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Been wanting to replace my exhaust for a while now, bought a Waldron full exhaust about a year and a half ago go and decided to give my car some love and get on with it this week.
Honestly embarrassed on how bad I let it get, as you'll see in some pic's, but I got it to the point of the old system completely off the car now.
The manifold exhaust flange donut is kind of funky, a metal ring that slips into the end of the manifold but donut on the other side to mate with the exhaust pipe. I think I found a good replacement offered by Mahle, its on order and will report when I get it.
There are 2 sets of metal & rubber hangars, 1 set at the muffler and one at the rear at the tail pipe. Luckily the rubber is still in fairly good shape, the metal is intact but being encrusted in rust. I suppose I'll wire brush off best as possible and cover up with POR 15 or something similar. I presume the answer is no but is there any source for original style exhaust/muffler hangars? For a bit in the 80's I worked at Montgomery Ward in the auto shop and we had boxes of them in many configurations!
I think these Toro ones are pretty specific so I'm pretty sure I can mend/maintain the ones I got.
I'm going to tackle the gas tank too but I'll prob toss that up in another thread.
On to some pics....
Sawzall was my friend!!
Brackets at muffler hangar that assist U clamps, gotta clean them up...
I was wondering if it's possible to make the exhaust just a little bit more throaty but still classy and dignified. Curious if the Waldrons muffler will achieve that.
I was wondering if it's possible to make the exhaust just a little bit more throaty but still classy and dignified. Curious if the Waldrons muffler will achieve that.
Waldron actually has 3 muffler choices from stock to a 'throatier' sound, I forget what I ordered actually, I have to go back to check.
I always thought it was to reduce drone at cruising speeds? I guess I just assumed this was the purpose, that may not be right.
Just to throw my hat in the ring here... I have a custom bent stock configuration exhaust from a local vendor who also hand made the muffler. I used no resonators, and the rear sound is nothing short of a Chris Craft idling at the dock. Slightly tinny with a water gurgle sound, and really pretty loud. If you're behind the car trying to talk at high idle, you have to yell. That being said, inside the car at a stop or at highway cruising speeds, there is no sound at all. In fact when the windows are rolled up it is almost tomb-like compared to my Armada or especially my 442. No drone whatsoever - hardly any sound at all. That all said, I want it quieter out the back and I'm adding some Walker glass packs in the next week or so. I'm sure the neighbors will appreciate it.
Just to throw my hat in the ring here... I have a custom bent stock configuration exhaust from a local vendor who also hand made the muffler. I used no resonators, and the rear sound is nothing short of a Chris Craft idling at the dock. Slightly tinny with a water gurgle sound, and really pretty loud. If you're behind the car trying to talk at high idle, you have to yell. That being said, inside the car at a stop or at highway cruising speeds, there is no sound at all. In fact when the windows are rolled up it is almost tomb-like compared to my Armada or especially my 442. No drone whatsoever - hardly any sound at all. That all said, I want it quieter out the back and I'm adding some Walker glass packs in the next week or so. I'm sure the neighbors will appreciate it.
Nice! My dad tells me that the muffler on my car is a stock muffler that was installed in 1980 so she's getting up there but it still "looks" ok. The resonators rotted away years ago and he replaced them with those Thrush brand red things that were welded in. They're painted silver and do a great job impersonating the originals.
I've been contemplating what to do with my exhaust for quite some time as I've been trying to track down a noisy exhaust in my car for a while now and, to me, it sounds like it's in the manifold area. However, I brought it to a local exhaust repair place and they couldn't find anything wrong.
She's got a great sounding exhaust until you put it in gear and start accelerating. That's when I feel like I can hear like a manifold leak or something. If you rev it up in park, it just has a really nice roar and sounds pretty smooth and decently quiet. My ears are simply not trained enough on these things to be able to tell where it's coming from and it's driving me pretty nuts, honestly.
custom bent stock configuration exhaust from a local vendor who also hand made the muffler. I used no resonators, and the rear sound is nothing short of a Chris Craft idling at the dock. Slightly tinny with a water gurgle sound
Would love to hear a good recording of that. Low idle in gear especially.
Yeah, it's not terrible lol - but it's a bit loud, and if it's on high idle you can't carry on a conversation behind the car. But like I said before, it's crazy quiet inside the car, and I added no insulation or anything more than the stock under carpet pad and behind the rear seat.
EDIT - this is the first video I've posted here - now that I understand it a bit better, I'll see if I can't get a better and longer one uploaded later today.
Last edited by BSiegPaint; Sep 2, 2024 at 05:17 AM.
Yeah, it's not terrible lol - but it's a bit loud, and if it's on high idle you can't carry on a conversation behind the car. But like I said before, it's crazy quiet inside the car, and I added no insulation or anything more than the stock under carpet pad and behind the rear seat.
EDIT - this is the first video I've posted here - now that I understand it a bit better, I'll see if I can't get a better and longer one uploaded later today.
My faux resonators can be seen in this picture. Thrush glass packs I think they are....
Of course, to each their own. In my opinion, a little rumble like you'd get with a performance cam could be okay, but this is way over the top. Nowhere near the usual sound of a Toronado which borders on silent. Don't mean to start a brew-ha-ha on this - different strokes for different folks, and I'm an original/stock guy.
I am someone who HAS to experiment, especially with exhaust. This crossflow type muffler really has me thinking about tinkering... It would just take some added extensions to make it reach the stock pipe connections without ruining any of the factory originality. I.e. swap it in and totally reversible. I'd like a little more throaty tone, but without adding much "crackle" if that makes any sense. I have other noisier cars for that. For me I want the toro to remain mostly classy. It's practically silent compared to todays v8's. Which is not a bad thing, just not what I'm conditioned to.
Something to be said for a Toronado with a snotty exhaust note.😈
My 69 has a Flowmaster transverse muffler for an F-body. Left the resonators off and finished the exhaust with a pair of 442 trumpets thru a 68 W34 bumper. Yeah it's kinda loud. Not modern Mustang obnoxious loud, but it announces its presence.
I have a pair of NOS 69 W34 resonators in their GM boxes. Ought to sell them.
Ok, longer video this time. Started, rev a little, pulled through the gears at idle, rev to 2,200, then idle down and off. It really gets quieter as the revs go up!
