Magnaflow VS Flowmaster?

[motornut]

Ran (Cat free) Walker Dynomax Turbos on the 78 sub (long pipes)
true duals dumped under the box lasted about two weeks,put tails on straight out back
stock 350 sounded great(still got them the 88 even has one)
and yup can't buy em

running (Cat free) Cherry bombs on the 78 Jimmy
bored,cammed,eddy intake,holley carb
true duals so not stock 350,sounds great

running (Cat free) Flowmaster 40s on the stock 79-305 2B
true duals with H-pipe
most swear it's got a lot more under there
i ground out the exhaust manifolds (small bumps to disturb sound)
dumped before the rear tires,can still hear a stock radio
to me it's (outa sight) side pipes, without the burn lol

[xrcr]

True dual 40's out the back just right.For most engines flow is not the critical issue its what the owner likes to hear.
My .02

[WuchaGot]

Anyone know where I can find some pre formed/bent pipes?
1987 v20 5.7L currently single to dual.

I am looking for just the drop down section from the manifold to the muffler (or cat if equipped). I am going straight dual so I need both left and right.

I am going: Manifold => drop down pipe => H Pipe => MagnaFlow => tail pipe

Any links or suggestions where I can find them would be appreciated.

I have a mig in the shop and can weld it my self.

Thanks

[INSIDIOUS '86]

Dyno max has a whole exhaust kit for $132
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[v30crewcab]

I like the hooker aerochambers myself. will be putting those on my car sometime this winter.

[boatpuller]

I must be in the minority here. I like the sound of my flowmaster 40 original's.
In fact the other day a pontiac grand prix fancy edition thought he'd try to get ahead of me where a two lane goes down to one....Didn't happen....Now,I realize this wasn't a conquest for the ages.The moral of the story was how sweet the rappin flowmasters sounded off the side of that Pontiac when i had enough,the sweet thing was he had his window down. We got up to a light a couple miles up where it's 4 lane and he would of been beside me at the light.He pulled iin behind me a few cars back so he didn't have to sit next to me....I could have bought that Pontiac cheap that afternoon.

[WuchaGot]

SO I went to the Dynomax website and checked out the system they have. Its listed as a 2.25, am I mistaken that this truck has 2.5s on it? Seeing this is a full manifold back system they could just be down sizing the piping.

[motornut]

Originally Posted by boatpuller

I must be in the minority here. I like the sound of my flowmaster 40 original's.
In fact the other day a pontiac grand prix fancy edition thought he'd try to get ahead of me where a two lane goes down to one....Didn't happen....Now,I realize this wasn't a conquest for the ages.The moral of the story was how sweet the rappin flowmasters sounded off the side of that Pontiac when i had enough,the sweet thing was he had his window down. We got up to a light a couple miles up where it's 4 lane and he would of been beside me at the light.He pulled iin behind me a few cars back so he didn't have to sit next to me....I could have bought that Pontiac cheap that afternoon.

Gotta love it!!!!!

Originally Posted by WuchaGot

SO I went to the Dynomax website and checked out the system they have. Its listed as a 2.25, am I mistaken that this truck has 2.5s on it? Seeing this is a full manifold back system they could just be down sizing the piping.

Thats the dual size i went too 2.25 from 2.5
I've tried the bigger pipes,but went smaller the last couple of times
wihout many "hp/breathing" mods, I don't need the "extra" space
and i find i get more "sound " without always being into the pedal

I liken it to a sound from a musical horn/trumpet
you only get it when the pressure is right

[ivorton74]

I for one like flowmasters. I think they sound pretty kool. I'm kickin myself right now for not goin with these instead of my stupid thrush turbo. It don't sound good at all but it is quiet though. I'm going to get duals with 40 series probably next spring if not sooner.
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[INSIDIOUS '86]

Flowmasters=two angry chewbaccas down the road IMO lol engines don't sound like that!
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[motornut]

Originally Posted by ivorton74

I for one like flowmasters. I think they sound pretty kool. I'm kickin myself right now for not goin with these instead of my stupid thrush turbo. It don't sound good at all but it is quiet though. I'm going to get duals with 40 series probably next spring if not sooner.
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if you can find a shop/store with them instock,check them out(pick up a set for weight) i find them built quite thick/heavy steel compared to some stock others,the paint burns off quick ,but i've rust heat painted the whole system now

[Billett]

I love my flowmasters. I had cherry bombs on there and they were some of the worst mufflers I've ever used. The back-rap alone was enough to make me pull my hair out. The super 44's I have now have an awesome raspy rumble to them that quite literally screams muscle car, but at the same time i drive about 50 miles to and from work and once I'm on the highway they are barely noticeable.

Magnaflows aren't my favorite, but I don't have anything against them. Personally I don't think they have enough character, but that's just my opinion. I'm not going to throw around childish insults at the brand. It's all about what sound you personally like. When it comes down to brass tacks, either way one isn't going to flow noticeably better than the other.

