I was luckey enough to recive the Racing Beat Road Race Header for Christmas from my parents, along with all the gaskets and an extra flange for the discharge end of the header.

Man that RB header is amaizing. It relly is a work of art.

This is the start of my custom exhaust system.

Now I want to go custom from the header back. I know RB makes a full bolt on exhaust system, but where is the fun in that.

What I am after is input from every one on the good, the bad and the ugly things with this set up, as well as any feed back on what are good parts to use.

Thanks guys.

And befor any one says use the search button...

I already have many times. I have beed contomplating this for close to a year now...

Thanks again guys

anthrax

 

What muffler do you plan to use? And is this a stock or ported engine? I like the long primary system, but it drops low end a bit, short primary chokes off power up high. Pros and cons to both on a stockport.

 

It is stock ported

I have not chosen a muffler yet

That is part of what I am looking for is sugestions on hardware.

I know the RB muffler is good but I can't afford to import any thing else into Canada.

 

i'm saving myself the trouble and time and saving up for the full exhaust system....what is a good carb for a stock 12a?

 

Its not so much a money thing...

I just want to have the exhaust done custome for kicks...

 

So there is not any one that has anthing to contribute...

Not even a sugestion of what muffler to use?

I know it needs to SS packed, and Straight through. But what have people tried?

What has worked, not worked, been too loud, too quiet ect, ect...

 

More people would reply but the problem is that there are so many other people on here that don't really know how different exhaust systems really work on what type of porting. People will start arguing and claiming that others don't know what they are talking about and it gets real ugly really fast. It is usually the wrong people that make the biggest fuss. Most people only talk in favor of the only system that they know. The people that have had many different types of exhausts all generally agree but there are exceptions.

You really only have a few options, long primary, short primary, dual. With a stock port engine you can go any of those routes and get good results. Which one is better depends on how you drive the car. I have had all 3 setups and my personal favorite is the long primary. Others will disagree. Any of the systems will work better than the stock manifold though.

If the muffler is at the rear of the car, it doesn't neccesarily need to be packed with stainless although it is better. The farther the muffler is away from the engine, the less heat is still in the system. The gasses cool down an awful lot on the way to the back of the car. I've run fiberglass rear mufflers for years and have never had a problem. Others have used the Edelbrock mufflers and had them disintegrate. Sometimes who makes it is almost more important than what it is made out of. I have always used Dynomax. They are cheap, easy to find, and are built as well as anyone else's mufflers out there. Their Ultraflow mufflers are designed very well and flow better than nearly all of the ricer mufflers out there. Anything that uses an insert to help quiet it down is a bad flowing piece, even without the insert. The Dynomax Ultraflows use a perforated core which flows the best. Many of the ricer mufflers use a louvered core and this creates turbulence and backpressure. Another good company is Magnaflow. Same design just a prettier muffler for more money. Just remember that the bigger the muffler (assuming the same style is used), the quieter. This even applies to straight through designs.

 

Man thanks sooo much Rotarygod that about sums everything up in one post.

Thanks again

anthrax

 

Just put on the racing beat system and I doubt you would be disappointed. I am sure they have tried many things.. but I think you will find even with your heade rthat you need to get a lass retrictive cat. Until that happens.. the cat is stopping power..

 

Hey man haven't you ever seen that button at the top?!?! It's called the S E A R C H button! Use it will ya! Dang noob ...
mumble mumble mumble!









j/k

 

replace "system" with any word of your choice


The truth be told

 

I was thinking RB header, RB street port center, and an Apex'i N1 muffler. Would this work. and will it be really loud?

 

i say stick with RB, save up and just get a whole kit. you have the header... why not get the test pipe, muffelr and rest of the piping. rb has a street system that would work fine

 

OK, rotarygod, excellent post. I like the dynomax stuff as well. Good yet inexpensive. I disagree on true duals for teh street, I think it'll be too damn loud. The biggest problem is finding a presilencer. I have run twin pipes, collecting into a 3" dynomax cannister muffler and its LOUD!!!!!!!!! But it was on my racecar so who cares. A tip to help your designing maybe. The sooner you collect the pipes, the quieter it will be. I have used cherrybombs as presilencers (yes the FG is gone on about an hour, but they still offer some noise attenuation). Still loud, but not AS loud as straight pipes. Again, the issue I see at hand for you is the same one I have always had, and thats a decent presilencer.

 

I agree with RX7Carl. I have a similar system to his race car on my race car, and it is way too loud for a street system...too loud INSIDE the car as well as outside!

