Wanted to know the pros and cons of getting rid of my original mufflers with eliminators. I have a 90 Vette with 95k miles and wanted to update the exhaust system with todays tech but on a budget.

 

Muffler elims drone like crazy, but have a good tone from outside the car.

You can get a custom exhaust from a shop for 4-500 from what I've seen.

 

Muff. Elims by themselves create drone, I put in an x-pipe in place of the resonator and I have little drone to complain about. At least it never bothers me, much better than with resonator.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Farmall9...11/0ZVpL6K2cJw

 

You can get a pair of OEM style dual working outlet muffs at Mid America for cheap..

 

Find a used LT1 system and modify it to fit.

 

Pros
1. cheap- around $100 at a muffler place to weld my stock tips back on.
2. sounds good- This is the only reason I wanted to do it.
3. easy to do yourself if you buy them already made.
4. less weight if you road race.

Cons
1. loss of back pressure made my car feel a little slower (LT1 and LT4)
2. could **** off neighbors early in the morning
3. people complain of drone, but I don't notice much and this can be subjective in my opinion. Now my 01 GS Regal with a Dynomax turbo muffler and high flow cat/downpipe has some serious hwy drone.

 

I installed a set of baffled eliminators in conjunction with a rear y-pipe with a balance tube on my 85. The drone is less than the beat-up stock mufflers I was using and the sound from outside the car makes people take notice. Sounds like a 60's Vette with sidepipes IMO.

 

I've noticed in these Eliminator threads that it seems that L98 owners seem to experince less drone issues than LT1 owners. Anyone else see this pattern or am I just imagining it?

 

You're probably imagining it -- since most people who do the eliminator mod also drop their cats. In that case, it would be drone-city and LOUD!

However, if you leave the stock cats in place for an L98 (especially the setups with pre and main cats), eliminators won't be particularly bad. The tandem cats do enough muffling that you'd find the result acceptable.

If not, put some glass packs or resonators where the rear mufflers USED to sit. I guarantee that would be acceptable -- with no drone. (This is the setup I USED to have with dual tip chrome resonators for tips).

 

Picked these mufflers up for $100 the manifolds were Xtra.

 

Same here except I didn't notice any change in power. They sound great with the top down and long tubes. I switched from a Flowmaster cat-back to eliminators a local shop welded into place for under $100 including the pipes and eliminator tips. I don't regret the swap.

 

I don't know if they made my 93 faster or slower but its doing all right it rips off a 1/4 mile run in 13.52 @108.8MPH.

 

I have this type of eliminators and gutted cats on my -86. Apart from normal road noise etc. I don't experience any drone and I really like the sound.

 

I couldn't explain my target sound any better than a 60's Vette with sidepipies! I'm leaning towards muff elims and leaving all cats in place but, want to understand the effects of the balance pipe. Does that cross tube affect the volume or tone at all? Or does it only affect the drone in-cab?

I have a 96 LT1 with stock set up and it doesn't sound aggressive or deep at all to me. Looking to get the deep throaty sound with a bit more volume... I want people a block away to hear me coming and say "hey whats that coming" but, don't want to be so loud that I wake up my neighbors leaving for work in the early morning.....

 

Well I'm not sure how the walker y-pipe will sound on a 96 LT1, I've only seen it installed on one other C4, another L98 car and that car used it with mufflers. IMO the LT1 cars are too quiet, even my wife agrees. When one pulls into the lots on Cruz Nite, no one notices. When I pull in, people stop and look. Of course it helps that I'm cruising in N blipping the throttle. If you left everything in place before the rear y-pipe, I think you'll be fine with the Walker y-pipe and eliminators, it will definitely be louder and more agressive.

From what I understand, the balance tube was designed to eliminate the drone in the cabin. On the L98 I can tell you it does. I ran the car for a month with just the huge stock cat and that y-pipe, no mufflers and no elimins, I left the exit ahead of the rear wheels. It wasn't loud and sounded good both inside and outside the car. Here's a You Tube sound bite of that:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZkfozogd40

After the car couldn't pass inspection, I changed the stock cat and installed a smaller, "performance" one, similar to the Magnaflow cat. By that time I had installed the baffled eliminators from Allen's Exhaust. With the new cat, the sound was a bit louder, but still no drone inside. From outside, the sound had a extra bite when I blipped the throttle. Everyone is surprised at how quiet it is at idle and I don't annoy the neighbors, unless I get on it right outside their house.

Here's another sound bite with the new cat and the eliminators. Note, the inside shot is with the door open.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQf97ykfRV0

The videos don't do it justice, there's nothing like hearing it in person. If you're in the area, you're more than welcome to drop by to listen.