Now that I got the correct cat forward exhaust assembly for the car, I have some options on the cat back exhaust. I have the option to replace the cat back exhaust and mufflers. The rear tube of the assembly below is just a reducer and has no muffler capabilities. As I learned with the two resonators on the current cat forward, the car is much louder. Since this is wife's car, it needs to have similar to the stock sound.
This is what I was thinking of getting:
And the stock mufflers for the car.
Was the old OEM center chamber a muffler, straight tube, resonator or what? Anyone know?
Any input would be appreciated concerning replacing the rear assembly for something near stock in db's and little vibration.
Wondering what options are out there to make a 4.6L sound like a V8? My preference would be to go with something from Maganflow since I have had great results in the past (fit and sound). My intent would be to simply cut off the stock mufflers and bolt-on a replacement. Not looking for any...
I did like the Dynomax kit for the 4.6l. It would cost as much as the pipe kit I was looking at and the mufflers together.
As for that OEM being a center cat, it sure does not look like a cat but a big muffler. The reason I ask is cause the kit I just got has a hollow center, which I am concerned is going to be like an X pipe in that it won't remove any resonating noises like a muffler will do.
Thanks Grog for the feed back, it got me to look at the Dynomax OEM kit for the 4.6l again an compare some prices.
I believe that was a resonator if I'm not mistaken. FWIW, I really liked the sounds of my Flowmaster 50 series mufflers. Not very loud, just a nice deep rumble and no resonance. I don't think that kit is available anymore and they are longer mufflers. Magnaflow makes a good product too.
Conclusion:
I had to make a few changes to the cat forward exhaust I got from RockAuto. Once again the passenger side down pipe was bent too much to the lift so I ground down the socket by about 10% on the side that was hitting the manifold and not letting the exhaust mount correctly.
The passenger side cat was also hitting the tranny so I had to bang a dent in the heat shield to so it would not hit and would mount better. Because I have a factory 4.6l cat back dual exhaust, it is about 2" shorter than the 3.8l single factory exhaust . By using band clamps and RTV, I was able to extend the exhaust back enough to not have to use a second socket to the exhaust from the resonator.
Long story short, the car has power again. All the drama just to get it to run better.
So, if you car runs great when its cold and craps out and loses power when its warm, think back if somehow you got some oil or anti-freeze in the cats when working on the engine. It will ruin the cats and your cars performance.
Hmmmm, my 97 has a straight pipe in that spot from the PO. I thought they just did away with the resonator for 97. I can't imagine the PO deleting a 3rd cat. Absolutely no difference in sound from my old 95, which had the resonator.
ALL 94-97 4.6s in all 50 states used a third cat. The resonator was a separate entity, directly behind the third cat in 94-95s, which was eliminated by a piece of pipe in 96-97s.
ALL 94-97 4.6s in all 50 states used a third cat. The resonator was a separate entity, directly behind the third cat in 94-95s, which was eliminated by a piece of pipe in 96-97s.
I believe that was a resonator if I'm not mistaken. FWIW, I really liked the sounds of my Flowmaster 50 series mufflers. Not very loud, just a nice deep rumble and no resonance. I don't think that kit is available anymore and they are longer mufflers. Magnaflow makes a good product too.
I believe it was the Force2 kit. They were 50 series original flows, just a couple years before the Delta flows came out. Nice deep tone taking off and little noticeable around over sick at cruising speeds. The bad part for performance was the pipes actually came in the side of the muffler at the back. Still seemed to be a gain over stock.
So I'm posting here because, well, most of the recommended headers you guys have listed here for 5.0 Birds are obsolete or no longer produced. I'm halfway through gathering parts for my GT40 build and the only roadblock I'm hitting is this.
i just had my t bird dropped off at my house...looks nice just needs to be washed and waxed.
i was wondering..if i cut off the mufflers out back how much pipe or how long of a tip would i need to fit in place of them and what is the diameter of the stock pipes?
thanks
Well, it took some work and a bit of BFH but they are in. I don't recommend this install for the faint of heart.
Before the pics, here is the run down so far. I had to use a BFH to "clearance" the floor pan on both sides of the tranny tunnel. The engine also has to be raised about 1/2" on...
I removed my rear mufflers and now I want to put a 2 into 1 mid muffler, so do remove the 3rd cat and resonator? And what muffler is best for this set up, I want aggressive but not much drone thx
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