Factory exhaust

[Rusty_S85]

I'm not hating on Walker.

I have a Walker medium duty school bus muffler with Walker flanges welded on the front to meet my stock headpipes.

But (in my opinion) their crinkle bent aluminized pipes are the lowest common denominator for people who "don't want to pay a lot for this muffler" (yeah, I'm old.. get over it)

But I think you'll be leaving a lot on the table if you go to 3".

I would try to find a shop to bend up your Y-pipe the way you want and keep the rest of your system.

If they can't bend and weld a Y for less than $300 I'd offer to go smoke crack out behind the shop with them.

Oh I am not either. Im going to buy one of their OE replacement mufflers for my truck for $20 to cut the OE hanger off the back of the muffler and once I get the tail pipe and muffler situated was going to mark the stainless steel muffler then have a exhaust shop weld the hanger to the muffler.

I do have the Jegs offroad Y pipe but its in multiple pieces I guess I could get it pieced together and then have an exhaust shop weld it up and see if they can take the time to weld and grind it so it doesnt appear to be welded under the oil pan. The only problem I would have with the fabbing a Y pipe up locally is the collector, mine uses the OE collector and I dont know if they are still able to be found for custom exhaust hookups.

Ill just have to find a local shop I am comfortable with cause as of now Ive seen local shops do some highly questionable stuff. I would prefer to have OE hangers reused on my truck but local shops wont take the time to source the stuff they will use generic and screw it/weld it to the underside and they always fail due to how thin the generic hangers are.

But if you and everyone else feels single 2 1/2" with a 2 1/4" tail pipe wouldnt hurt I have no problem giving it a go. If a 2 1/2" tail pipe would be preferable I could have one made up I would just have to buy a 2 1/2" muffler which can be had I just went 2 1/4" as I figured it would be easier to put the 2 1/2" to 2 1/4" reducer on the front side of the muffler and then can connect my tail pipe directly to the muffler.

I am perfectly happy with my dual 2.5" pipes from the manifolds to the muffler (still the original 1986 one) then the 3" tailpipe that goes out to 4" where the two spark screens used to be (no longer needed as no air pumps). The only part that has been replaced are the dual 2.5" many years ago when I couldn't get the front joints apart and then later modified when I installed the EFI system.

I will buy Walker and Monroe products, but in my case it is because one of my pension checks comes from them (dates to when we were owned by Tenneco before Northrop Grumman).

BTW Jim, to some of us you're still young.

I could reuse my old Y pipe but going with aftermarket headers I feel better with just running all new since its been chopped up so much from the cat back. Figured it would be easier and I could be assured of a good leak free seal at the OE style collectors with both being new vs one new and one old.

Walker makes decent products, like I stated above I will be buying their cheap OE replacement muffler to rob the OE hanger off of it and have welded onto my stainless steel Magnaflow muffler. To me that would be easier to do than to fabricate up some kind of aftermarket hanger to be as rigid as the OE setup.

My only problem is size, originally I was set on just using the OE sized components with aftermarket pieces through a aftermarket generic muffler that has similar dimensions to the OE and then run the OE tail pipe with the plan to later on have a stainless steel one bent up since on our trucks you can see the muffler and would be nice to have tail pipe and muffler match if possible. If I source the Magnaflow Y pipe its in stainless so I would just go ahead and get a piece of straight stainless tubing to extend the Y pipe back to the muffler. Only question is do I do OE style Y pipe that is 2 1/2" after the merger then reduce it down with a reducer to 2 1/4" and run the 2 1/4" muffler I have and the 2 1/4" tail pipe or do I buy the muffler again in 2 1/2" size and have a 2 1/2" tailpipe made. Clamp wise I have lap joint exhaust band clamps that Ive used before and work great at sealing without crushing the pipes making disassembly in the future easier. I just dont know on the size. 2 1/2" to muffler then 2 1/4" muffler back or 2 1/2" all the way, or get the Bassani offroad pipe in 3" all the way back.

