nige Posted August 16, 2006 Author Share Posted August 16, 2006 yeah slick, that's the same muffler I ended up ordering. I'm glad it's not a real loud p.o.s. I don't want to attract any attention to my truck. I'm taking it in on friday morning, but before I do that, I have to start spraying down the studs with some nut buster or pb blaster stuff. Did you take off your heat shields yourself? I keep shearing the bolt heats off mine pssd oh well, I guess it doesn't matter since they're going in the trash anyhow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Posted August 16, 2006 Share Posted August 16, 2006 (edited) yeah slick, that's the same muffler I ended up ordering. I'm glad it's not a real loud p.o.s. I don't want to attract any attention to my truck. I'm taking it in on friday morning, but before I do that, I have to start spraying down the studs with some nut buster or pb blaster stuff. Did you take off your heat shields yourself? I keep shearing the bolt heats off mine pssd oh well, I guess it doesn't matter since they're going in the trash anyhow yeah. i installed the headers myself, then slapped the old exhaust pipe back on to drive the 1/2 mile to the exhaust shop where they made the pipe to my specs and installed the HF cat and FM muffler fer $400 -bounce- (cost of cat, pipes and muffler included in that price.. but NOT headers) Edited August 16, 2006 by Slick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nige Posted August 19, 2006 Author Share Posted August 19, 2006 5 snapped studs! prolly won't finish it today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Filthy Luker Posted August 19, 2006 Share Posted August 19, 2006 2.25" is the optimal size tailpipe for these engines. I planned to go with 2.5" back to the muffler and 2.25" after that, but the installer kinda wanted the challenge of squeezing 2.5" in there just to test himself, so he did it at the same price! I can always shove a restrictor in the tail pipe to boost low end torque... Read up on exhaust theory man... Backpressure is bad. Exhaust velocity = good. Optimum sized piping helps keeping the exhaust velocity up... there are some good writeups available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 Read up on exhaust theory man... Backpressure is bad. Exhaust velocity = good. Optimum sized piping helps keeping the exhaust velocity up... there are some good writeups available. I do, and you're correct. Excess backpressure is bad, so don't go too small. But too big kills exhaust velocity, which is also bad. In between is optimal. For a relatively low performance 3.0 L 6 cylinder running at typical RPM's, 2.25 is good. If running at low rpm and want max torque, then 2". If running a mildly tuned 3L at higher RPM (6K and up) 2.5" is optimal for peak horsepower - although the velocity gets pretty low during low rpm driving and torque falls off a bit. All kinds of tradeoffs to consider.... I plan to replace this engine (if it ever dies) with a 3.3L and a slightly hotter set of cams, so the 2.5 will be perfect then for normal use. I love some of the BMW's - they have dual on demand systems. Normal driving, one pipe is active in the muffler. At about 3/4 throttle and 4000 rpm, the second pipe opens inside the muffle, doubling flow. And growls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nige Posted August 21, 2006 Author Share Posted August 21, 2006 ok, i finally got them installed and they sound pretty good. I have a flowmaster 50, magnaflow cat and the headers on. It has a pretty deep, bassy note to it and a slight rattle at higher rpm's (not sure what that is). There is a noticeable difference in power now too I will make a couple sound recordings and take a few pictures of the whole exhaust shortly. I have the crossover pipe clamped right now and it leaks a little bit from there, but it hangs clear from the automatic transmission and a little bit lower than the torsion bars. It cost quite a bit of money due to the amount of labor involved so beware. I had a lot of frozen studs will the leak ever go away itself, or is there a non permanent method to stop it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hookemdevils22 Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 (edited) i've been thinking of putting thorley's on my 94 xe with an auto trans, but i could find little info on headers for my app. i'll probably get a flowmaster, but i'm seriously considering the dynomax now. also, does anyone know of any good muffler shops around phoenix? i wouldn't go with a down-turn unless you like the noise. i've got dual flowmaster 40s on my 71 nova that feature about a foot of pipe total (6" or so before the mufflers, 6" and a down-turn after), and it's absolutely loud as hell. of course, it's got a slightly warmed-over small-block, but i really noticed a difference when we went to that setup, even though we kept the same mufflers. i can also smell exhaust when stopped, so take that into consideration. Edited August 22, 2006 by hookemdevils22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinnyPedal Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 It cost quite a bit of money