Hell ya!
Then wrap it all in header tape.
wrap it thick enough so it is a snug fit
your pipes will stay amazingly cool

it was just too load for me.

 

Alright, so after about a month of waiting, my new inserts finally came in. As a refresher I got the Classic Chambered louvered inserts with 3" cores. They are louvered with a fiberglass mat wrap.

First impression:
Excellent build quality. These inserts are lighter than the sweet thunders and look really nice. Although lighter, they are larger and fit better. The larger cylindrical ends vs the cone shaped ends on the Sweet Thunders help create a snug fit in the pipe, as does the notches in the ends to allow for tweaking the diameter.





Design:
The cores are louvered, as are the sweet thunders, but the two are nothing alike. The sweet thunder has very large louvers and less of them, while the Classic Chambered have much smaller louvers, with many more of them in a spiral pattern. In addition they are wrapped in fiberglass exhaust packing to take the edge of a little. The 3" cores are impressive and look like they will really flow.




Sound:
AWESOME!! These inserts are exactly what I was looking for. I'm very relieved because although I did my research it was all sort of a shot in the dark. Believe it or not the Classic Chambered with the 3" core is actually quieter than the Sweet Thunders with 2.25". However, I would think as the fiberglass breaks in a little it will get a little louder.

Although they are quieter, they are still loud when you get on it, and the sound overall is just SO much better. The best way I can describe it is it's just a more organized, deeper, bassier exhaust note. It sounds like the exhaust tone was purposely tuned to sound the way it does, whereas the Sweet thunder was just kind of loud and almost harsh. I might take a beating for this, but the deep bassy tone makes it sound almost like a big block.

Final impression:
After over 9yrs with the Sweet Thunders this is exactly the change I was looking for!! The Classic Chambered inserts got rid of the harshness of the sweet thunder, and gave the car a much better, cleaner sound, all while opening the exhaust up to flow better! I'm very happy with the results and am glad I took the chance.

I will update this post with some videos soon!!

 

That's awesome! I'm glad you liked them. My vette pack 2.5" inserts should be arriving today. I will try to install them on the weekend and post a before and after video.

How much quieter is your exhaust now? I'm currently running 4" obx open pipes which are stupid loud so hopefully the vette packs tone it down a bit.

 

You'll see a massive difference, I ran open pipes a couple times and that's just stupid loud. The 3" I have now with packing are definitely a little quieter than the sweet thunder 2.25", probably due mostly to the design difference. More than being a little quieter though is they are much more controlled and deliberate sounding. They have a nicely tuned exhaust sound, vs just the loud harsh sound. Don't get me wrong, the Sweet Thunders sounded great, but it basically sounded like slightly quieter open pipes. The Classic Chambered sounds like a performance exhaust.

I'm charging my go pro now 👍🏻

 

The anticipation builds! I really hope it has that old school big block deep rumble!

 

wow - cool! Thanks for the update - looking forward to the video. Definitely sounds like a good way to go.

 

Looking forward to the video.

 

A question for anyone who has already installed these inserts. Did any of you end up having to re jet the carb or make any adjustments after installing the inserts? or did your cars run just fine after the fact?

 

Kevin, you made my day - really glad you like them! As far as the packing material (fiberglass blanket), this is some really good stuff & should not break down & leave the cavity - this stuff stays put. A lot of cheap glasspacks & glass-packed mufflers, use material that will break down & slowly fragment & leave the muffler over 12 months or so. I've been using this material in CobraPack mufflers since I started building them back in 2004. It's made in the USA also.

-Eric

 

The sound quality of the videos isn't the best to demonstrate the difference, but I think you can definitely hear what I was describing... Deeper, cleaner, bassy tone, compared to the Sweet Thunders. I'll try to get some more video soon.

 

Sounds good!

 

Sweet thunder now makes them with packing material too that should quiet them down. I'm thinking about them and wrapping them in header wrap too. But there new 3" jobs sound interesting, anybody have pricing info?

 

78 with 383 stroker and TKO 600

When i first intalled the side pipes I went with the Sweet thunder 2.5 inserts and for me it was too loud,next was a set of smaller sweet thunder inserts which were better but as time wore on they also were starting to get on my nerves. I found the sound was too raspy or sharp,as noted sound is very subjective.

July 17/19
Contacted Eric for a set of 2.5 vette pack inserts and at present I'm very satisfied with the sound of the pipes.Its got a deeper toned down sound but when you open it up it's got a nice side pipe bark to it,in my case i found the car has better performance with these inserts as well,win win in my case.

Eric is a great guy to do business with as well.

On a side note here I have a set of new never installed set of 2.5 sweet thunder inserts I'd sell for $300.00 Canadian,I'm located in Alberta,Canada.

 

I have a supercharged 496 with 2 1/2 sweet thunders, yes they are very loud, but the dino shop said thats why my HP is fluttering around 520.
Latter I took them out and measured the inside pipe and it was only a little bit over 2 1/4 inch on both pipes---ouch.
So after reading this thread I called Eric, and ordered 3 inch inserts.
I can not wait to get then in and do another test and tune on the dino.
While Im still waiting I took out my SFI aluminum flywheel and changed it to a SFI steel flywheel, I thought I would have time to race this thing but it wont happen.
Driving the vette on the street is no fun with a aluminum flywheel.
You have to rev it up pretty high to pull out without stalling it and then someone pulls up on your bumper,,, Errrr.
Its got about 100 miles on the aluminum flywheel so I will post it for sale then.

 

I have sts and uncapped them. Very loud. I’m planning to put removesble caps in them that I can reach without taking the pipes off. Not sure how yet. I also have done electric motors/tips for regular exhaust I could rig up...forget the brand but it was pricey. Was going to put them on the Cuda but changed my mind.

 

Hey - I have two Cudas - we must have similar taste in cars.....................!

 

this is my 2nd one. First was a daily driver in college. 68. Technically not a “Cuda”, lol

 

Here is one way using freeze plugs

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...s-one-way.html

Jim

 

I got my inserts the other day from Eric at Classic Chambered Exhaust.
I ordered the 3 inch inserts and WOW these things will swallow my so called 2 1/2 sweet thunders.
I took some pics side by side and will post them thursday.