Do any of you flathead drivers have opinions on appropriate mufflers for a truck that is unlikely to ever be fully restored to its original condition?

I must admit I am partial to a very quiet exhaust note but I have been reading through the forums and hear several references to the great exhaust note of a flathead v8 and don't want to muffle something that is preferable to silence.

Currently the truck has two rusted apart oval cannisters that provide no muffling whatsoever so I really don't know what the truck sounds like aside from running on dual open pipes.

thanks in advance,
Karl

 

I'm running the time-honored hotrod setup of headers and dual 26" Smithy's on my '48. They can be had from several suppliers in 22" 26" or 30" lengths I believe. My last pair came from Red's.

Duals make the exhaust notes a little more ragged - it'll quiet it some just by linking to a single exhaust pipe. Use any muffler and it'll get more quiet.

Actually, I can hear my generator spinning with my present setup when it is warm and the idle is in the 5-700 rpm range - the engine is that quiet. Stand on the throttle tho and it quickly roars to life.

One other consideration is the size of your exhaust pipe - the collector on my headers are 1 3/4" and my extensions and exhaust pipes are 2" - this has the effect of mellowing the exhaust sound. If you keep them 1 3/4" all the way out it will sound a little sharper. Guess you'll have to experiment to find what's right for you. Have fun and drive it......

 

Tim, thanks for the tips! That is exactly the kind of information I needed.

Karl