Well, considering all the condensation that comes from the exhaust on my wagon, my muffler (the original one, I think) has rotted from the inside out, and the galvanizing on the intermediate pipe has begin to peel and rust at the seam badly, SO, I have decided to not only replace both, but upgrade them as well.
I know from past experience that cars that run like mine tend to go through replacement mufflers at an accelerated pace, so I decided to put a stainless muffler on my car, so off to the internet I go.
I couldn't find anything the right size or at a reasonable price at places like Summit, Jegs or even Rockauto, so Ebay was my last resort. There were plenty of what I like to call "fart-can" mufflers out there, but they are too big around and I hate the sound of those things. I did find an ovular shaped stainless muffler with dual outlets that the outlets are designed to be turned up, but I just figure I'd turn the muffler 180 degrees so the turn-ups - turn down.
Length was also an issue (the new muff was 9" shorter than the original, so I had a local muffler shop fabricate me a stainless adapter that was 9" long, 2" ID where it will attach to the new intermediate pipe and 2.5" at the end it will attach to the new muffler.
Here's a pic of the muff, pipe and stainless band clamp I will be using:
Those band clamps are the way to go (especially when you are using stainless components), they seal super-securely, don't leak a bit and when the intermediate pipe goes again, you just remove it and reuse it on the replacement pipe !
With this set-up I will be able to reuse the original front hanger, and with a slight modification, I will also be able to reuse the rear hangers as well!
Thanks to an old thread from Orlen, I found the correct oddball intermediate pipe from AP Exhaust for $20.00, so in total, I will have about $110.00, I will have a cool looking, better performing, and easily replaceable cat-back exhaust system !
~ Mike ~
Just did mine cat-back last year. Found stock size parts and it went right in mostly. I had to get a little creative with sleeves, I'll get a picture up here as soon as I can, but quite the bit of handiwork for my first attempt at doing exhaust myself (with a little help from my friends).
Sounds like you are doing some nice updates.I know my exhaust has been done by my local trusted shop from the drop down back.I did years ago now replace my muffer with a cherry bomb single pipe and finding the right id/od fittings to make it happy was tough then!As for the band clamp those are a must on some applications.I have used them on my currently non running 1977 IHC school bus(which needs a wash/polish) and these clamps sealed the two pipes left/right and reuseable.I will not pop pics of the bus until I clean it as the mildew from winter is all over the top.My personal working rides come first the bus can wait.Do a video soundbite once you get it done.
Looks nice! Had the same experience when I removed the cat from my brown vert. Just a little too loud for me so I got a cherry bomb muffler to add in as a resonator and it helped a lot.
I like the shiny factor myself.Nice end result on a simple upgrade.
Nice clean install. +1 for the shine factor
A short video of the sound of the new muffler. I kind of like it - it reminds me of the sound the exhaust from my uncles Truimph TR6 made back in the day !
Hope it loads !
~ Mike ~
Well, I'll be dog. I always wondered why on earth GM placed the tail pipe off to the side only on the Wagons. This little video explains why - since wagons are loaded a lot close up from behind and sometimes even with the liftgate open when driven it would have been very easy to get burned on the exhaust pie exiting the rear as well as easier for fumes to get pulled in an open liftgate. No big issue these days, but just a curiosity of my own over the years. I have a nicely melted area on the side of my bumper from previous exhaust the got too close to it many a year ago.
I think the exhaust sounds sweet - something people don't expect from a little wagon. I have a nice little exhaust note myself after I .....well, er....ummmm modified my aftermarket Cat before installing. Who can blame a fellow for having a little fun, Huh?
Be it my ear may have heard a sticky ticky lifter way up front? Hahaa......I could park my wagon next to yours and we would be hard pressed which one was running. Mine has the same sticky ticky ticky ticky - much worse in the winter though!!
Wonderful exhaust project!!
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Nice touch on sound.You know my car has a less throaty sound with the cherry bomb than that but,it is close.I LIKE it.Orlen my car has the same valve noise as mikes and honestly it does smooth out once running.I have never adjusted the valve's on mine and probably should once I get the to do list done.
Yup Orlen, what your hearing is a *bit* of valve tap (along with a little piston slap as well) .
Both are very common on most of these little GM 2.0 and 2.2s common to our Cavaliers.
