On Thu, 18 Aug 1994, Marcus Tooze wrote:
> The Midget sounds like a hot rod...theres no muffler left and the front
> pipe is barely hanging onto the manifold. A friend said he ran his
> Midget with a straight pipe (no muffler) and it sounded great....Mr.
> Marcus
Marcus,
Yeah it'll be way too noisy. If you don't want to use the stock setup
because it's too small, you can do something else. One system that I've
had good luck with is glass packs. Now I know what the list is thinking,
but hold on you guys, there is a tasteful way to do this.
Glass packs are cheap, and they offer good flow thru design. Now
obviously, they aren't the best for muffling, but they do smooooth out
the sound of an engine. For your midget, I'd recommend using a straight
pipe back from the manifold to just behind the diff. Then you can split
the pipe, and install two glass packs angling out toward the rear of the
car. Attatch some ANSA or MONZA chrome twin tips, and you have a
halfway decent flow thru exhaust that won't be too loud. It'll look
comparable to one that some bloke dropped $150 on, and you can whip it
together in an afternoon if you have a welder.
But, unlike the guy who bought the ANSA, then found it to be MUCH louder
than anticipated, you can simply add another glass pack, say under the seat,
if you're looking for a slightly more modest sound. My Spit-6 has 3 full
size glass packs, and I'm comfortable with the sound. It is certainly
less noisy than my wife's old TR-6 with the ANSA twin-pipe system.
Disclaimer: glass packs don't last the life of the car.
Tip: Proper hanging of the exhaust system is Critical. As one of my
Brit-car friends said, "mufflers aren't made of tissue paper". In other
words, hang it professionally, or it will look like c**p and fall off.
I hope you have fun. Exhaust work is nasty. Wear your safety goggles.
Greg Meboe
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