Muffler replacement

[ORANGECRUSHer]

I have a tri mill type exhaust on my baja, the one with the pipe that has the collector pointing up then an elbow out of that pointing down at an angle that goes into an oval muffler. Muffler has a hole so I'm thinking about cutting it off and sliding on a standard oval from the auto parts store.

Just wondering if anyone knows what brand I should get that will work and not be terrible sounding?
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Brian H.
I may not know everything,but I will try to help if I can
OrangeCrushER Berrien Warrior 2.4L Quad4
LAZY MARY 1970 Baja 1835cc

[Bobalos]

Here is what I did. I thought it was going to sound like a Fart Can Honda, but it has a nice deep throaty sound to it & it makes good powa!!

[dustymojave]

Looks clean and I'm sure it sounds good. The only 2 things I dislike about the Dynomax or FlowMaster mufflers is that they weigh a lot and they cost a lot! By comparison, a Thrush Turbo muffler weighs about 1/2 and costs about 1/3 and sounds very similar and is just as durable, while far less likely to break the mount or the pipe it's mounted to.

Don't get me wrong. I've owned 3 Flowmasters; one on my Toyota pre-runner, my old Ranger pre-runner and one other project. I've owned several Turbo mufflers. One is on my Hi Jumper, a pair on my 61 F100 with a 428 Cobra Jet, my Falcon and I can't remember what all else. I've been happy with them all. But I have reasons for preferring one over the other in practice.

I've had LOTS of Quiet Pack mufflers on VWs over the decades, including my Baja. If the Quiet Pack on it now were to fail while the header is still good, it would get a new Turbo muffler.
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Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[ORANGECRUSHer]

the thing I like about that dynomax is the flat welded seams on the body make it simple to weld on a tab to secure the bottom of it back to one of the header pipes. One of these cheaper mufflers with the rolled crimped seams would be harder to do that with not to mention having thin sheet metal to work with.

I think that's where the Bug Pack muffler on it now is failing. the tab ans the seam have just been rattled to their max.
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Brian H.
I may not know everything,but I will try to help if I can
OrangeCrushER Berrien Warrior 2.4L Quad4
LAZY MARY 1970 Baja 1835cc

[ponyboy88]

i have a hyabusa muffler clamped on b.c i do not have a welder. I looks pretty bad and was not nearly as quiet as i wanted, not to say it doesnt sound good. ive thought about getting a atv silencer and mounting it to the muffler. will try and find pics...
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1970 Baja Bug.

[ponyboy88]

http://imgur.com/QIvfAEA \ http://imgur.com/BU8ECPD
ground clearance isnt as bad as it looks, but could be better.
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1970 Baja Bug.

[MFE 3]

Based on what I could find on the weights of the Thrust Turbo and Magnaflow, the Thrust actually weighs slightly more; 8 versus 8.5 lbs.
Maybe I'm looking at different models?
MagnaFlow 11132
Thrust 17711
BTW, what's the difference between a "turbo" muffler and non?
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Matt
I drive a hybrid . . . burns both rubber and gas

[ponyboy88]

from the web:
Stock mufflers direct exhaust flow in an S-shaped pattern through up to 5, perforated tubes. Turbo mufflers on the other hand, use 3 or fewer tubes, so exhaust flow changes direction less. This means engine exhaust leaves the muffler faster, for an increase in horsepower and a better exhaust tone. And, turbo mufflers occasionally use additional fiberglass packing around the tubes for additional sound control. For this reason, a turbo mufflers sound can vary widely in volume and tone. But they work great as a “step-up” from a stock muffler and tend to be quieter that glass pack or chambered mufflers.
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1970 Baja Bug.

[Bobalos]

The DynoMax that I have is one of the straight through designs. You can litterlly see through it, even though it goes @ an angle. Its very much like the old "glasspack" mufflers, but its perforated & does not have the little louvers on the inside tubes.

this is slightly heavier than a turbo but not terribly.

Bob

[ORANGECRUSHer]

Things started to sound lawnmowerish on my way to work today and I was having a hard time hearing the radio. When I got out and looked I found out I had a 3 inch section of one of my header pipes, basically the whole 90 degree bend, was missing! So now my troubles just got more complicated. Pics soon.
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Brian H.
I may not know everything,but I will try to help if I can
OrangeCrushER Berrien Warrior 2.4L Quad4
LAZY MARY 1970 Baja 1835cc

[dustymojave]

So you're going by the advice of the great automotive engineer Charles Kettering?
"Parts not included cannot fail and cost no money."

Or was that one of the parts which WAS included, but cost money to put there and then failed?


The Turbo muffler I use is a "true Turbo muffler" and has no glass packing. That is one of the things I like about them. Glass packing fails quickly and allows a great deal more noise. One of the failings of glasspack mufflers. One of their points of popularity is that they quickly blow out and become noisy while there is still a fairly new muffler in place. Plus the glass packing is quite heavy itself. The Turbo mufflers I have under my F100 with a 428 Cobra Jet engine have been there for over 30 years and are still fine.

