73 454 exhaust suggestions
 

After rebuilding my 454 in my '73 C/20, I'm close to addressing my exhaust.
I added Thorley tri y headers. And quite honestly, I am more than surprised at their fit and looks.
Ive been running flowmaster 70's on my swb with cast iron manifolds but I'm over it with it being too loud as a daily driver.

What I'm looking for is a much quieter sound without sacrificing performance.

What would you folks suggest I install in order to achieve a quieter but still performing exhaust system?

Thanx in advance...
:chevy:

Re: 73 454 exhaust suggestions
 

Probably the longest Dynomax Super Turbo's you can fit, maybe something like these: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/wlk-17767/overview/

Re: 73 454 exhaust suggestions
 

I felt by using the FM 70's that I was attempting to achieve that.
In my swb location though, the cab just gets too much noise inside.
I'm thinking that maybe a smaller muffler along with being farther back away from the cab on this C/20 that I could possibly achieve my desired results.
My liking would be maybe some FlowMaster 50's and set back.
But I am unsure of the outcome of this.
This is all trial and error in the thought process at the moment.

Re: 73 454 exhaust suggestions
 

I second the longest Dynomax Super Turbos. I have a pair on mine (17748), and it's very decent everywhere, and maybe a tick too quiet at full throttle.

Mufflers are very subjective. I don't care for the sound of chambered mufflers at all. I love the sound of Magnaflow, but I can't stand drone - which is always risky with a straight-through style muffler. Super Turbos sound good and are reasonably quiet and still flow decent.

Re: 73 454 exhaust suggestions
 

On my 79 454 I run Hedman 1 3/4" primary full length headers, 3" custom bent dual exhaust exiting in the stock locations. For mufflers I've switched around on this truck a couple times, and settled on Pypes Street Pro stainless mufflers (about $50 a piece, it's a bargain).

Truck is quiet everywhere, no drone, and under WOT it makes just enough aggressive sound to be noticeable.

I'll also second the use of Dynomax super turbos as long as you stick to the super turbo line, I run those on another car, nice sound that isn't obnoxious at any point, no drone. If you get into the dynomax welded case muffler design then you run into the same issues I've always had with flowmasters. I like the sound but you also get drone and at no point is the car quiet anywhere. Eventually driving it enough you get sick of it.

Nowadays I stick with Pypes street pro mufflers and an occasional Dynomax super turbos on everything. I lean more towards the Pypes street pro's most of the time for 2 reasons, one...they are stainless steel construction, two....for the price of about $50 a piece they are cheaper than most any other muffler on the market, including dynomax.

Re: 73 454 exhaust suggestions
 

No blanket answer either.
Took some 2 chambers off my 77 with a hot rod 406 sbc because they where too loud, gave them to a friend with a stock 454 and they sounded nice.

Currently have a pair of 70 series on my 73, they sound good.

Re: 73 454 exhaust suggestions
 

Been reading alot & need to learn more.
I'm seeing pros and cons for both the Super Turbo & the FM 50's.
Somewhere I read that the super turbos used fiberglass packing inside.
If this I true, what would the life span of the Super Turbo be?
My system will be up and over the rear axle with about a 90* bend behind the wheel exiting out below the bed.
Some so far suggest that the more bends in the system, the quieter it may be.
Its not like I'm looking for a pretzel of an exhaust system, but... so far I'm undecided.
I may look at some YouTube videos and attempt to get a better idea as to what to select.

Re: 73 454 exhaust suggestions
 

Well, here is what I ended up installing.
Not pretty by any means; just a straight forward simple routing and install.
I ended up using these FlowMaster 50 mufflers.
2-1/4" with a 2" tailpipe.
We shall see how loud it gets.
If they are too loud, I may rethink those super turbos.

Re: 73 454 exhaust suggestions
 

I know you already figured it out, but I have Thrush Turbo Mufflers on mine (they were on it when I bought it) and it's fairly quiet. Mine's all 2.25" on a 350 truck motor with manifolds.

Re: 73 454 exhaust suggestions
 

With my pre-stated desire to have a quieter system, the muffler shop owner suggested to run the 2-1/4 pipe vs. the 2-1/2.
I think I would have preferred the 2-1/2 to 2-1/4 out the back, but I took his expert word for it.
We shall find out here soon enough once I start the new engine with this system.

Re: 73 454 exhaust suggestions
 

There's always a tradeoff on noise vs power and you need to decide which is more important. Headers will always be louder than manifolds too.

Re: 73 454 exhaust suggestions
 

Where do you find these for $50?

Re: 73 454 exhaust suggestions
 

Well, I know have the 454 (now a 468) running.
Broke in the motor earlier tonite.

I must admit, the way the system appears choked with the 2-1/4 piping with the 2" out, it did not provide a diminished result.

I am more than pleased with the way this system has turned out.
The FlowMaster 50 mufflers have a quiet but distinctive sound at and off idle.
The sound falls off until I get to around 60-ish mph.
From 60-ish thru 80 mph the cam power range kicks in and has a respectful sound.
Smoothe performance throughout all mph ranges.

I am satisfied.
I am more than pleased with my results!
Hope this was all helpful