Muffler Dilemma

[Heavy Duty]

OK guys. The '86 is going in for paint next month. After the paint job I want to put on some nice mufflers. I have narrowed the choices down to either Borla or Corsa. I need in put on your experiance with either or both.

First Question: Which one sounds the best?

Second Question: How well did they hold up?

Third Question: is it better to stick with the orginal exhaust size or should I open it up?

Last Question: If you have used the warrenty, how did the manufactor respond?

Sorry for dragging you guys in on this. But I want the best for my buck and I know that a lot of you are gurus who can give me good advice before I spend a lot of bucks. Thanks for any and all of your inputs.

H.D.

 

[c4cruiser]

You will probably find that the best sound is simply no mufflers!! Have a muffler shop cut the mufflers off and simply bend a pipe to replace the muffler. Add a nice-looking tip of your choice, use some black or silver heat resistant paint to cover the new pipe and you will have a sweet sounding exhaust with hardly any resonance and should only cost you $50-75.

The pre-cats and the main cat do a good job of quieting the exhaust noise.

The factory exhaust pipes are about 2.5 inches and unless you had some serious mods done like a SuperRam and some head work and headers, you will not see a tremendous benefit to bigger pipes. Walker makes a rear "Y" pipe with an equalizer tube in it and is a good replacement if the current pipe is in need of replacement. That equalizer in the pipe will help even more with any resonance. But if the system is in decent shape now, there's no reason to replace that piece.

 

[tlong]

Denied!

Forget Corsa for your L98. They don't make it for your car. '92 and up.

 

[Heavy Duty]

Thanks guys for the replies.
C4Cruser, if I do go mufferless, I would like good quality stainless steel tips. One of the big reasons I liked the Borla is the type of stainless steel they use and the warranty that comes along with them.

tlong, I talked to Corsa and they stated that their mufflers for the later model C4s would fit the earlier models as well. I hope they know what they are talking about!!

H.D.

 

[tlong]

They only advertise to '92. Never heard of one before that. They are wonderful.

 

[Heavy Duty]

I guess I had better call Corsa back and ask the question again or in a different way. Thanks for the heads-up.


H.D.

 

[Edmond]

Don't the stock mufflers only flow out of one of the muffler outlets?

 

[Heavy Duty]

Edmond, good question. i thought the exhaust flowed from both muffler out lets. I think on the Borla muffler they do flow from both out lets. At least they advertised that.

 

[Moonunit 451]

Borla's do flow from both. I love mine, but they are the 2-3/4" Challenge system from the ZR-1. The resonance is mild between 1500 and 2000 or so. I do have the resonator out, with about 5000 mi on it, could save you some bucks if you need one. I went true duals.

 

[Idaho Slim]

You will probably find that the best sound is simply no mufflers!! Have a muffler shop cut the mufflers off and simply bend a pipe to replace the muffler. Add a nice-looking tip of your choice,

..

Just got done with this change, and I can say i am happy with it, not only does the sound scream "High Performance" , but as an added bonus, it tucks the exhaust up under the rear panel for a very clean look with hardly any exhaust showing , (Which btw, I thought as a BEEG dropped ball from GM ) The muffler shop had a distributor that had many different stainless tips of which to choose from, (I chose LT-1 Re-po's).

A word of caution on the size pipe, I made the mistake of thinking it was 2.5, actually was 2&3/4, so i had to doo it twice, ended up going with 3 inpipe so as to not cause a backpressure turbelence. Total price with tips $150 installed.

 

[Heavy Duty]

Thanks guys for all of the help. I did check with Corsa about mufflers for the early C4s and turns out yes they will fit with some slight mods. I wonder what they mean by slight mods?

Moonunit 451, I may go with true duels just as you have done. I do like the low IMO low rumble of the stock mufflers. But they just don't seem to let the engine really perform the way it should. I have considered streight pipes just like a few mention here. The rear body of the car seems as though it was first designed for rectangle exhaust tips. The round tips makes it look like something is missing.

