First off... This was done without jacking the car up or putting it on a lift. YOu experience may be a little differnt if you choose to do any of the above.
First look at the Flowmasters out of the Box, I was impressed with their construction. The tips looked very nice, and the caseing was very strong, quality welds, and overall looked like a good piece.
First I removed the factory Muffler. Driver's side was easy, taking about 10 Minutes. I used a 13mm Scoket with 6" extension to remove the side hanger bolt, and then a 13mm box end to remove the bolt blocked by the muffler. Then I loosened to bolts on the hanger close to the axle to allow some wiggle room. Next was just lossening the clamp on the factory muffler... wiggled the muffler and out it came.
Passenger side was a litte more difficult, requiring the arm to bend in ways that was not natural, but I ended up removing both hangers. Then the clamp on the muffler was loosend to drop out the muffler. This is where i think your experience may be different if you were not laying on the ground. BUt hey... nothing like shadetree-ing it to the max right.
So, heres the first tip...the exhauist hangers will line up with the bolt holes in wither poistion, so mark or note which way they face... They hole movesa slightly which will make positioning the muffler correctly impossible. I didn't and it probably cost me atleast 30minutes in test fitting time.
Next... the aftermarket mufflers are bigger and heavier. I can't really tell you the specific order I put it all back together, but (2nd Tip) attach loosely at first. The added size of the flowmasters made gettign to most of the hanger bolts a bear, and could only be reached with the 13mm Box wrench.
The Drivers side, I attached the hangers to the muffler and crawled underneat the car with the muffler resting on my chest, From here I was able to slip the muffler onto the stock pipes, then finger thread all the bolts to get them started... from there it was a matter of working the wrench around to get them all tight. Becareful to make sure you keep the muffler completely up on the factory pipe. The guide pin on the factory pipes should be bottomed out on the mufflers slot. The factory pipe allows some wiggle. So, after you got the hanger just tight enought that the muffler only moves them if you really push on it, check the location of the tip in the rear bumper slot to ensure centerness, adjust hangers as neede and tighten.
On the passenger side.. Attach the rear hanger to the car first. The bottom hange bolt is blocked by the muffler body, but agina... leave it loose. YOu will still be able to reach it with a wrench later, but wont be enough room to put the bolt in place and get it started later. Attach the front hanger to the muffler in correct position. Slide the muffler into the rear hanger, then up onto the facotry pipe. Now, attache the rear hanger bolts loosly... snug everythign up.... check position... make adjustments as needed. Tighen everything up.
Now, you can start you car and check out your new sound!
For my results. Sound and looks are subjective. The 4" tips with a straighter cut and rolled edge looke awesome. The sound with the Flowmasters is classic Mustang with FLowmaster sound, just hushed a little bit. It is definately not "loud" but louder than stock with a meaner growl. I experienced no drone at any RPM under Load or cruise. Though, as a comparison, this flowmaster system is not as loud as the American Thunder I had on my LT1 Z28.
Overall, I am pleased. Took me about 3 hours to install... but some time was my fault for just jumping in and not marking how the hangers were located.
I would buy the flowmasters again if I had the opportunity for a do over, and the power increase was not very noticeable, but there is a little mor oomph in the 1-2 shift (noticed a little more tire spin).
First mod... Want more
First look at the Flowmasters out of the Box, I was impressed with their construction. The tips looked very nice, and the caseing was very strong, quality welds, and overall looked like a good piece.
First I removed the factory Muffler. Driver's side was easy, taking about 10 Minutes. I used a 13mm Scoket with 6" extension to remove the side hanger bolt, and then a 13mm box end to remove the bolt blocked by the muffler. Then I loosened to bolts on the hanger close to the axle to allow some wiggle room. Next was just lossening the clamp on the factory muffler... wiggled the muffler and out it came.
Passenger side was a litte more difficult, requiring the arm to bend in ways that was not natural, but I ended up removing both hangers. Then the clamp on the muffler was loosend to drop out the muffler. This is where i think your experience may be different if you were not laying on the ground. BUt hey... nothing like shadetree-ing it to the max right.
So, heres the first tip...the exhauist hangers will line up with the bolt holes in wither poistion, so mark or note which way they face... They hole movesa slightly which will make positioning the muffler correctly impossible. I didn't and it probably cost me atleast 30minutes in test fitting time.
Next... the aftermarket mufflers are bigger and heavier. I can't really tell you the specific order I put it all back together, but (2nd Tip) attach loosely at first. The added size of the flowmasters made gettign to most of the hanger bolts a bear, and could only be reached with the 13mm Box wrench.
The Drivers side, I attached the hangers to the muffler and crawled underneat the car with the muffler resting on my chest, From here I was able to slip the muffler onto the stock pipes, then finger thread all the bolts to get them started... from there it was a matter of working the wrench around to get them all tight. Becareful to make sure you keep the muffler completely up on the factory pipe. The guide pin on the factory pipes should be bottomed out on the mufflers slot. The factory pipe allows some wiggle. So, after you got the hanger just tight enought that the muffler only moves them if you really push on it, check the location of the tip in the rear bumper slot to ensure centerness, adjust hangers as neede and tighten.
On the passenger side.. Attach the rear hanger to the car first. The bottom hange bolt is blocked by the muffler body, but agina... leave it loose. YOu will still be able to reach it with a wrench later, but wont be enough room to put the bolt in place and get it started later. Attach the front hanger to the muffler in correct position. Slide the muffler into the rear hanger, then up onto the facotry pipe. Now, attache the rear hanger bolts loosly... snug everythign up.... check position... make adjustments as needed. Tighen everything up.
Now, you can start you car and check out your new sound!
For my results. Sound and looks are subjective. The 4" tips with a straighter cut and rolled edge looke awesome. The sound with the Flowmasters is classic Mustang with FLowmaster sound, just hushed a little bit. It is definately not "loud" but louder than stock with a meaner growl. I experienced no drone at any RPM under Load or cruise. Though, as a comparison, this flowmaster system is not as loud as the American Thunder I had on my LT1 Z28.
Overall, I am pleased. Took me about 3 hours to install... but some time was my fault for just jumping in and not marking how the hangers were located.
I would buy the flowmasters again if I had the opportunity for a do over, and the power increase was not very noticeable, but there is a little mor oomph in the 1-2 shift (noticed a little more tire spin).
First mod... Want more