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California Exhaust

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EngineerDoug

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Yup I am stuck here in California, mulling over the new exhaust law that was passed in January. Apparently the state is really cracking down on loud exhaust systems and some folks are getting slapped with heavy fines and a lot of hassle.

I will be building (or buying) an exhaust system for my '68 B body before too long. I will run a 383 for a while until I can build a 500 inch stroker for it. My plan is to run 1 7/8 TTI headers and a 2 1/2 inch system after that (maybe an exhaust kit from Summit or Jegs). This will be street use only. I want a deep throaty sound, but definitely do not want to draw attention from the sound Nazis. And frankly I am not interested in irritating my neighbors or giving myself a resonance headache.

I know "what sounds good" is a very subjective issue, but I would appreciate any recommendations for a system - primarily a muffler - that might fit the bill.

Thanks!
 
TTI kits come with the Dynomax super turbo style muffler. They sound throaty without being too obnoxious. The ultraflow they make sounds really nice, but may be a bit too loud for some. I switched from the super turbo to the welded ultraflow and love it. A lot less drone than the flowmaster mufflers and deeper sound for sure. YouTube has a lot of clips of these you can search and hear kinda what it will sound like before making the final decision.
 
Hemi cars also had the resonators behind the axle as well before the tips...

hemiexhaustinstalled2.jpg

MB15111.jpg
 
EngineerDoug said:
Yup I am stuck here in California, mulling over the new exhaust law that was passed in January. Apparently the state is really cracking down on loud exhaust systems and some folks are getting slapped with heavy fines and a lot of hassle.

I will be building (or buying) an exhaust system for my '68 B body before too long. I will run a 383 for a while until I can build a 500 inch stroker for it. My plan is to run 1 7/8 TTI headers and a 2 1/2 inch system after that (maybe an exhaust kit from Summit or Jegs). This will be street use only. I want a deep throaty sound, but definitely do not want to draw attention from the sound Nazis. And frankly I am not interested in irritating my neighbors or giving myself a resonance headache.

I know "what sounds good" is a very subjective issue, but I would appreciate any recommendations for a system - primarily a muffler - that might fit the bill.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Dynomax super turbos sound nice, not very loud..heck I run the Ultra-Flows in a full 3" system and I think the single Flowmaster 40 on my '04 hemi Ram is louder (except under full go-pedal maybe:D) If you're trying to stay mellow I would steer clear of most of the Flowmasters...they sound good, but seem to all be louder at idle and cruise. Adding a resonator (really just a second muffler in-line) will do the trick as well.
 
I stuck some flow master knock offs from speedway on my car recently.

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Spee...5-Inch-Offset-Inlet-Center-Outlet,244865.html

There sort of loud, sound good to me tho. I haven't even looked at this new law that's passed but I don't think cops will give you any trouble unless its extremely obnoxious and people complain. I don't think they will really enforce it...

I was also thinking about going with thrush turbos (which would be quieter probably) but ended up deciding on the chambered ones

I'm in Southern California as well
 
So this law is for cars only or what? I'd tell LE to go F themselves and to leave me the F alone, and go after the loud *** inconsiderate Harley riders instead! Which CA. has a very serious problem with! What a crock-O-crap!
 
69a100 said:
So this law is for cars only or what? I'd tell LE to go F themselves and to leave me the F alone, and go after the loud *** inconsiderate Harley riders instead! Which CA. has a very serious problem with! What a crock-O-crap!
Click to expand...
The law is probably for any street driven vehicle. It will probably only be enforced when it needs to be.

Luckily, at least in my experience, if the car is old enough it has enough of a "cool factor" and a lot of law enforcement will appreciate it and leave you alone.

I think the law is mainly for those people with 80's junk cars, they hack up the exhaust on and roar down the street making fart sounds that everyone in the neighborhood can hear. those same people might put a spoiler on the turd too. id be fine to get those off the road, and the drivers!
 
Compression brakes what about them? Oh I forgot trucking industry pay-o-la to politicians.
 
Well they better get their beat on in Oakland! Just sayin!
 
Evan Frucht said:
The law is probably for any street driven vehicle. It will probably only be enforced when it needs to be.