Different year, but it might give you another idea of how they sound.

68 C10 Exhaust - 350 SBC Flowmaster Super 44's -...

[motornut]

Originally Posted by motornut

Gotta love it!!!!!



Thats the dual size i went too 2.25 from 2.5
I've tried the bigger pipes,but went smaller the last couple of times
wihout many "hp/breathing" mods, I don't need the "extra" space
and i find i get more "sound " without always being into the pedal

I liken it to a sound from a musical horn/trumpet
you only get it when the pressure is right

March Rd left - YouTube

both my trucks there

[trivon56]

I have magnaflow with true dual 3 inch pipes going in 3 inch mangaflow mufflers and I love the sound. But my mufflers before were cherry bombs lol. But the setup I have has a great sound and no restrictions at all. I will post a pic up later how I have mines setup it's a lol different than normal due to the drop of my truck.
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[WuchaGot]

Ok, so I am getting ready to order the pieces for my exhaust. What I have learned so far is (and correct me if I am wrong):

- Stock single to dual use 2.5" pipes but 2.25" pipes are recommended for straight dual because the flow is split and each pipe supports less of the flow so use a slightly smaller pipe.

- H-Pipes are arguably better than X-Pipes.

- Smaller muffler chambers resonate more and make a louder and deeper sound than larger chamber mufflers.

What I do not know is (and there is a lot more that I do not know than what is listed):

- would I use a muffler with input-offset / output-offset layout, a input-offset / output-center layout, or a input-center / output-offset layout?

- Which are preferable, Manifold or headers? I live in cold weather.

- what is the more durable and longer life span type of material for exhaust components? Stainless, Aluminized Steel, any other notable material types.

Thanks

[Firebirdjones]

X pipes are better than the H pipe. You have that worded backwards.

For a real dual exhaust I'd go right for the 2 1/2" system for even a mild 350. I wouldn't even bother with a 2 1/4".

Generally on a real dual exhaust system the mufflers are offset inlet and offset outlet. Makes it much easier to route the system.

Durable material depends on the climate you live in. Aluminized is pretty much everything and fairly durable for many years. Stainless would be better, but the 304 stainless (that most of your stainless exhaust kits and mufflers are made of) will still rust over time, but will still last longer than any aluminized setup.

Just depends on how much you want to spend.

[WuchaGot]

Originally Posted by Firebirdjones

X pipes are better than the H pipe. You have that worded backwards.

For a real dual exhaust I'd go right for the 2 1/2" system for even a mild 350. I wouldn't even bother with a 2 1/4".

Generally on a real dual exhaust system the mufflers are offset inlet and offset outlet. Makes it much easier to route the system.

Durable material depends on the climate you live in. Aluminized is pretty much everything and fairly durable for many years. Stainless would be better, but the 304 stainless (that most of your stainless exhaust kits and mufflers are made of) will still rust over time, but will still last longer than any aluminized setup.

Just depends on how much you want to spend.

=D I didn't have the H and X backwards, but for this reason I did add the word "arguably". I have seen a lot of people go back and forth about X or H-pipes but for trucks I have seen a lot more lean towards H-Pipes. I have also read some dino charts and stats on the both and H-Pipes only SLIGHTLY out perform the X-Pipes.

Thanks for the info on the metal, I was thinking stainless myself. What is satin stainless?

[Firebirdjones]

Any H-pipe info out there is probably dated. H-pipes go back a long way. I know Ford has been using them since the mid 60's in alot of their factory V8 applicatons. The original exhaust on my 69 mustang has a factory "H" built in.

But it's been shown on the dyno's several times and even recently that the X-pipes will out perform the H-pipes in every way. Even more so if you have an X designed specifically for the combo.

If it can be packaged, I'd use the X hands down.

[WuchaGot]

Originally Posted by Firebirdjones

Any H-pipe info out there is probably dated. H-pipes go back a long way. I know Ford has been using them since the mid 60's in alot of their factory V8 applicatons. The original exhaust on my 69 mustang has a factory "H" built in.

But it's been shown on the dyno's several times and even recently that the X-pipes will out perform the H-pipes in every way. Even more so if you have an X designed specifically for the combo.

If it can be packaged, I'd use the X hands down.

So.... Ordering these two items from Summit, they seem to have the best prices on most things in general.

Down Pipe Set
and
X-Pipe Kit

Still hunting for the mufflers but regardless of which brand I go with, MagnaFlow or Flowmaster, I think the down pipes and x-pip kit is a good start.

And this way I can keep muffler shops out of the picture. I can weld pipe but I don't have the equipment to bend or shape it.