due to the amount of labor involved so beware. Hey Skrill, how'd that shop you used work out? Would you recommend them? Let me know as I have a little exhaust work on my list of mods for later next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nige Posted August 22, 2006 Author Share Posted August 22, 2006 Hey Skrill, how'd that shop you used work out? Would you recommend them? Let me know as I have a little exhaust work on my list of mods for later next year. they did a really good job. I dropped in a couple times to check up on them and drop off some manifold studs (nissan sold me the wrong parts) and the guy named dave was busy drilling out my old studs. He was very careful while doing this and he didn't slip up once. They have a nice, clean shop with proper tools and such with a little parts showroom out front. By the sounds of it, he's a mustang and domestic muscle car guy, but he's worked on quite a few vg30's including maximas and quest/villager minivans. He also orders in pretty much any aftermarket part you can think of and he can install everything in the shop. I've bought a few parts from him and he'll always match prices too. I thought the time he spent fixing my truck (14 hours) was quite a while, but he said it was because I had so many broken studs on my heads. At least his labor rate is decent (68/hr) and he knows his stuff about engines. I had him remove my old manifolds and piping, drill and swap out all the old studs and replace them with new ones, weld in a new cat and muffler, transfer the pipe with the O2 sensor onto the new piping and clamp the rest of the stuff up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z_Pilot Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 I went 2.5" all the way with a high-flow cat and a high-flow muffler (w/thorleys). I lost too much torque. Stick with 2.25 piping and go high-flow witht the components IMO. Z Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey.T Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 For now the Thorley mated up with the stock pipe... trying to get the engine items worked out before doing the new piping.... Planning 2.5 with no CAT..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinnyPedal Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 I thought the time he spent fixing my truck (14 hours) was quite a while...his labor rate is decent (68/hr) and he knows his stuff about engines. Wow, so around $950 labour alone? :eek: I *guess* that is OK for a job well done and the peace of mind given they actually seem to give a damn about what they're doing! For that much dough, won't they fix your leaky crossover pipe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nige Posted August 23, 2006 Author Share Posted August 23, 2006 here are a few photos: The x-over pipe hangs lower than the t-bars, but not the mounts for the compression/tension rods: The muffler: The header: Luker, If you want to use skids with these headers, you'd have to add a couple of spacers between the plate and the frame so it would clear the pipe. If you guys are doing some tame wheeling and i'm not busy, i'll come our with your crew and you can check them out for yourself :cool2: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nige Posted September 9, 2006 Author Share Posted September 9, 2006 I blew my stock thorley gasket between the y-pipe and the cat. Replaced it with a metal one, so we'll see how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nige Posted November 25, 2006 Author Share Posted November 25, 2006 hey skinny pedal, i had to have one of the flanges replaced. it was the one that mates the pipe with the o2 sensor to the crossover collector. Rather than taking it back to marken, i took it to the minute muffler by the corner of fairway road and king street by charcoal steakhouse. The guy from marken told me i never needed to replace the old flange when i disagreed with him after the first gasket blew out. When the second one went, those guys wanted to sell me a ball and socket pipe and flange to fix it and allow some flex, but I told him that's not necessary and went to minute ant let them put a new flange on. It works fine now, but still leaks a bit from the crossover pipe slip joint. I'm debating whether or not I want to weld it up. Anyways, minute muffle does a good job if you need some basic exhaust work done. they were reasonable for labor charges too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinnyPedal Posted November 25, 2006 Share Posted November 25, 2006 Good to know man, thanks for the heads up. I will be steering clear of those other jokers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nige Posted February 26, 2007 Author Share Posted February 26, 2007 here's a short little video clip. The kinda sucks 'cause it was taken with my cellphone, but i'll do a proper one with my canon sd600 as soon as I get the chance. It's so short she doesn't get out of second gear but you'll get the idea of what it sounds like: Lil' video thanks for hosting it luker and the MM crew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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