Luckily, at least in my experience, if the car is old enough it has enough of a "cool factor" and a lot of law enforcement will appreciate it and leave you alone.

I think the law is mainly for those people with 80's junk cars, they hack up the exhaust on and roar down the street making fart sounds that everyone in the neighborhood can hear. those same people might put a spoiler on the turd too. id be fine to get those off the road, and the drivers!
Click to expand...
When I lived in San Diego I had some close encounters with the boys in blue, most of them are pretty cool in fact some are as big a gear heads as we are. Several times I got pulled over just so the cop could get a look at the car and talk... I concur with Evan about the shitboxes running around town with loud *** fart pipes, but I can remember when I was running around town with headers and a set of thrush cherry bombs... Geez was it obnoxious. One things for sure I don't miss the California squeeze, It seems like you can never put your wallet back in your pants fast enough before "another fee" comes up... The sunshine tax there is ridiculous, that's why I took the money and got the hell out of there when the "getting was good".
 
I put thrush mufflers on the new '71 Road Runner my parents bought. Drove it to high school two years, no problems.

Sold the car to a friend who re-installed the factory mufflers after getting a ticket right away. You never know.
 
Electric cars should have to sound like the Jetson's car:
 
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My 66 charger came from a man who lived down the street from my parents. He had owned it for years and years. It had stock exhaust with burned-out thrush mufflers so in affect, it had straight pipes and had been that loud for years. He had no problems with the Law.
One day I see a 69 charger in his driveway. Having just turned 16 I was looking for my first car. "Where's your car?" I asked him. "Traded it in on this".
So I went running down to the Chrysler dealership and bought my Charger with 63,000 miles for $600. It was a beautiful car before I got it.
It sounded sweet with those straight pipes and starting about 2500 RPMs, it would roar. Three weeks after I got it, I was standing in front of the Judge and he is pointing his bony little finger at me saying: "You will put OEM mufflers on that car, or I will put you in jail!". So I put OEM Hemi mufflers on it and what do you know, I started getting fewer tickets. Yes, I got a lot of tickets in that first three weeks.
Now I look back and I see that judge was right. Every time some idiot with a straight pipe Harley goes blasting by me and makes my ears ring, I wonder what happened to that Judge and those Cops who used to keep me respectful of my community.
 
There is some good advice here. My recommendation would be:
1. Stock style mufflers (Walker has 2-1/4" which I'm running)
2. hemi resonators as a couple above have mentioned
3. turn-down tailpipes (I believe our cars came factory like this in California)

Don't worry, with a big block & headers, the car will have enough "rumble"
 
There are basically three types and sounds available in mufflers, chambered (flowmasters and knockoffs) straight thru glasspacks, (max flow oval types, cherry bomb round,) and triple pass (turbo and hemi ). Your first decision is which sound you like.
Next, the larger/longer the case is, the quieter it will be. Tailpipes to the bumper will also quiet the sound and help remove resonance. Most of the trouble with chambered muffler resonance, in my opinion, is too few chambers/too small,too short, no tailpipes.
I used a huge single 3inch flowmaster(5series big block)on a dually pickup that was barely noticable, but i did like the sound
I built a 3 1/2 system to the back bumper using a pair of monstrous flowmasters on my 62 that i love the sound of, and being huge, i dont think the "flowmasters kill horsepower " applies. That system was not cheap.
I also did a 3 1/2 system, but only to the axle on my other car, that used hooker aerochamber, that sounded similar, but i liked the flowmaster sound better. Lots of guys like the aeros and i think they tend to resonate less, the 3 1/2 were about a third as much money as the flowmasters.
My other big block car has a 3"system with an exit in front off the rear wheels, because of the fenderwell headers, with very long very quiet magnaflow straight thru's. I'm not sure i like them, im going to experiment with the aero's.
In my opinion (and it's just that) a longer muffler will quiet down an engine without costing any horsepower, and a smaller tubing size is fine if the mufflers flow well.
Check out the muffler and pipe tests on engine masters at motor trend tv.
 
The police are not trained nor do they carry decibel meters, the law is subjective. So if you do get the ticket, you go to a referee station where they are trained, have a decibel meter and can measure the sound of your exhaust at a determined distance.
 
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