeping this factory cats or a set of high flow
cats seem to make sense. If I keep the factory cats... then I change the mufflers.
But the mufflers are welded in... so it would cost me labor to have that changed.

Okay... here's the golden question I guess: What will happen if I replaces my cat
section with a high flow aftermarket cat section??

It shouldn't stink, right? And the audio should improve to, right???

v8only said:

I will agree with you that it will free up "some" ponies, but at what cost?? the stock 5.0 mustang had true dual 2.25" exhaust from the factory...that's much more than many performance cars ever got.

My main point is cost vs benefit. a good h or x will set you back $500ish, yet yield maybe a couple of ponies. same for headers and cat back. you can spend a grand or more on exhaust on a 5.0 mustang, and get a few ponies back at best. that money spent into a gear swap in the rear though will make a night and day difference.

if you do want exhaust though, check out the magnaflow x. it's 50 state legal, and a nice bolt in piece

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Settle boys... don't be hating in my thread. People are entitled to their opinions. If you've read carefully you'd note that this car has a nice daily driver life ahead of itself. Why it's only attained 35k miles up to this point is beyond me and quite frankly I'm thankful for it. It'll probably get 5 to 7 thousand a year now with the new ownership.

I'm keeping it stock just to keep the punks away from me or messing with it. With my old 5.0 I was constantly getting kids rolling up next to me woofin around. I'd play with a few of them and they'd go away embarrassed usually. But my point is that I'm closer to 40 than 30 years old now and I don't need that on a daily basis. Plus I'd like to park the car at a store or at work and not be concerned that someone will mess with or steal something.

There's something to be said for cars that are true sleepers.

Now when I feel like being a punk myself and getting out to rip the tires up... check the avatar. Nuff said.

Now back to the issue..... I had a friend simply recommend doing a cat back replacement. It's bolt on... and the stock cats being retained will ensure it doesn't get stinky.

So... what do you guys think for brand? I had both Flowmaster and Dynomax on the old 5.0. They sounded good... but that was on a heavily modded car. What about muffler choice on a stock engine set up?

Thanks guys...

Zax said:

Agree with Killer, Foxes are made to Mod. Power to Weight owns on these cars.

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