Need suggestions on building an exhaust system

[jeepxj2007]

Well I just got a 1998 Ranger xlt sport 4x4 3.0L v-6for Christmas, well part of it. I picked it up north for 800, it had a blown up motor, but the body is really clean, for another 300 I got a motor and put about that much into parts cleaning it up and new gaskets and what not....just stuff so I wont have to do it down the road...and then I got some 265/75/16 Interco Trxus M/T's real cheap on black steelies....now to the exhaust. I have a nice miller 110 mig welder and that is what I plan on using to weld it up...so what should I do for my exhaust? I want to do it myself...someone stole my cat and here we don't have emission tests so that wont be a problem....what size exhaust should I run and what should I get for a muffler that will have a nice tone? anything that will give it that deep rumble or no? I know its only a v-6....but anything that will give it that sound similar to a v-8...i have a turbo on my wrangler with 4.2 and it has a nice rumble at idle...but I like that throaty sound...so any ideas...suggestions...etc would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

i would get a cat converter. its against federal law to run without one on a vehicle originally equipped with one...plus theres no sense in polluting more than you need to. aftermarket converters are cheap and they wont cost you any mileage or horsepower.

i wouldnt go with anything larger than 2.5" pipe. the 3.0 is a revver...if your not scared to see the far end of the tach, go with 2.5. if you like to keep things mellow, 2" will be fine.

the muffler is your choice. it will never sound like a v-8...so if you dont like the way a v6 sounds, go with a quiet, chambered and packed muffler (stock replacement).

 

[woodyedmiston]

I'm going to mention again the book that helped me make horsepower with our race car. See below if you want to read it:

Wicked is right, the six, four and eight cylinder engine have different sounds because of more things than just size. It has to do with the timing of pulses of the exhaust that relate to the firing order AND the volume of gas that is being moved. We found that while conducting dyno tests using a decibel meter and studying the book below.

At the time we thought we figured out there was a sound wave harmonic, unique to the six, that would peg a sound meter at a race course but allow an eight to roar by without the Black Flag. That harmonic is responsible for the rattle another member mentioned as the reason for putting on a muffler.

If I were building a "system" (and I will when I install the engine I'm building at the moment) I would start at the heads, assuming you have ported them - and make sure the exhaust flanges were at one eigth of an inch (no more than 3/16) larger than the port. (1/16) in each direction, or buy reversion headers, if they are available. The optimal size for the exhaust runner is subject to debate, but the most people recommend, and I've had the best luck with making the runners as close to the same length as possible. I would then run a Y pipe - no crossover pipe - to a single collector without getting too big. I'd aim for something that looked like the one on a stock Y pipe. Connecting that to a tube that would exit the around 2 to 2 1/4 inches. Connect that to a 2 1/2 inch pipe coming out of the muffler. ( Forget the Y pipe and knock the tubing size down a 1/4 inch for a I4.) At the end of the pipe, I might experiment with yet another 1/4 larger pipe, megaphone of a significantly larger pipe for some "reverb"

The point to all of the stepped connections is to create low pressure areas that have a tendency to help evacuate the exhaust. To me that is the perfect system and it's not speculation, I've done it and seen it work.


http://www.amazon.com/Scientific-Ex...ing-Performance/dp/0837603099?tag=959media-20

 

[doorgunner]

I'm back--same message---put a new 1 pc. cat on & save some mpg's/lungs at the same time like Wicked & the other guys said. Add a Y-pipe a couple feet behind the new cat (no muffler)--then run 1 & 3/4" dual pipes over the rear axle & clamp on a harley davidson muffler (you probably know someone who has a pair in their shed) to each exhaust pipe (drill out the mufflers with the largest hole saw that will fit) & clamp 'em to the exhaust pipes. Sounds just like a 289 cu. in. engine