The Serious Freshening
Go to <Last, Summary, Next>Chassis—Hidden Glass-Pack Muffler
 Lynn in Bugsby, September 5, 2005 |
Completed: 2008-01-05 — Started: 2008-01-11
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| ADVICE FROM AN EXPERT: Lynn consults with Andrew from 30 Minute Muffler (left) about doing something to quiet Bugsby. Andrew suggests installing a small glass-pack muffler inside the existing muffler body (right). Listen to the exhaust sound BEFORE and AFTER adding the hidden glass pack. |
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| THE IMPLEMENTATION: A glass-pack muffler is welded to the existing tail pipe before the rear end cap of the old muffler (left). The old muffler body is slipped over the new glass pack (center). Viewed from the front, motor side of the muffler, the new glass pack will be completely hidden once the front end cap is reinstalled (right). |
Work Completed:
After the body gets reattached to the chassis on Jan. 5, 2008, Lynn is unhappy with how
loud the exhaust system is on Bugsby.
He doesn't know if it's original or not, but the muffler he received with the car is simply
a single, empty chamber with no baffles of other features to reduce the noise.
The car is so loud that Lynn does not feel comfortable driving it on the residential streets
even during the day.
At night, Lynn is afraid to start the car in fear of disturbing the neighborhood.
While having the previous exhaust work done in 2006, Andrew from 30 Minute Muffler offers to do something to improve the existing empty, hollow muffler on Bugsby, but Lynn declines. Now he thinks better of that decision.
Since Lynn does not want to alter the appearance of the exhaust, Andrew suggests installing a new 18" glass pack completely within the existing 22" muffler body. Lynn agrees.
Did you know that some (maybe all?) glass-pack mufflers are directional? As can be seen in the right-most photo above, little louvers of metal expose the outer chamber of the glass pack to the inner pipe. These louvers are open in only one direction. If installed with the louvers open to the incoming exhaust gas (toward the motor), the glass pack does a better job of reducing the noise. If installed in the opposite direction, with the louvers open to the tail pipe, the glass pack is less effective in reducing the noise. As a consequence, you can tailor the amount of noise reduction you get by selecting the orientation of the installation.
Lynn selects the maximum noise reduction direction. After all, the old exhaust is way too loud, and the 18" glass pack is very small. The result with Bugsby is very satisfactory. It is still not a quiet exhaust, but it is nowhere as obnoxious as it had been.
Listen to the exhaust sound BEFORE and AFTER adding the hidden glass pack.
Work Remaining:
None.
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Last updated: May 24, 2009