snowbird
09-15-2007, 09:14 AM
EXHAUST:
Two years ago, I installed a Kooks set-up (SS headers, mild steel X pipe and Magnaflows mufflers). Fine kit but the noise and cockpit drone level of the mufflers was way too much for my corporate taste. So I had tried 3 other different mufflers to no avail. My finished set-up were standard stock 2004 Mustang Cobra mufflers. I had thrown the towel in 2005 and was annoyed since.
This summer, the mufflers started to be noisier as they were slowly cooking off by the inside so I had to do something about it. The mild steel X pipe started to rust pretty bad and I needed some room in the trans tunnel for an aftermarket DS. Finally, the fact that there were still some 2 ¼” sections of piping was the final excuse for a rebuilt.
So I bought a used 2 ½” Mustang SS exhaust and some 304 SS tubing and started to redo the thing section by section since there’s no mandrel bent machine around where I live. A pretty long process as our rear suspension arms are different than Mustang’s and different from left to right.
I home made a shortened and spreaded X legs to clear the future DS and added some custom length 13” –17” overall Stainless Works smooth tube mufflers as resonator in the trans tunnel. Tight fit but the solution about drone, finally !! I then recycled some Super Turbo I had on a shelf and then completed with trued 2 ½” pipes all the way to the MEGS. The Megs were 3 bolts flanged for added noise reduction possibilities and I kept the front cats section for next year to let my welder cool off a bit as he was becoming nuts!.
The results are on par with my objectives: No more idle vibrations (the different sizes and thicknesses of SS seems to have cured that), almost 100% drone disappearance ( when you turn the head in the cockpit, the noise come clearly from the trunk) and full SS 2 ½” exhaust. The funny thing is that those “resonators” don’t cut the outside noise at the rear. They seems to perform only on the cabin noise.
Here’s a few pics.
Two years ago, I installed a Kooks set-up (SS headers, mild steel X pipe and Magnaflows mufflers). Fine kit but the noise and cockpit drone level of the mufflers was way too much for my corporate taste. So I had tried 3 other different mufflers to no avail. My finished set-up were standard stock 2004 Mustang Cobra mufflers. I had thrown the towel in 2005 and was annoyed since.
This summer, the mufflers started to be noisier as they were slowly cooking off by the inside so I had to do something about it. The mild steel X pipe started to rust pretty bad and I needed some room in the trans tunnel for an aftermarket DS. Finally, the fact that there were still some 2 ¼” sections of piping was the final excuse for a rebuilt.
So I bought a used 2 ½” Mustang SS exhaust and some 304 SS tubing and started to redo the thing section by section since there’s no mandrel bent machine around where I live. A pretty long process as our rear suspension arms are different than Mustang’s and different from left to right.
I home made a shortened and spreaded X legs to clear the future DS and added some custom length 13” –17” overall Stainless Works smooth tube mufflers as resonator in the trans tunnel. Tight fit but the solution about drone, finally !! I then recycled some Super Turbo I had on a shelf and then completed with trued 2 ½” pipes all the way to the MEGS. The Megs were 3 bolts flanged for added noise reduction possibilities and I kept the front cats section for next year to let my welder cool off a bit as he was becoming nuts!.
The results are on par with my objectives: No more idle vibrations (the different sizes and thicknesses of SS seems to have cured that), almost 100% drone disappearance ( when you turn the head in the cockpit, the noise come clearly from the trunk) and full SS 2 ½” exhaust. The funny thing is that those “resonators” don’t cut the outside noise at the rear. They seems to perform only on the cabin noise.
Here’s a few pics.