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exhaust questions

990 views 4 replies 5 participants last post by  icedragon 
#1 ·
I want a good flowing and good sounding exhaust foe my nova. Being too loud isnt a problem unless its illegal. i dont mind the noise but the cops do. I've been looking at getting a universal exhuast kit from Jegs with 2 1/2 in. pipe then using glasspacks. The thing is the tailpipes come out infront of the back tires. When i have my windows down am i gonna have a problem with smog rolling in my window? or am i just paranoid. Just dont want a cab thats full of smoke. Any input would help.
 
#2 ·
Many jurisdictions require that any exhaust system end after the passenger compartment, for many cars this means after the rear axle. Back in the "old days" I had an exhaust that ended just before the rear axle in my 69 Mach I, since the car had a trunk this was considered legal even though the pass-through hatch in the rear seat made that a moot point if you wanted to be sticky.

Even though technically it was legal I was still hassled by the "man" on a number of occasions because you could see the exhaust from behind the car. Keep this in mind when your planning your exhaust because loud pipes attract attention...usually the wrong kind even if your driving sanely. Really it depends on the police in your area and the local laws mean little if they are constantly hassling you for their petty "inspections" and license checks.

If I were you I would have the exhaust dump right behind the rear tire with a set of real mufflers plumbed into the system, glasspacks are pretty loud just by themselves. The early Novas look nice with this configuration and satisfy the laws in most jurisdictions.

In the end it's up to you but I would ask a local police officer what he considers "too loud" and follow his advice, nobody likes to be pulled over during every Friday night cruise.

Get his name and badge number while your at it and drop it if you get pulled over.

As for "smog" rolling into the windows I doubt that will be a problem unless your car is burning significant amounts of oil, the noise and legality would be my main concern.
 
#3 ·
If you are worried about sound, I would get a set of 2.5" Flowmaster Delta Force 3 chamber mufflers. Then either buy the Flomaster tubing kit or get a generic one or for not a whole lot of money you can get a local muffler shop to install a custom fit system with you Flowmaster mufflers. I have the 3" 2-Chambered mufflers and they are loud. I also have a Valentine 1 radar detector and whenever I get close to a cop, I let off on the gas. It is somewhat of a hassle to have the increased sound in the city where you are starting and stopping frequently but for highway use they sound great. Just tap the accelerator at 65 mph and when thos four barrels open up, everyone around will know it! I also have kind of a problem sneaking into parking lots. I tend to set off all the car alarms in a 10 foot radius- and even farther when I turn the key and that much horsepower roars through 2 chamber mufflers. I suggest that if you are worried about what sound you can get away with, that you go with 3 chambered Delta Flow Flowmasters. They are top quality, high performance mufflers that sound big when you floor it but are surprisingly calm when cruising or idling. I know everybody in the apartments where I live are not happy when I start my car at 7 am every morning. Something about their windows shaking seems to bother them.
 
#5 ·
i had a 76 monte carlo that had the stock 350 in it. i put dual 3in exhaust on it with red hot glaspacks and that thing was loud enough to iritate all my neighbors because i got off work at 2 am. even idling it was loud enough to set off the alarms. but i never had a problems with the reno pd. sparks pd is a different story. go with what you like. a good mufler shop should know the laws in your area.
 
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