[motornut]

H or X
two things come to mind
the H creates a corner to go around
and most I've seen are made a smaller size just to balance out
where by the X is more flow directed,and is the same size
off set pipes will fit/tuck better

In my case i drove in to the shop with straight pipes,and mufflers in the box
asked while on the hoist if they could do it ,Speedy did

[Firebirdjones]

Originally Posted by WuchaGot

So.... Ordering these two items from Summit, they seem to have the best prices on most things in general.

Down Pipe Set
and
X-Pipe Kit

Still hunting for the mufflers but regardless of which brand I go with, MagnaFlow or Flowmaster, I think the down pipes and x-pip kit is a good start.

And this way I can keep muffler shops out of the picture. I can weld pipe but I don't have the equipment to bend or shape it.

Those pieces will make things easier. I prefer to do things myself as well. Luckily the classic cars I work on all offer bolt on kits of various shapes and sizes. It's unfortunate that we don't have those choices on these trucks.

What I do when starting with kits like you have listed, is also buy 3 or 4 mandrel J bends. Since you can't bend the piping, the J-bends can be cut at any angle and basically get around an obsticle you need to. I did this on my last exhaust job I did on my blazer when I did the 6.0 swap. It's not bad at all, just takes a little time to figure angles you need, cut them, and butt weld it together. No need to flare anything.

Mufflers are personal preference, just go with the sound you prefer. If you really want the H-pipe I'd go that route as it's better than nothing at all. Cheaper too since you can make it yourself and they are much easier to package. All you need is a short piece about 2/3 the size of the exhaust, cut 2 holes and wedge the piece in there and weld. The closer the H pipe is to the header collectors the better it works. Usually things are in the way that might dictate where you have to put it however.

Just some more options to look at

[slugish]

Ok I must be the only one on here who has 1- 3 in pipe in & 2 -21/4 pipes out behind rear wheel running thru 1 40 or 50 series flowmaster. when Ihad this done some time ago ,I asked what exhaust would give me the most performance , they said unless I had considerable more h p than what I have (around 375) Iwould be just as well off with what Ihave. I have asked this question thru the years to race -performance people & they all say the same thing.

Any opinions on this >? would true duals have a better sound than what I have ( sounds pretty dang good in my book now)

Does the fact that one pipe after header flange runs & connects to the other pipe at almost a 90 degree anghle hurt me ? common sense tells me that it would hurt the flow

[Firebirdjones]

Only way to answer that question would be to put the vehicle on a chassis dyno and get a before and after comparison. My money is on the real dual system however. With a well designed system, a cross over pipe, good mufflers etc..it's going to be hard to beat it with a Y-pipe merging into a single pipe.

I've been down that road before, as 4th gen Fbodies have a single system that splits into dual tailpipes, and in every instance I've seen, a real dual system picks up power on these cars, even stockers. Even going to a single 4" system over the 3" system will show gains, (which is what I run)

You can do the same comparison with the H vs X scenario. I did this about 10 years ago by making the entire "X" and "H" system bolt in behind the headers.

[ol_skool_chevy]

Originally Posted by Edahall

I like to combine a pair of Flowmasters with a pair of Glasspacks. The Flowmasters take out the low frequency noise and the Glasspacks take out the high frequency noise. The result is a nice mellow tone.

so you have 4 mufflers?

[WuchaGot]

Originally Posted by slugish

Ok I must be the only one on here who has 1- 3 in pipe in & 2 -21/4 pipes out behind rear wheel running thru 1 40 or 50 series flowmaster. when Ihad this done some time ago ,I asked what exhaust would give me the most performance , they said unless I had considerable more h p than what I have (around 375) Iwould be just as well off with what Ihave. I have asked this question thru the years to race -performance people & they all say the same thing.

Any opinions on this >? would true duals have a better sound than what I have ( sounds pretty dang good in my book now)

Does the fact that one pipe after header flange runs & connects to the other pipe at almost a 90 degree anghle hurt me ? common sense tells me that it would hurt the flow

Well, I would say higher flow is, in most cases, always better. I have read the same thing, unless your going with some high HP that the benefits of straight dual exhaust and high flow systems are not completely utilized however with the mid grade consumer level of high flow components most of us are working with it does not hurt anything and leaves room for growth. I was even debating dropping my pipe size down to 2.25 for a while ( I have seen it recommended by some and disregarded by others ) but it seems to be personal preference and not necessary.

As far as angles in your exhaust system it would really depend on the degree of angle. A 90 degree angle or more could cause more back pressure in one bank than the other making that one bank work harder to evacuate the exhaust. High flow is all about no obstructions and easier evacuation of exhaust. The less your engine has to work to vacate the exhaust the more power is transferred to the wheels.

Just my newb opinion. I am sure a pro will but his 2 cents in. I am sure your system works just fine and mine may be over kill but I don't think what I am doing is very aggressive nor will it have a negative affect. I am sticking to manifolds though , I don't want the biannual header bolt maintenance to deal with.