Flowmasters won't fit.

[SHO5OH]

I have looked through the previous threads and everyone I have read says to get the 40 series Flowmater mufflers for my 99' (part # 42443). I went and got them yesterday. I took them to at least 6 different shops and no one really wanted to touch them. Some that said they would try it told me their was no way they could gurantee the tips would be able to be put back on. Others said the pipe was way to small to adapt to the inlet. A guy at Speedy quoted me at $300 because it would take some major adaptations. :laugh_ti:

Any suggestions? Is there a Flowmaster muffler that has a 2" inlet?

 

[97V8SHO]

2 1/4 offsest/offset is the one to get. Dunno what kinda crappy exhaust guys you're taking it to but they should be able to weld em up no problem.

 

[masho95]

If you went to all those shops and they can't put mufflers on then something is wrong...

How can they not get the tips back on?? Mine were just welded onto my Flowmaster mufflers.

 

[SHO5OH]

The guys I went to said there was not enough room between the tip and the muffler to adapt the two together. I did get an appt. for Wednesday with the last guy I tried. He said it shouldn't be a problem but he didn't even look under the car. I hope he can do it. Anybody have any problems with the aluminum being welded to the stainless steel as far as rusting throughout the winter?

 

[masho95]

Mine didn't have adapters when the tips went on... they just setup the tips right flat against the muffler and just welded them on. I don't see what's so hard about that.

 

[kipp438]

I am also interested in getting Flowmasters on my 97. I called Flowmaster tech line, they didnt know what muffler fit the SHO. He told me I would need to call back with my specifications. Is the part number listed on the first post the correct part #? Is there anything else I need to know, or what exatcly should I ask for when I go to the Muffler shop, in case I run into the same idiot muffler guys.

Also, I checked out Flowmaster web site. Has anyone tried the "super 40" series? The Tech guy said they are very deep and very loud. They are advertised as being quieter on the interior of the car, but louder on the exterior. Im not sure how they would perform that magical feat. Anyway, if anyone has heard them or tried them, let me know how they sound. (deep, too loud, interior noise drone, etc.) Thanks!!!

 

[SHO5OH]

Masho, if you are talking about mufflers you had put on your second generation SHO, I wouldn't see a problem either. When I had my 93', the first guy I went to put the tips back on no problem. The 3rd generations just don't have enough length between the tip and muffler. Oh well. We'll see Wednesday. Thanks for the replies.

 

[masho95]

Masho, if you are talking about mufflers you had put on your second generation SHO, I wouldn't see a problem either. When I had my 93', the first guy I went to put the tips back on no problem. The 3rd generations just don't have enough length between the tip and muffler. Oh well. We'll see Wednesday. Thanks for the replies.

Wow I feel like a complete ***** now... LMAO I didn't even notice this was in the Gen 3 forum until you just pointed it out to me...

You mean if they just welded the tip to the muffler it wouldn't reach to the rear of the car??

 

[SHO5OH]

I think what most of them were trying to tell me was that they didn't have the room to adapt the 2.25 outlet to the really small tip size. If this guy can't do it Wednesday, I'll keep looking. Obviously it's been done time and time again as I keep reading through the threads.

 

[Mr Anonymous]

On the V8 SHO, the Flowmaster 42443 is shorter than the stock muffler, and you will need to buy some straight exhaust piping to go between the muffler outlet and the factory tip if you want to maintain stock look and tip location. If I have a chance this week, I'll crawl under Kirk's car to take a pic to show you. I agree with the others though, any exhaust shop worth it's salt should be able to make it work with little effort. Perhaps you need to find a "custom exhaust" shop.

 

[DavidT]

I took mine to a LOCAL muffler shop. The owner said that it IS a tight squeeze to weld the stock tips back on... but he did it in no time
IIRC, he charged me about $40 to cut the old mufflers out and weld the flows in with the stock tips.
Also, the p/n you mentioned earlier is CORRECT, iirc.
People can be ridiculous a lot of times...
Good luck!

 

[SHO5OH]

Thanks for all the replies. I have always been a frequent viewer of v8sho.com and shoclub.com. I finally found this site back in May. It is great to find solutions so fast and talk to other people just about SHOs in general. Most of my friends liked my two SHOs but were always more interested in Mustangs or Japanese cars. Good to know there are people other than me that really appreciate this car!

 

[2 4shofast]

I have pics of my exhaust on my cardomain page if ya wanna check it out. Its on page two, I would post them but it hasnt been working lately.

 

[Steve Dionne]

The shops are giving you the runaround because you already have the mufflers and they aren't gonna make any money off you by selling you mufflers(i.e. MARK UP). As long as you have the correct mufflers, and it appears that you do, any shop should be able to weld them up. Do you have a regular mechanic? Also, remove the resonator and have it replaced with a straight pipe. Trust me on this one, you'll be glad you did.

 

[SHO5OH]

Yes I do have a regular mechanic but he's always so busy I'd probably have to wait a week to get it done. The place I am going tomorrow is his new other shop. I'm sure the guys he has working there can do it. I was thinking about having the resonator removed but I'm scared of having a rasp to it. I guess I could always have it taken off at a later date if it's not going to sound much different than stock. Also I work for a police department and I don't think my Chief would be to happy if I pull into the the parking lot and blow the doors off the cruisers. Or get cited by him.

 

[Vroom]

I'll share some pics I just took to help you and/or your mechanic out. FYI, the guy at the muffler shop I went to was the same way. He said that there's no way these tips would look good after being made to fit onto the pipe. I kept saying that I know it's been done many times before, and finally I said: "You know what? How about you at least try it? If you flare the tips and they turn out ruined, we'll figure something out from there."

After he flared the tips, he said "Oh yeah, I guess they don't look so bad after all."

This is a close-up of the tip. The tip is flared at the inlet (enlarged). Yes, it does tear a little, but this gets fixed once welded. The flared tip is welded onto some pipe, which is welded onto the mufflers.

This is a view of the straight pipe that we used after cutting out the resonator.

This is a view from the rear end to show that the tips look fine after flaring.

 

[DavidT]

rasp in the v8... not hardly.
Now the v6 would "bee" raspy :grin:

 

[SHO5OH]

Thanks Vroom and all the rest of you guys. I'm pretty confident this guy can do it. I'll let you know tomorrow. As far as the resonator...I'll have to see about that. Thanks again.

 

[Vroom]

Whether you want the resonator is totally up to you. I wasn't sure if I wanted to take it out when I had mine done because I didn't want to void my aftermarket warranty, and I didn't want the car to be "too loud".

The guy that worked on it actually suggested for me to take it out, and that he's never had any trouble with warranties for taking it out before.

I'll tell you right now that there's no raspiness with it out. And the sound isn't too loud; it's just right.

Have fun with it! It's so awesome to hear your car fired up after putting the Flowmasters on! :thumbs_u:

 

[SHO5OH]

Just picked her up. The mechanic was able to put the tips back on. I didn't have the resonator taken off. It still sounds good enough for me (at least for now, maybe I'll have it taken off at a later time. Sounds somewhat close to a Mustang. My mechanic said he couldn't believe my car sounded like that. Thanks everyone for the replies and pictures.