I'll check those part numbers posted above, but this image shows a Turbo muffler with no packing. There is some variation in internal designs that still classify under the name.

The Turbo muffler was invented by an old friend of my dad's, Hugh McInnis. He invented it when he was working as an engineer at Chevy and the muffler was for the Corvair Turbo. He later worked for many years for Garret AiResearch on aircraft and heavy equipment Turbo applications and also wrote the HP book on automotive turbo applications. He was the one who recommended the turbo muffler to me for a hi performance VW.

Another advantage to Turbo mufflers is that they qualify as a spark arrestor, which Glass Packs, Straight Throughs, and many of the baffle type like the typical Dynomax and FlowMaster mufflers do not.

The Turbo muffler on my Hi Jumper has been on there for over 12 years and is still fine and the mount I welded to the side has not failed either. One could make a clamp that wraps strap stock around the body of the muffler and uses a bolt to hold the ends together and mount the muffler at the same time.
_________________
Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[dustymojave]

I did a little research on those mufflers listed by MFE 3.

Magnaflow : 11132

https://www.magnaflow.com/products?partNumber=11132

Basically a glasspack with modern more durable packing material.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mpe-11132

~ $87

Thrush Turbo 17711:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/wlk-17711?seid=...oChjvw_wcB

~ $28

[img]https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/s720x720/309549_187062291373468_765225152_n.jpg?oh=1eb3e450f2b5f1648924f94f438190e3&oe=582A7A36[/img]

The Hush Thrush has fiberglass packing:

http://www.thrushexhaust.com/mufflers/hush-thrush-muffler/

~ $40 but only available in 2.25" or 2.5".

Dynomax offers a "Super Turbo"at 2x the price of the Thrush, but does not tell through Summit what makes their product a "Super Turbo" or 2x the price of the Thrush.
~ $58

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/wlk-17736/overview/

This from the Dynomax web site:

Apparently adding the glass packing more than doubles the cost of the product.

Dynomax are a division of Thrush.

Dynomax Ultraflow is an oversize stainless steel case glasspack with no baffles or anything else inside. Not a spark arrestor. Not available in 2" either.

~ $73

FlowMaster 40 series like I have on my Toyota prerunner truck is not available in 2" which is appropriate for VW Baja Bug and buggy offroad and dual purpose street engines.

~ $84

Spin Tech mufflers have been used a fair amount on 5-1600 race engines and they provide good horsepower, a nice sound and lightweight. But they cost a bit more.
_________________
Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[ORANGECRUSHer]

Well this happened. Can't figure out how!

Honey badger musta come up and took a bite
_________________
Brian H.
I may not know everything,but I will try to help if I can
OrangeCrushER Berrien Warrior 2.4L Quad4
LAZY MARY 1970 Baja 1835cc

[Bobalos]

2" Dynomax

www.dynomax.com/ultra-flotm-welded-offset-centered-706.html



$90 on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=dynomax+17514

[Bobalos]

[GoWestYoungMan]

Just put this one on my tri-mil a minute ago...

I searched several muffler shops in our small town but there just aren't a lot of 2" diameter mufflers anymore and I didn't want anything that I'd have to add a lot of headers for since I want to be able to take it off if we're out in the boonies and just wanna tear around.

It's actually a tractor muffler for a "Moline" - the old Minneapolis Molines.

Found it at Peavey Mart which is an agricultural supply store in western Canada but should be something like it at tractor or ag supply stores in the US too. It was $50 but I see them online for about $32 USD.

It's a straight flow muffler but it has holes punched inside with the tabs bent into the flow so it quiets the rail from an ear-splitting crack down to something that's just loud but not obnoxious.

[dustymojave]

For bouncing around in the woods, it would be best if there was some other support. Even an empty megaphone exhaust can be a problem for breaking the headers or itself. Many desert racers support their exhaust with a pair of supports in an a-frame made of 3/4" tube attached to the primary pipes and the muffler with straps

That muffler by your description is a glass pack. Fine for where forest fire is no issue. Not good where it's a problem.
_________________
Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[GoWestYoungMan]

It looks a lot bigger in the pic than it is because of the angle of the shot. It's only about 14" long and fairly light. I suppose over time it could cause some fatigue on the pipes though.

You're right it's not a spark arrestor style. I was thinking though that I would just fold a stainless steel screen over the intake of the muffler and clamp it in place with the muffler clamp. Would that do the trick? (Forest fires are definitely an issue).

[dustymojave]

I think I have a pretty good idea of the size of it. I'm not foreign to tractors. As I said, even an empty megaphone will often cause breakage in the header from fatigue. So take some strap, 1/8" thick x 1" or so and wrap it around the pipe with the ends sticking out for a bolt to pull the strap tight and pinch the pipe. Thne attach the support to those bolts. Simple.

In the US, the government land management agencies, the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, which between them control nearly all of the public land in the US, both require spark arrestors on the exhaust of all internal combustion engines on vehicles used off the highway. Even in the desert and on sand dunes. Or in the middle of a swamp. Or under a few feet of snow.

Screen will help, although it's probably easier to put it on the end than between the pipe and muffler.
_________________
Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.