I would just buy the Magnaflow Y pipe but I just dont know how those converters would hinder my flow and I am also not sure how gutting said converter would hinder flow by introducing turbulence going from a small tube to a large open case back to a small tube again. I guess its really no different than going from exhaust pipe to muffler back to tail pipe.

You’re not gonna be missing out on anything with a 2.5 inch pipe. My 351w breathes well enough it’s still pulling at 5k rpm with the 2.5 inch exhaust. And I also spend most of my time around 2k-3k rpm, it’s got awesome power in the midrange and when you tip into the throttle that magnaflow muffler really barks in that range.

I did the whole exhaust thing about a year ago. I went through trying to find y pipes, exhaust systems, hangers, reducers, etc. Trying to get exactly what I wanted and to do it myself. It was a disaster. I tried to mesh two kits, nothing worked and parts would not fit right. I finally got to a point where I just wanted everything welded up and leak proof but I was embarrassed by all the clamps, reducers, Florida man look to it. It looked chaotic. I found an exhaust shop to weld it all up. The shop owner saw what I wanted and basically cut me a deal. He saw I worked hard on it and was impressed I pulled it off but if put his tools to it, it has his name on it. So he built me a new, professional, smooth sounding exhaust from the y pipe back at a great price. We were both happy and he got a lifetime customer.

For the amount of money companies charge for a mandrel bent y pipe you can have a shop build you an entire exhaust. The going rate around here for a dual exhaust is $400. It may not be mandrel bent but we don’t have 700 horse motors where mandrel bends may net us a decent gain, rather we might see a 2-5 horse gain, if we’re lucky. They sound a little smoother mandrel bent but the extra $$$ ain’t worth it for me. There’s a larger difference in power when dry and cool air moves in than in the way the exhaust pipes are bent.

Also, if you’re wanting to make it look like Ford did it a good shop can do that. The guy that did mine tucked the entire exhaust, all you see is the tail pipe but he flared the end of the tailpipe like the factory did. Other than the 60 degree bent tail pipe and better sound, I promise no one thinks it’s not stock.

But I also see your concern with the workmanship of the shops around you. I understand that. I got burned by one so I get it. Maybe there’s a place just a little further out from you that would work. Make a day of it, a good shop should be able to build a full exhaust in a matter of a couple hours or thereabouts if they’re good.

Whatever you decide to do I hope it works out, sounds great, and performs great

Jim- I’d also like to see the cfm differences, that would be interesting to know

See thats my thing, I dont think I would see a reduction in performance/power with single 2 1/2" cause I do remember reading years ago that single 2 1/2" with a 302 cid displacement and 5,500 max rpm it was something like 400hp capability.

Only question is if I stick with my plan do I change the tail pipe and muffler. I currently have both sized in 2 1/4" as the OE system from ford was the muffler was 2 1/2" inlet and 2 1/4" outlet and Magnaflow doesnt offer this muffler in that size they offer it in 2"/2 1/4" but not 2 1/4"/2 1/2". So I bought the 2 1/4" figuring I could use a reducer infront of the muffler. But if I go straight 2 1/2" out the back I could omit the reducer and run just one lapband band clamp on my exhaust but I still would have to source a local shop to make me a tail pipe. My truck isnt lowered so if they could bend it the same as the replacement tail pipe I got I should be fine. I do after all have to have an exhaust shop weld up the hanger on the muffler and tail pipe as I will be sourcing OE hangers from my replacement parts to be transfered to the final components.

Sound wise this is a 66 Mustang with a 289 thats all stock with 2" dual exhaust running the same Magnaflow XL 3 chamber mufflers so it gives an idea of sound some what except mine is a 302 thats being worked over with fuel injection and I dont know exactly what XL 3 chambers he is running but mine that I have in 2 1/4" which I believe the 2 1/2" is the same dimensions is 6" round with a 27" case length and 33" over all length.

Then this video is the only video I could find of my cam grind on youtube its in a 91 F150 with a 5.0L EFI with dual magnaflow exhaust but no mention of what Magnaflow but I am hopeful mine will provide a mellow quiet sound when idling and cruising but will become throaty and aggressive when I get on the throttle.