where can I get a straight through muffler that sounds right? a little sporty
Do you care if they donāt have the oval bodies of the stock system?
If you donāt then you can adapt anything from glass packs to turbo mufflers to straight pipes. Itās just a matter of finding the right length and/or having a muffler ship fabricate so adaptor sections of pipe. Youād have to fab a couple of custom brackets but that shouldnāt be a problem.
I just got Bell SS (uses my factory iron headers) etype standard size (not 2") from Terrys Jag, with free shipping for under 700$, and they offered both pass through version and standard muffler; pass through version looks like a muffler but it lack internals of muffler.
Patrick
'66 fhc
I have this system on my 3.8. Sounds really good.
A Bowie, how high off ground did you need to mount downdraft pipes ?
Thanks
Patrick
'66 fhc
Be careful. I put a straight through muffler on my Cosworth Vega and was very raspy and irritating. I had to add a resonator to the system to save it and my sanity. I like the sound from the stands of XKās racing at Goodwood and Monterey but do not think I could take it for long driving in my car.
David
68 E-type FHC
Has anyone actually used any more universal type mufflers? Iām looking at this too, my silencers are toooo quiet, but cherry bombs or glasspacks are too much. Iām looking at something like magnaflows or thrush turbos. Hoping for something throaty and rumbly but not obnoxious.
I put something called turbo paks (packs?) on the 2+2. They look like a glass pack but have onternal architecture like a turbo muffler. Iām not sure they make them any more and I canāt recall where I bought them.
The stock mufflers have baffles surrounded by sound deadening material. āStraight throughā mufflers have a straight perforated pipe surrounded by sound deadening material. The latter do not sound overly loud except under acceleration. At a cruise they are reasonably quiet. Avoid ābig boreā systems as the produce a deep bass sound which reverberates through the body and can be very tiring. The stock resonators are a āstraight throughā design. Jaguar tests showed baffled mufflers reduced power by 6%.
David
John, why long bolts on clamps ?
Patrick
'66 FHC
On the brackets? IIRC I was trial fitting them when that picture was taken and using what I had laying around. I either used shorter ones or dremmeled those down to size when I did the final assembly.
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Thanks John,
Did you ditch the factory asbestos heat shield ? Hope you donāt mind the Qs as Iām about to mount the Bell system and i ditched the asbestos shield under fhc as well as the brake shield.
Patrick
'66 fhc
Iāve experimented with several straight through systems through the years, never found one I liked. My present system uses a custom muffler made to my design by a company called Stainless Specialities and a pair of straight resonators, maybe made by Double S. Sounds great, as long as you are listening from outside the car. Inside, it sounds like someone is working a plumbers helper on each of my ears. And this is the best effort to date. Iām thinking that the best setup might be a pair of turbo mufflers and stock resonators. But given the time, cost, and disappointment to date, I may just go back to stock and be happy.
I replaced the heat shield with hand bent thin steel, with ceramic paper insulation glued to the backside. I donāt understand why you would want to eliminate them.
Me too. I think my stock E is the best sounding car I have ever been in. To me it has a perfect sound balance between finesse and grunt. Would really take a lot of convincing for me to switch from the stock type system
David
68 E-type FHC
I have a set of 2" mufflers and pipes by Classic Fab in Scotland. The mufflers are straight through, as are the resonators of course. My motor is modified and is 4.7 litres. Quality of work done by Classic is just outstanding - heavy gauge stainless sheet is used and all piping is mandrel bent (no kinking). The welding is art - the whole set is art! Unfortunately between 2000 to 3000 rpm it is unacceptably noisy. I found that I would never rev above 2000 rpm during normal driving. My wife wouldnāt ride in the car. I finally said - Iām not going to ride in the car. If you just take it out for a half hour drive itās ok - but longer highway trips - just forget it. Unfortunately Classic doesnāt or didnāt make baffled mufflers so Iāve had Double S make me one that will fit between Classics downpipes and resonators. Will be installed in the next couple of weeks. Weāll see.
Itās all so subjective, but hereās my two centsā worth: I had straight pipes, back to the SuperTrapps, and the sound was lovely.
Did you use the one of the supplied venturies? I have the e-type fabs system which is now the classic fabs, and I donāt find the car loud at all between 2000 and 3000.
Iām not a fan of loud exhausts. To me the E-type says āI can be loud, but would rather notā. Give me a subtle burble at idle and some polite exhaust sounds at speed.
Mine āmoanedā or ādronedā at about 60-65 mph, tapered off at about 75. I replaced the mufflers with the Jaguar made mild steel set when I replaced the down pipes with stainless steel. Drone changed a bit but still there. Iād not wanted to take a long trip with that in my ears.
Then I pulled the 3.54 differential and put in a 3.058. Totally different car, no annoying exhaust drone up to XXX MPH.
Mine had the venturies. The problem is not that itās too loud - itās just that after a half hour the droning is intolerable