I Have a 1990 C4 l98 with original side effects exhaust.... it's clearly states on the pictures that the side effects exhaust is tunable does anybody have any idea how to tune this exhaust if I need to buy a tuner or how to modify this exhaust where I get the most out of it? who in this forum knows anything about side effects?

 

that exhaust looks very restricted with the crazy bends but .. tunable means at some point on the exhaust you should be able to separate it and either add or remove baffles or plates, like my chrome patriots side pipes i can slip the tubes off and remove the baffle or cut it down to change the flow and sound some company's offer different lengths of baffle so its all just plug and play

 

Thank you I will look into that

 

Tunable in the sense that Power Effects/Side Effects has an adjuster **** to change the sound level of the exhaust via a valve inside the power capsule/muffler. So you can change the sound level. I dont believe all SEs have it, but PE mufflers do.

I have PEs, the company went under over a decade ago. It allows me to close the valve and not get a headache on long trips.

 

Nice looking system that looks nice on a car. You probably stand to lose at least 20 hp though. The exhaust hits a wall and has to make a 180 to exit out the other direction after meeting incoming exhaust head on.

 

just go classic 60" side pipes from patriot

 

Their systems were crazy heavy. I had the rear exit exhaust on my ZR-1 and couldn't believe how heavy it was. Also had drone. I always liked the looks of their side pipe setup.

 

Side effects had no adjustment capabilities as stated above. I am a fan of Power Effects but it does drone.

 

I believe you're wrong

 

Im willing to accept that if you can prove it. I've never seen anywhere that Side Effects were tunable.

EDIT: I see in the ad where they say tuning is optional. Just as an FYI, they also advertised a cockpit control module for the Power Effects system...to the best of my knowledge it never happened. I've never seen it or a tunable Side Effects system. Have owned C4's since the early 90s.

 

my car is in the shop right now hes pulling the tranny which means he has to pull my side effects exhaust system off....I'm going to bring it home clean it all up and repaint it.... I was told there are baffles or plates inside the Sound Chamber that if you take those out it will be a lot louder and have more airflow

 

No its a tuning from the Manufacturer, not "on-the-fly" tuning like the PE power capsule has. All I need to do is walk to the back of the car and turn the big red **** on the side. If you had it, you would know.

If you take the SE capsule apart you can remove them, which is what they'd do at the factory.

 

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...96-lt-4-a.html

 

I do have the side effects exhaust but they are not tunable all I did was pull them apart pull all the batting out and put them back together hopefully it'll give it a more throaty sound

 

if you take the baffles completly out it will definitly be louder and not nessesarily give you the sound you are looking for, you will basicaly end up with just open exhaust, and not enough engine or not make enough power to give you the sound youare looking for either, since you dont have true tunable system when you remove the baffle cut them down in sections till you get where you want, i have a 80 vette now i am building but my big tire blower car (galaxie) has patriot side pipes with the baffles removed, yes its probably 10 times the motor you have but will give you a idea about large tube pipe with no baffles, i havent been pulled over yet but ehhh here is a link to my youtube channel where you can find the video of the side pipe debaffeld and other stuff its not a vette but you will get the idea

 

there is not any baffles in my side effects exhaust it was just a thin layer of insulation

 

decreasing the lenght or thickness will greatly change the sound

 

I own Side Effects. I also spoke extensively with Joe (owner of Lawrence-Keech) back in 2005. I've also rebuilt the mufflers using "aftermarket" supplies. I am as close to an "expert" as anyone in this forum.

Side Effects never received a tuning module. It was something Joe considered but it never happened. The pipes were cast in a steel foundry before 2000. The system was discontinued by 2003 but the castings ended even before that. (Castings are the "U"-shaped pipes that constitute the majority of the pipe routing. The alum mufflers are also "castings".)

