installed the smithy exhaust today

[Guest 50Plymouth]

Finally, got exhaust put on the car today with stock manifold and a single muffler 26" Smithy repro.. ($27 at speedwaymotors). Nice to have that done and not worry about offending people with rotted\open exhaust The muffler was installed about midway'ish under the body. 2" pipes before the muffler. 1 3/4" after it. I was initially amazed at how quiet it was, glad I didn't go even longer; I didn't want plain loud, I just wanted something a little 'retro. I only put 25 miles or so on them so far, so I will try to keep heating things up as I check the car on the road. Will these eventually pop or rap on deceleration, or rumble a little at idle with the configuration I described above? They just don't sound like other guys single exhaust right now. I've never put or had a glass pack on anything before, so its new territory. Once I get them broken in, I'll post a picture and record\post yet another sound file for those sticking with single exhaust.

How long does it take of hot hours\miles to break-in these to get their "real" sound.

Ryan

[blueskies]

I have nearly 11,000 miles on mine dual smithy's, and they don't sound much different than when I put them on. Maybe a tad louder is all. They don't pop or rap at all. I do have a crossover between the pipes, which eliminates much of the rap sound.

Pete

[Don Coatney]

I have close the same number of miles on my Smithy's as blueskies. I get a rap when the I first start the engine cold and my dual setup sounds about the same today as the day I installed it.

Curious why you reduced the pipe size after the muffler?

[Guest 50Plymouth]

  Don Coatney said:

I have close the same number of miles on my Smithy's as blueskies. I get a rap when the I first start the engine cold and my dual setup sounds about the same today as the day I installed it.

Curious why you reduced the pipe size after the muffler?

First, it probably saved me all of a 2.50 dollars in material costs j/k ..

Someone, I forget who, did a setup with smaller pipe off the back of the muffler and was complementary about the tone\sound with slightly a smaller pipe at the end.

[Guest rockabillybassman]

I've got the same setup, stock manifold into 26" Smithy and a 2" tailpipe. I am a wee bit disappointed that it's not a little louder, I should have gone with the 22". However, the sound is good, people have commented how good it sounds, so I'm not gonna change it.

[BobT-47P15]

Gotta be a little better sounding than my single resonator i'm using for a muffler. Has a little throatiness at slow speed, but I can't tell that it's very exciting at higher speed. It will rumble some when downshifting and letting second gear pull it down prior to a stop sign Just put it on for the heck of it.....my original style oval type muffler had been puffed up when the car backfired a few times due to sticking points.

Has anyone tried this......if you don't have a split exhaust manifold, simply make a Y and run two pipes starting at the front, thru a couple glasspacks, and on out the rear. One pipe in, duals out. Some oltimers tell me they used to do that and it sounded respectable.

Some guys say they run one straight pipe and one glasspack.

I guess the shorter mufflers would be louder than the longer ones.

[Guest 50Plymouth]

I had the car in the driveway this evening, and listened to the exhaust out of the vehicle for a change. There is a gentle burble at idle, and its somewhat quiet, engine noises interfere if you're not behind the car. Definitely not enough sound to annoy a neighbor. When I'm in the car I think the exhaust tones are drowned by immediate engine noise. My doors now lack panels and covering, there's no insulation and there is a big hole in the floor I'll have to get somebody to drive it so I can hear what it sounds like from behind it. Its just so different than the turbo's on v8's that I'm more used to.

[Norm's Coupe]

My Smithy is sort of mellow too. It's been on the car for about 11 years now. Sounds ok, but nothing like the glass packs I had on my 57 Ford in the early 60's. That thing would really rumble when you hit the gas and especially when letting off the gas real fast. Was not all that loud at even speeds though.

You can make even a stock muffler a little louder if you want. We use to do it as kids all the time. We use to get the car RPM's up high, switch the ignition on and off real fast. That would cause the engine to backfire through the exhaust and blow the muffler out a little each time you did it. Have to also have the car rolling at the same time to get the back pressure.

[Normspeed]

I've heard of the single glasspack and single straight pipe setup for sixes. I think some of the old style lowriders use that trick. They really rap. Another trick there is to stick with small diameter pipes and short glass packs. It's about the sound and not the HP:D

[Robin (UK)]

I'm running dual Smithy's.

I noticed that the sound was quite harsh at first, but mellowed significantly after a couple of hundred miles.

They sound great, now.

[Jeff Ivan]

When I was a kid I had no patience waiting for my new "Cherry Bomb" or "Thrush" glasspacks to break-in. If you don't mind a little smoke for a while, pour some used motor oil into the mufflers and roll them around before installing to saturate the fiberglass packing. They will burn out a lot quicker. The other NOT recommended redneck method is to pour gas inside and set them on fire before installing. Make sure your long term disability insurance is paid up to date if using the gasoline method.

[claybill]

my experience has been that they dont change nuch with time...but when the glas packiing goes out..it get s louder. moisture and time will deteriortate

the glas....yo9u can hurry it up by initiating a 'backfire'....turn the key off for 5 seconds when coasting downhill..then on again..(hold your ears)!

bill

for a burbbble when going downhill...have a longer wiper vacuum tube under the dash that you can connect and disconnect at weill ..disconnect when coasting downhill and it will rumble!!!

hey, well, what did you guys do in high school!

clayubill

[Norm's Coupe]

Bill,

I see you also know about how to make a car sound hot, without spending any money. We use to pull the vacuum hose off the wipers too to make the engine lope a little too. Made it sound like you had a small race cam in it.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I remember those guys who pulled the vacuum lines as they cruised through Shoney's or the Piggy Park at night..we knew who you we..those real hood locks were there to keep anyone from seeing your 6 banger...

[knuckleharley]

  Norm said:

My Smithy is sort of mellow too. It's been on the car for about 11 years now. Sounds ok' date=' but nothing like the glass packs I had on my 57 Ford in the early 60's. That thing would really rumble when you hit the gas and especially when letting off the gas real fast. Was not all that loud at even speeds though.

[/quote']

Ain't nothing on earth sounds nastier than a Y-Block Ford with glasspacks.

[Guest rockabillybassman]

Has anybody with a Smithy that's on the quiet side tried turning it round to run backwards? Unfortunately, I've welded mine in, so it's not an easy job to try it. My thinking would be that it would be louder but with the same Smithy rumble, but then what do I know?