I do have another question about rims. Mine do not have any curb rash and run true. But the clear coat that protects them is coming off and they are tarnished. So instead of buying after market or chromed repros of the rims I was wondering if there was a way to re-finish them? Would a machine shop be able to refinish them? I could replace the clear coat on them after they have been refinished. I worked all weekend on one by hand and was able to get it looking really good after a lot of work and several six-packs.

Thanks guys. Call me crazy, but I want my vette to look good after all of the time and money I'll be spending.

H.D.

 

[c4cruiser]

The accesory catalog like Eckler's and Mid America used to show wheel refinishing kits, but you should be able to find the material needed to strip and re-coat wheels at an auto paint supply store.

Go to the Eckler's website and look for Busch Clear Coat Remover, part # A4933.
http://www.ecklers.com/product.asp?pf%5Fid=A4933&dept%5Fid=126&mscssid=566EX98DUJL68K6HL2GC9DMXLV2J41M4

They also have POR-15 Clear Coat "Glisten PC" to re-coat wheels.
http://www.ecklers.com/product.asp?pf%5Fid=37952&dept%5Fid=123&mscssid=566EX98DUJL68K6HL2GC9DMXLV2J41M4

Eckler's may be difficult to deal with because of the nasty weather in FL especially because these items can't ship by airfreight, so you might check with auto paint supply stores first. Chances are they can get something similar and may even have it in stock.

 

[Heavy Duty]

C4Cruser, thanks for the info. I guess that once the clear coat is removed it is easy to take a good metal polish to remove the tarnish. Then reapply the clear coat. Right? Thanks for the info guys. With all this info I think the painting and other stuff should go smooth.


C.D.

 

[Moonunit 451]

 

[Heavy Duty]

Moonunit 451, thank you so much for the pic. I think that is a winner. Also, man that is one nice looking car and those exhaust tips really make it look good too. I hope mine looks as good once it is done. I guess for a $5,000 dollar paint job it better look that good.

 

[vette-dude]

Don't the stock mufflers only flow out of one of the muffler outlets?

You are correct!!! Now why couldn't you (or me) poke a hole in the dummy outlet for more flow. I can get a long chisel up there and get to it but don't want to screw it up and make it too loud. don't want it to be toooooo Bubba if you know what I mean.

Randy

 

[Edmond]

You are correct!!! Now why couldn't you (or me) poke a hole in the dummy outlet for more flow. I can get a long chisel up there and get to it but don't want to screw it up and make it too loud. don't want it to be toooooo Bubba if you know what I mean.

Randy

I'm sure you could poke a hole in the dummy outlet but I don't know how much good it would do. I'm sure the whole muffler itself is engineered for the use of that one exhaust pipe. Don't know what benefits would be had.

But for me, the stock system was too quiet.

 

[Heavy Duty]

vette-dude, not a bad idea. At Carlise this past Aug I noticed several C4s that had the duel stainless steel tips where only one of the exhaust tips on each side had carbon on them. I think you would have to have a long chisel to go up to the muffler. Get a big section of rebar and a big hammer.

Hey Moonunit 451, I was just on the Borla site and couldn't find the Challenge syetem. Where do I need to look? Also I looked at several vettes on their web site and I think the stainless system is what I am leaning toward.

Thanks guys.

H.D.

 

[vette-dude]

vette-dude, not a bad idea. At Carlise this past Aug I noticed several C4s that had the duel stainless steel tips where only one of the exhaust tips on each side had carbon on them. I think you would have to have a long chisel to go up to the muffler. Get a big section of rebar and a big hammer.

Thanks guys.

H.D.

Kinda wondering if anyone has done this and what were the results.

Randy

 

[Edmond]

HD,

You know that Borla makes the Stinger system for the C4's now, right?

IMO, the Stingers look very clean and classy.