ImBatman

LOL!!!!! Thanks guys there are a lot of wide range emotions here.... I am going to drive it a little more and see. If it were a coupe it might not be as bad but being a vert it is really loud. I may look into the heat sheild option as well. The pipes will peel the skin right off your leg after only a few minutes of run time.

I do like travis' setup though. The only way I would swap is if I can get enough out of selling the current system to cover at least the cost of the headers and the muflers.

Wade

savewave

Here's a possibility you might consider: Leave the sidepipes loud, but reduce your RPMs on road trips by adding an overdrive transmission.

I did that on my '65 BB with sidepipes. Before, I was turning 3800 RPMs at highway speeds and the roar of the sidepipes would give me a headache after about an hour.

After installing the 5-speed transmission, I'm turning about 2,000 RPMs at highway speed. BIG difference in comfort factor!

And, yes, now I can hear the radio again.

Curby

The TKO600 dropped the cruise db enough to talk, even with the tops out, the rear glass out, and the windows down. It is not exactly cheap, but all you need to do is put another 60,000 miles on the car to make it pay for itself in gas savings.

ImBatman

Thanks guys but I already did the TKO600 upgrade. In 5th gear it does help a lot. However, I live in a rural area and rarely see 5th gear. I have been looking at other inserts outside of my JCL spiral baffles. Has anyone done a sound and power comparison?

Thanks
Wade

Curby

Cool.

my72vette454

I am having the same thoughts on my 72 coupe. I took the under car exh off and that made a big difference to the heat inside the car, which is why I wanted to try the side exhaust in the first place but I liked the sound of the pipes out the back a lot better. My car is actually easier on the ears with the windows down, tops off and the back window out, if its all closed up then I get the drone and that is more annoying. I have a 4l80e overdrive trans and tach about 2200 at 75 mph, and that seems to be the worst speed for the noise. I was toying with the idea of putting the under car exh back on and running some of those "Y" pipe valves and hooking both systems up...out the back for trips, out the side for town. O and that myth about cars being so quiet with turbos on that you probably wont have to run mufflers.... not true.

68blueshark

Hello
I have a 68 and wanted the side pipe sound but not the heat - I just put on the N-11 off road chamber pipes under the car by Mid america- They sound great when taking off and are so quite at crusing speed that you can talk on a cell phone and hear the radio.

GDaina

Wade,

Why don't you get your trusty welder and weld the holes in the spirals shut. That will reduce your noise level, and forget teh notion that welding the holes shut will choke the HP. Losing 3 hp is not choking the engine....

ImBatman

GDaina,

I think I am going to try this again and see if I notice a difference or if it was just in my head because the pipes were quieter. So with the JCL's ran in the stick config which is center pipe closed I will lose only 3 hp?

Thanks
Wade

AutoX-Z06

When I removed my flowmasters 40 series and added sidepipes on my coupe it was actually quieter, and had a lot less drone to it. food for thought.

joewill

My side pipes were too loud too.. chambered straight thru's.. installed by previous owner. it was a big project... buy matching paint base coat clear coat, and paint a new back panel for the rear exhaust exit, new tips, new bezels, new rockers on the side, screw kits, and the entire front to back aluminized pipe and muffler set.. cost me about a week of labor/chasing parts.. all about 950$.. sold my side pipes for 500.. some of the best money I spent on my car.. nice and quiet for cruisin.. I say go for it...

Before and after Pics...

GrandSportC3

Didn't somebody once post dyno charts whee they the plugges STS baffles used a huge amount of HP but the unplugged one only cost a few HP..

ImBatman

I thought I read that as well but could not find the thread. I would definately like to know HP drop before I pull the pipes and weld the hole up.

Thanks
Wade

GDaina

Think you are referring to Massvette, and if I remember the plugged vs unplugged was a mere three or five hp. The huge hp gain was between spiral vs hooker inserts...

miechesa

I removed my sidepipes, all inserts to loud, tried spirals, max flows, except for the reverse flow, which choked the engine. I wanted to listen to the radio so they had to go

rayluka

Well if anyone does remove their side pipes let me know so I can send you a shipping address

GrandSportC3

No, it was somebody else with a HIGH HP application.. I believe that it was a big block and he had something like a 30 - 40 HP difference.. At low HP applications (below 400 HP), the difference might be smaller but at high HP applications, the cap on the baffles really costs a lot of power..

MelWff

This is the link concerning the baffles

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...ower-back.html

CorvetteDave01

I think it was a 75 hp difference unplugged actually.

I unplugged mine but haven't driven it yet. It will probably be too loud, but I have a plan...

I think I can extend the tube of the spiral baffle out the back and make some plugs I can undue by hand through the tip of the sidepipe outlets.

ajrothm

This is the baddest *** exhaust system I have seen for a C3 yet......Man I wish that builder was here in the states....