Exhaust "splits" from the center tube, travels around two "gradual" 90-deg turns where sound "fires" into a muffler. The effect is similar to blowing in a pop-bottle. Sound waves travel into the muffler -- but not the exhaust. Low-pressure (created from the car moving through air) helps to pull exhaust down the side tubes.) Of course, this is true from rear-firing exhaust as well. IMO, this last turn is the restrictive one. Based on tube sizing and dynos provided by L-K, I estimated their flow around 400cfm. It might be a bit less. If you have access to any modeling program, you can compare this to other types of exhaust -- to determine HP loss. For comparison, good true dual setups can reach 1000cfm (though I can't remember if that's with 2.5" or 3" exhaust). Either way, it would be at least double the flow. But that's not the question.

SE came in two configurations: SPORT and TOURING. In both, the "pop-bottle" mufflers contained glued-in compressed batting. The asbestos-batting served a secondary purpose...which was to insulate/cool the muffler so the rubber isolator (in the eye-let of the front mounting point) wouldn't degrade quickly from heat. I can't comment on the life-expectancy of those rubber mounts with and w/o packing. I've had my setup for 15-years and they are still fine on mine. But, I also repacked the missing/loose batting before installation.

Somewhere I have a post on that procedure. I cut stainless screen, shaped to mount/retain speaker sound batting and glued it in place with 2000-deg cement. Custom repair was/is the only option since the pressed factory batting is also discontinued. (I like what I did better anyway because I lined the entire muffler -- providing better heat insulation for the rubber mounts. The factory batting did not cover the bottom of the "coke-bottle mufflers"....which is the end where the mounting eyelet exists.)

Picture a 15" long, 5" diameter alum can, open on one end, and with thick walls. That's the Side-Effects muffler. By itself, the 1/2" pressed factory sound batting (packing) constitutes the "SPORT" configuration. With the batting glued in place, the internal diameter of the muffler "can" is more like 4". Picture a 1/2" lining on the inside of the can.

The "TOURING" option consisted of a press-in baffle -- inserted into the muffler. Joe described the change as modest though it could clearly be heard on their demo tape. They had a demo tape providing good cockpit sound recordings from both setups. By the time I found, rebuilt, and installed my used SE system (in 2005), stock of those baffles were gone. In fact, in 2005, only a few parts (like gaskets) were still available. By now, I doubt they have anything. I'm not sure L-K is still in business -- though I see a listing for them.

The lack of parts was OK. Though I initially tried installing a muffler in the belly, I ended up removing it -- and deciding the sound/resonsance is better without it. My 383 setup only has bullet cats and the aforementioned "pop-bottle" mufflers. I would describe the internal sound level as mild-to-moderate. External sound is definitely less than you'd think...especially at any distance. There is some resonance at hwy speed though it's not unbearable. What's present disappears if you open/crack the window. It's definitely not a problem with open windows and/or open-top driving in the summer.

Side Effects and Power Effects will never be reproduced. According to Joe, steel foundries converted to automated "pouring" lines where molds would have required modification or recreation to work in "modern" line-feed foundries. The cost to do that will never be justified -- when you consider unit cost, demand, and age of the C4 platform. This was true 15-years ago. It's more true now -- when the cost of a new SE setup would run 10%, 20%, 30%+ the price of a C4 Corvette.

They were around $1,500 back then.

So....No tuning module ever made it into the SE platform. That was only in their "Power Effects" mufflers. A press-in baffle was an option -- which was sold as their "TOURING" setup. That's it. No other options were manufactured...or available. I discussed this with Joe in 2005.

 

I just got finished restoring my SE the mechanic had to take them off anyways to drop the transmission to put in a new stage 3 racing clutch anyways I brought them home sandblasted them multiple coats of vht primer then multiple coats of vht flat black and finally multiple coats of vht satin clear I took the batting out of the Sound Chamber because I feel like it would make it a little bit louder and less restrictive maybe I was wrong I don't know?

 

Joe was convinced you shouldn't do that. I asked. That's how I got the info about the secondary purpose of the insulation. OTOH, from our conversations, he sounded like a "by-the-book" kind of guy....at least in terms of his communication to customers.

Between you/me, I can't see significant heat abatement at the eyelet end of the muffler. As you likely saw, insulation doesn't extend all the way to the mounting-point end. I suspect you could find something to serve as a grommet if they go bad. (Assuming you don't have a spare set). That grommet looks fairly universal.

Let's see...who was it that said "Don't worry bout it!"?