I was wondering if anyone has ever used a Force Automotive muffler on thier 2.3 stang to give the appearance of dual exhaust? The one I am looking at is Summit Racing part number FRC-5304 (see pic below). It has 2-1/4 inlet and dual 2-1/4 outlets and is roughly the same dimensions as the stock muffler. Summit sells it for $35.95. It is supposed to have a deep rumble to match muscle cars of the 70's.
That's just another cheap Flowmaster knockoff... Flowmaster 40-series sound pretty decent. Running duals out the back with one of those mufflers like that is a bit more challenging, but a muffler shop should be able to do it for you. On my old '90, similar to how my Thunderbird is now, I used a y-pipe and ran two mufflers (40 series), and V8 stang tailpipes out the back. Didn't sound very good with two mufflers until i added the long tube header, then it sounded decent and was pretty loud (which wasn't always good). I have a sound file on my home computer.
Yeah, that's what I figured. I bought a wrecked 91GT as a donor car to eventually do the V8 conversion. I did install a Ranger header and, didn't notice too much of a difference in sound. I plan on driving my LX with the 2.3 in it for sometime while I rebuild my 5.0 and just wanted an inexpensive dual exhaust look to the car. I was kinda hoping to get my local muffler shop to do the work for no more than $125, probaly wishful thinking.
Well, you could always go the Y-pipe & two muffler route, and then when you do get to the V8 swap you could just take it to a muffler place and have them cut the pipes off in front of the mufflers, and hook those up to the V8 H-pipe.
I talked to my local muffler shop yesterday. He quoted me $175 to put a Y pipe, (2) turbo mufflers, tailpipes, and chrome tips straight out the back like 5.0's. Is that a goood price, or is he kinda high?
I assume you mean aluminized because you can't use aluminum pipe for exhaust...(at least not for any extended amount of time)
Wow. That's not bad. Are they chrome steel tips, or polished stainless? Just that chrome steel will rust and takes CONSTANT attention (been there done that), and you can get polished stainless tips fairly cheap from summit these days.
Yeah, they are chrome steel. This guy has done exhaust for me before and used the same tips. I know what you mean, I had to polish them all the time. Another quick question, if he puts a Y-pipe after the cat (like on an 85GT) will I still need to relocate the brake line to the center of the rear end like you have to when doing the V8 conversion with an H-pipe, or will the Y-pipe and mufflers be out of the way?
Well, it's not a bad idea... FYI, you don't really have to actually relocate the line, you can just unbolt the distirbution block from the axle and move it enough that the line will clear the tailpipes (I did this on my old Mustang). There's enough room in the hardline that you can bend it slightly to get the room you need. Also, when you move the distribution block, make sure you put the "bolt" that holds it down back into the axle, as it doubles as a vent for the diff.
Thanks Red_LX thanks for the info. I am going to move the brake line this weekend so I can get the exhaust ran next week