I've tried to adjust the tap out, but really can't, and quite frankly, once the car is warmed up, both taps are virtually gone anyway. I go with lighter weight oil in the winter, so the noise remains pretty constant at any temp !
~ Mike ~
Just a little update (and super-cool unintended positive consequence!) that came from the upgraded exhaust on my wagon.
I have picked up a considerable amount of power (I'd estimate a 5% to 10% increase!), and my mileage has skyrocketed ! (getting three weeks out of a tank of gas, when I used to get about two weeks before !!)
I don't know if my cat was clogged-up (kinda went the same clean-out route on it as Orlen did !), but I always thought the car was a *bit* underpowered before because of the size of the car vs. the size of the engine, but now she chugs along at a pretty decent clip !
I would have never predicted the added benefits I have gotten from this upgrade .. !
~ Mike ~
That is some good news.I will say when I did remove my old muffler and ran with out it the power difference due to less restriction was very noticeable.I really liked the raw sound of no muffler but I can say the cherry bomb is better than the oem spec'd muffler I had and the sound is mild but nice.Cool deal and In the past with my mazda removed the cat and ran straight pipe temporarily and that made a big difference.But it was all redone back in 2010 and custom fit stainless.$425.00 for the cost on the truck to be done by my preferred shop.
Well......the muffler I recently put on my wagon started out kind of loud and the longer I drove it, the louder it became (should have known better than to buy a crap Ebay muffler). I was literally puking fiberglass packing wadding out of the rear of it !!
Thought I would just get "used to it" eventually, but I never really liked that "fart can" sound (like the ricers back in the day) and it was really getting on my nerves AND getting louder............SO, I went to Summit Racing and bought myself a chambered, ceramic packed stainless polished performance muffler. Got a really good deal on it too - cost only $72.00 with ground shipping. (a regular aluminized turbo muffler cost around $100.00 at Autozone !!!)
I had the exact same mufflers on my old '95 SHO Taurus, and I absolutely LOVED the sound of them on that car !
I think this muffler sounds more hot rod-ish than fart can-ish like my first attempt at this !
I really like it !
***Note the A/C Delco rear air shock absorbers I recently installed as well !!!
The rear of the car was draggin' and I like to haul stuff around in my old girl, so now the car sits level and sounds FANTASTIC !!!
~ Mike ~
That 2nd deal looks very nice and more inline with the cars power and or sound.What shocks did you go with? I use the Monroe sensa trac and very smooth and priced nice.I have been working to get my other project list done to begin my work maybe sept on sunny.Both nephews cars have been checked,detailed and out of my hair for a few months.
Ron,
I went with the A/C Delco 504-570
Rockauto said they fit, but I found them on Amazon for $25.00 less than Rockauto. Only bad thing was that Amazon claimed that they wouldn't fit my application.
I trust Rockauto on their fitments and the picture looked like they would fit too, so I took a chance and bought them and they bolted right up!
I like the A/C Delco shocks air shocks better than the other air shocks for this application because none of the rubber bellows are exposed externally, so you don't have to worry about anything hitting, puncturing or slicing them from contract from the outside.
The air fill range for the shocks was 25 PSI to 200 PSI. I only have 22 PSI in them without a load ( just my golf bag and clubs) and the car rides level, smooth and just a *bit* stiffer, but I always liked a car with a little harder ride.
I am hauling my VW engine to the machine shop soon in the wagon to have some specialty performance machine work performed to it and at 240LBS, a little more air in the shocks and that load will seem like nothing in my wagon !
~ Mike ~
Definitely sounds alot better than the first one, more mellow of a tone.
Spike J wrote:Definitely sounds alot better than the first one, more mellow of a tone.
Yeah, there were times at certain places where I was actually embarrassed by the noise coming out of the car...
Made my car seem kind of white trashy when I never felt that way about it before.
It's pretty quiet, but still growls a *little* when you are wide open on the throttle.
Also now, the car starts better when the engine is cold because of the restored back-pressure.
Really a win-win for me in the end !
~ Mike ~
I'm considering shortening the adapter pipe between the intermediate pipe and the muffler, pushing the muffle a few inches forward and installing a short stainless turn-down pipe to act as a tailpipe of sorts.
What do you guys think - would it look better that way or the way it is now with the stubby rear outlet and full view of the rear of the muffler body like the old school Corvettes had ?
~ Mike ~
If you're gonna add a tip, why not a dual tip?