I have the RB long dual primary system on my 12a stock port (stock carb at this point) street carb, and it is just about the right volume. I wouldn't want to go too much louder. However, it gets restrictive when it goes 2 into 1 and over the axle.

I am also curious to know of good, low restriction pre-silencers. I understand the Racing Beat pre-silencers are pretty restrictive.

One other thing not specifically mentioned elsewhere, is to minimize the bends. Originally, my race car had a RB setup. I changed to a dual 2" pipe, no pre-silencers system. The system is damn near straight and then bends slightly to go under the rear axle before collecting into a single 3" Dynomax. I picked up a bunch of high end power when I went to this.

Of course, I also paid with reduced ground clearance, but as long as I stay on track I am fine. I am thinking the Racing Beat setup could be improved upon through routing the pipes under the axle.

 

I tried a 3" straight through muffler for street use once and removed it after about a week. Too loud. If it was a race car I wouldn't have cared. I went back to a straight through 2 1/2" muffler and it is much quieter. Just think of the available area through the muffler this way. Only the outside edges of the core tube are in contact with muffler packing (for visual purposes). The larger the pipe the larger the area available for noise to go straight through and not be on the edges. I hope that made sense! I had the Racing Beat long primary system for a while. Fantastic power for a bolt on system. The collector should be replaced as the main pipes are 2" but all of a sudden at the muffler before the collector they are only 1 3/4". There is a big lip which doesn't help you any. the muffler is for all intents and purposes a straight through design and not loud by any means what so ever. With a new collector the Racing Beat system would be very hard to beat. It is damn heavy though.

Can also use a nonstraight through (chambered) muffler with good results. I am excluding Flowmaster. If you go this route make sure the tubes size is bbigger. If you are using a 2 1/2" pipe then get a 3" muffler. These mufflers obviously add more restriction but the larger pipe size overcomes many of these flow problems by slowing the flow down somewhat due to the larger size. A restriction appears bigger the faster the air goes through it. The biggest problem is finding a muffler like this that maintains that area all the way through.

I should have added the first time that Magnaflow is made by Dynomax, hence the similarity.

 

Good point!

 

The RB presilencer is not very restrictive at all, or else RB lied to me. They said it will steal under 2 hp. Thats not even a noticable differnce. Im running Streetable Header, Presilencer, stock pipes to Custom made muffler. It sounds great, deep and just amazing. I got a big muffler from the junk yard, flame cut it open and then took out all the walls. I welded it back up, and put a ricer like 5" outlet hole on it. it sounds like... awesome.

 

I am building a true dual system. RB stuff is difficult to obtain so I am making presilencers using "glass pack" mufflers that use a perforated pipe. The ends will be cut off and then it will be packed with thin stainless steel lathe shavings. The 16-18" long presilencers will be staggered to make a neater job.

Hopefully it will give me low down power and not be too noisey.

 

ok im getting my exhaust next week in preperation for the bridgeport (end of january its going in) i have 2' extractors that go to under the drivers seat, im getting dual 2' pipes to the diff, with 1 long and a short resonator in each pipe (well not really pipes, just resonators welded together), joins into a 3' over the diff (mandrels) and then into a 3'in and 3' out stainless packed muffler.

Im also geting a flange put in so i can bolt in a baffle plate if the police hassel me too much.

ill let you know how i go

-James

 

Thanks so much to every one that posted. The feed back has been great!!

So what I am taking home from this is that to get my car to a reasonable noise level, with the header I have, I need some sort of pre-silencer.

The Header, running straight pipe back into a muffler will be too loud for street use.

Thanks Again every one

anthrax

 

I'm currently running the RB short header, RB presilencer, Mindtrain mid-pipe, and the Edelbrock RPM muffler at the back... Sounds great!!!! I ran the Mindtrain mufflers for about 10 months, but they began to burn out.... Remember one thing when building a custom system.... If you use a stainless muffler at the back, leave enough room for expansion!!! When I built the first rear section with the Edelbrock, I had it tucked nicely up under the valance... After running the car for five minutes, it was hard up against the valance, and sticking out two inches....

Dan

 

i have a full custom exhaust. custom header, pipes, a resonator, and a muffler thats been "customly modified", and its so damn loud, i drive it only on sundays...imma be getting the RB S.P. long primary headers, but im going to cut out the pre-silencers, put in a single 2.5" one, run a 2.25" pipe under the rear axle to a RB muffler or GReddy SP muffler...