I drive a 1985 Chevrolet El Camino, auto transmission, 305 v8, everything is pretty much stock besides my air filter and exhaust tips. I've been looking at Sweet Thunder chambered mufflers [ [url]http://www.sweet-thunder.com/chambered_elcamino_78_87.html[/url] ] to replace the stock muffler. As is, the engine sounds just fine as far as the sound the tips make and such, but I'd like to try out different exhaust options. My current muffler is a bolt-on and so are the chambered mufflers.
[IMG]http://puu.sh/5Dr9t[/IMG]
That's from late last year, and she still looks the same. Also, I do have a video of revving it to 4,000 RPMs:
[video=youtube;3EzagoZs-Z0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EzagoZs-Z0[/video]
Pardon the smoke, it was quite a cold day and it had been sitting for a few hours.
It redlines at 4.6 so I wouldn't go any higher, but the car runs fine, besides burning a bit of oil. I want to explore my options for exhaust mods. Thank you very much, any and all feedback is welcomed <3
I'm not seeing any actual mufflers so unless your stock exhaust lacks a chambered muffler for some reason this is going to be significantly louder and have significantly more drone than the stock system.
It looks like a really nicely put together system and has some resonators in it though.
Awesome car (truck?) Dude. I have an '84 Chevy Caprice wagon with the 305.
Park that ute in a garage and leave it there. I've restored a ranchero before, and as a useless truck, and useless car, they still have a neat look to them. This one looks good. Don't bolt crap to it. Take it to an exhaust shop and get a muffler welded to it for good. Since its a 305 you don't want anyone to think your posing a 454. That's a cruising car bro. Let it be.
That whole exhaust is most definitely a very nicely designed piece. It's far from crap. Now if you take it to some random exhaust shop and have them weld crap onto your stock one that would be crap.
It seems they have some sort of resonator pipe stuff that they use, this is pretty foreign to me since I know jack all about what makes a big V motor sound good.
[url]http://www.sweet-thunder.com/camaro.html[/url]
[url]http://www.sweet-thunder.com/2010_2011_camaro.html[/url]
If you end up not liking the exhaust, you can probably sell it for $100 off what you paid for it on some El Camino forum. It's really up to you though, it's definitely going to be louder than stock.
just gut the cat if you're not from a communist state with communist emissions testing
Magnaflow straight through muffler/resonator, the biggest that will fit. That's what I have on my chevy and it sounds great. Not too loud, no drone and no restriction from the muffler.
[editline]15th April 2014[/editline]
Borlas are also a good option.
[editline]15th April 2014[/editline]
My magnaflow is more or less a 32" glass pack, but it doesn't sound like a cheap cherry bomb.
If you're going straight through go porter steel pacs
[editline]16th April 2014[/editline]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHb-xgeVrWY[/media]
It's probably a 283 in that if it hasn't been swapped but the sound will be similar
I'm not super versed in the undercarriage of a car. If I were to get one of those sweet thunders or other mentioned resonators/chambered mufflers, would I need to get new piping or could it go in place of the current muffler?
the sweet thunder exhaust is an entire system, you would replace all of your shit with their shit.
Other than the Sweet Thunder, everything mentioned can go in place of your existing muffler using your old tubing.
I'm still vouching for the Porters.
Best way to get a deep rumble is to do a turn-down right before the axle instead of running pipes with tips.
Higher audio frequencies, which cause the "rasp" sound are not as strong as lower audio frequencies "rumble". By the time the sound reflects off of the ground and comes back, the higher frequencies dissipate and all you're left with are the stronger, lower frequencies. It's the same reason you can hear bass for miles, but highs don't carry far. IT WILL DRONE SOME, but it's not bad, even negligable, unless you're riding without a radio.
[QUOTE=Serj22;44549403]Park that ute in a garage and leave it there. I've restored a ranchero before, and as a useless truck, and useless car, they still have a neat look to them. This one looks good. Don't bolt crap to it. Take it to an exhaust shop and get a muffler welded to it for good. Since its a 305 you don't want anyone to think your posing a 454. That's a cruising car bro. Let it be.[/QUOTE]
Stop modifying your Hondas then. They're grocerygetters. Let them be!
Source:[url]http://www.crvownersclub.com/forums/4823-serj22.html[/url]
as for the el camino. Go with something throaty. 305 or 454 they still sound awesome.
[QUOTE=Hailedbean;44558097]Stop modifying your Hondas then. They're grocerygetters. Let them be!
Source:[url]http://www.crvownersclub.com/forums/4823-serj22.html[/url]
as for the el camino. Go with something throaty. 305 or 454 they still sound awesome.[/QUOTE]
I learned my lesson when I owned hondas. That civic I traded a VW beetle for, and it came pre-modified. (so modified i had to sell it when I moved to California because there was no way to register it) and that Cr-v - I loved that cr-v. Never bolted anything to it but a short ram intake, and some racing seats. Dumb maybe, but oh well. Yeah lol, they are pretty much grocerygetters, and the last Honda I had (95 accord) was a mint example looking like it just rolled out of the show room in 1994, so I left it well alone.
I don't mean he's trying to make an elcamino something it's not, more than I'm saying it's a really really nice example of a well-preserved car that shouldn't be messed up. It always starts with an exhaust or intake - then it never ends if you know what I mean. I also assumed "bolt on" muffler in this case meant something from autozone exhaust clamped on. He can do anything he wants, not trying to be mean. Also thanks for the link, I forgot about that place - gonna go see what everyone's up to.
Imo save your money.
Go to a local mufflershop near you. Have them make you the straightest exhaust piping they can make you and have them weld flanges on so it can be detachable. Choose a shop that can do mandrel bending so exhaust flow is optimized. Do a 2.5" then weld some nice cherrybomb resonators to a Magnaflow exhaust. Less stress, quicker downtime, cheaper and better sounding. For $850, they didn't even do proper bending on the piping and their resonators look small and cheap.
Pick a shop that does quality work, not some half-assed, shit welding.
One of these days I'll get a video of my trucks exhaust. :v:
I've made my mind up to go with the porters, they've got the sound I was looking for versus sweet thunder. Also, I don't want to spend hundreds getting new piping, I don't have that much money available for casual spending. To confirm, I can replace my current mufflers with the porter mufflers- is there anything else I need to do? Also, can they still go through the exhaust tips I have?
Also thanks a lot for the info and tips, I really really appreciate it!
Yeah, you can just have the tips put on the end of the Porters pack.
[QUOTE=Del91;44565018]Yeah, you can just have the tips put on the end of the Porters pack.[/QUOTE]
Okay, thank you! Do you know if the length of the pack matters? I.e. 20" vs 14" packs? -snip other question, both pack types are steels-
The shorter the muffler the louder and dronier.
[editline]16th April 2014[/editline]
It should be a deeper rumble with the 20" packs.
[QUOTE=Del91;44565396]The shorter the muffler the louder and dronier.
[editline]16th April 2014[/editline]
It should be a deeper rumble with the 20" packs.[/QUOTE]
Alright, sounds good! Thank you very much, as well as everyone else. Much help <3
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