I've had my 99 for about a month now and I've really been enjoying the sound of the flowmasters that the previous owner had installed. I heard they were junk but did'nt really understand why because they sound great.. now I know.

Yesterday on my way to work I started to hear a rattle between 1300 and 1500 rpms when accelerating slowly (light to light). I mean a baaad rattle, continuous and loud. I figured something was just loose so when I got home from work I slid under the car with a rubber mallet and a flashlight. I come to find that the noise is coming from inside the muffler, googled the issue and saw all the posts about loose baffles. PISSED.

It would be atleast afew months if I'm lucky to come up with the dough for B&B bullets so I have another idea.

I know of an exhaust shop that could remove the muffler box and copy the bends of a B&B with straight pipe for a fraction of the cost.

My concern is that this would leave nothing to restrict sound and rasp and I'd end up worse off than I am now with a crazy sounding car and ending up getting pulled over for a "noise issue".

Anyone running straight pipes?? Car is stock otherwise to my knowledge and I live in FL so no restrictions.

I'm desperate, its driving me crazy because I have to kind of beat on the car to make it so it doesn't sound like I'm dragging cans of marbles behind me.

 

I heard that FM mufflers are also among the most restrictive of most brands. My suggestion to you is to try out a set of Z06 Titanium pipes and mufflers. If you have headers, they sound excellent. If you dont, its still an upgrade because of weight savings and better flow than stock and even better than many after market systems. Allot of R&D went into the Ti system at GM... Also, no rust with titanium and you can get a mint set for between $350-400.

 

Really??? I will defintely look into that, otherwise I'll just live with it until I can swing the Bullets. Thanks for the suggestion, I do like the idea of titanium.

 

I always say "pay now or pay later". You got what you payed for. The problem with Flowmaster is that they are not made of stainless steel and will rust from the inside out. The first things to go are the internal baffles.

I've had people tell me that since they don't ever drive in the rain with their cars, the mufflers will not rust. Not true. The rust is caused by the condensation that forms in all muffler systems no matter what environment you live or drive in.

Oh well, hopefully this will be an occasion for you to get a quality SS catback. Strongly recommend Corsa Xtremes. They sound amazing.

 

Just so you know BB Bullits are really loud...... There just a straight pipe with resinators. I had a set for about 6 mos and got rid of them.......

 

Hmm.. This is proving to be a very difficult decision. I've been comparing exhaust sounds on youtube for days now. To be honest I like the sound I have now alot better than borla or corsa but I knew when I bought the car that the flowmasters were lower quality and I would eventually have to change them out.

I do know that I dont want it to be too loud and that I dont like the sound of the borlas.. but thats about it. I might end up having to flip a quarter...

 

Cut the top of the muffler with a 4 inch grinder and a cut off wheel, fix baffle, and mig back together. A welding shop should do it for a hundred bucks or so.

 

I have straight pipes on my '01, which is how I bought it. Stock manifolds, stock h-pipe w/ cats. Not nearly as loud as you might assume, but the drone is horrible most of the time. Select rpm's it's tolerable, but still not what I would consider acceptable. Unfortunately, haven't had the money for new exhaust yet.

 

Really? maybe I will go with just having a shop remove the muffler boxes and replace them with straight pipes copying the bends the B&B bullets... personally I enjoy hearing the exhaust note or "drone" while cruising so I won't mind it. I'd much rather spend money on a cam instead of exhaust anyway.