i've got a 65 convertible. looking for advice on exhaust. i've got some headman headers and looking to do a dual exhaust. should i go with an x or an h pipe? and what kinda mufflers should i use? i've always been a fan of borla, but what do you guys think?
I have an H-pipe on my 65 vert with dynomax mufflers. I hate a loud exhaust while cruising, so this setup if fine. its fairly loud when accelerating. I really like the sound.
Borla or magnaflow not too loud and the most HP, flowmasters more sound but less power, dynomax are good bang for the buck good power, good sound and not too loud very good for the price. Hooker max flow muffs are good too. What engine are you running and what size exhaust are you planning? I have some barely used borlas I'm going to take off and install some ford racing dual mode mufflers in their place on my 67 vert.
H pipe. I asked the guys at Pypes one time when they were prototyping an exhaust at the Barn, and they claim the main advantage of the X is the magazines all think they are really groovy. People wave money at them, so they make X pipes.
I like H pipe over X. The H pipe sounds better. I love the sound of Flowmasters. I have them on my car with an H pipe.
I know people say that Magnaflow etc flow better than Flowmaster, but I don't really care. I have seen dyno results that show a few hp difference. In my opinion it is not enough to worry about on a street car.
I personally don't care for Dynomax. The ones I have heard sound just like the cheap 20 dollar turbo mufflers.
This test was performed by 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords Magazine, December 2002 issue (page 55) on a '90 Mustang LX coupe with 370hp and 11 second potential. 66 pulls were made for this comparison:
Sound Off in Quietest to Loudest (Decibels):
1.Borla XS, 80db at idle, 90db at 2,000 rpm, 110db at WOT.
2.Hooker Maxflow, 80db at idle, 90db at 2,000 rpm, 120db at WOT.
3.Magnaflow, 82db at idle, 91 at 2,000 rpm, 114db at WOT.
4.Flowmaster, 82db at idle, 93 at 2,000 rpm, 115db at WOT.
5.Flowtech Warlock, 83db at idle, 92 at 2,000 rpm, 112db at WOT.
6.Dynomax UltraFlo, 83db at idle, 94 at 2,000 rpm, 113db at WOT.
7.Borla XR1, 83db at idle, 96db at 2,000 rpm, 118db at WOT.
8.Bassani Street, 83db at idle, 96db at 2,000 rpm, 120db at WOT.
9.Edelbrock RPM, 84db at idle, 93db at 2,000 rpm, 118db at WOT.
10.Bassani Real Street, 84db at idle, 96db at 2,000 rpm, MAX. (120+db).
11.Flowtech Afterburner, 86db at idle, 94db at 2,000 rpm, 115db at WOT.
12.Flowtech Terminator, 86db at idle, 94db at 2,000 rpm, 119db at WOT.
13.Hooker Aerochamber, 87db at idle, 94db at 2,000 rpm, 114db at WOT.
14.SpinTech, 87db at idle, 97db at 2,000 rpm, 116db at WOT.
15.MAC, 87db at idle, 98db at 2,000 rpm, 119db at WOT.
16.No Muffler, 91db at idle, 103db at 2,000 rpm, MAX. (120+db).
for now i plan on running the motor i have for a while till i get more funds. i've got a 2bbl 289 bored .30 over. nothing really done to the motor besides hardened valve seats. i'm fairly new to all this and will be visiting these forums often. i really appreciate the input
I guess in your situation with a stock motor, I would say go with the Flowmaster kit, you will be really happy and it will put a smile on your face every time you get on the gas.
If you want to do it on the super cheap just get the flowmaster mufflers, and have an exhaust shop run straight pipes with no H-pipe.
About 20 years ago Hot Rod dyno tested exhaust systems, and showed that the crosstube (H) was good for 5-15 hp increase, depending on the rest of the system. No one was doing X pipes then, but many were cutting off their bent tailpipes, and they showed this actually reduced hp.