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The "Original" Sound of Old Cars...


Guest LateNightCable

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Guest LateNightCable

Greetings members!

I have a question that has been on my mind for a long time, specifically to those who are old enough to know the answer from first hand experience. I'm wondering how authentic the exhaust notes of antique automobiles tend to be, compared to when they were brand new. Specifically cars from the 1950's and earlier.

For example, a lot of those cars I've heard in parades/car shows, etc. have that warbling exhaust, most associated with motorboats and glass pack mufflers. Somehow I imagine a Cadillac or Lincoln of the era, with a factory exhaust may have been more subdued.

Either way, I'm a child of the 80's and have never known what these cars really sounded like from the factory.

Thank you for your input!

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The only way to REALLY know is to hear a vehicle with an original or accurately reproduced muffler.

A modern muffler on a Model T Ford, for example, sounds nothing like the real thing but "real" Model T mufflers are readily available.

Naturally classy (expensive) cars had more effort put into them to make them sound more subdued and elegant.

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My Desoto is probably more quite than any new truck on the market. When you rev it you get more of a "wooooosh" than a growl. I suspect it was the way it sounded when new. Flat heads have a different sounds than V motors. They can be made to sound mean like on a hot rod but normally they should sound very subdued.

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It was a big deal in the fifties to put dual exhausts with a pair of Smithy mufflers on your car if it had a V-8 engine. Even the street rodded flathead Fords of the thirties were usually so equipped. One of the better sounding cars in our neighborhood was a '52 Chevy with a GMC straight six engine and a split header on it feeding into a pair of glass packs. Many people often got tickets for their cars being excessively noisy but the guys would continue to run the loud exhausts and hope to get off the gas if they spotted a cop before he heard them and gave them a ticket. I ran a lake pipe on a '65 Chevrolet pickup. I usually kept it capped when in Virginia but some days I'd pull the cap and get on it and make a run for home. I put a glasspack on a '60 Chevy pickup but it hardly had enough power to make it sound good. However I discovered the day after I put it on that I could turn the ignition switch off and quickly back on and get quite an explosion from it. Coming down the road the day after I put the glasspack on I cut the switch off and back on and it got really loud. Came in the next turn and two trooper cars were sitting there. Someone had wrecked and they were investigating the wreck. I expected them to give chase to me but they did not. I got home and the muffler was split wide open from one end to the other. Strangely enough it was guaranteed not to split. As a word of warning let me say cutting the ignition off and on can ruin an engine.

Edited by john2dameron (see edit history)
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Guest Bob Call

I'm an old geezer and I remember to sounds of cars back in the 40's and 50's. Model T's and Model A's had a distinctive sound. Most cars were very quiet. Living our in the country on US 169 in the 40's I remember cars speeding past with a whoosing sound from the exhaust. A lot of the time the distinctive sound was wind noise from the shape of body parts like the grill, or a Fulton SunVisor.

Another thing I remember was the sound track on radio and early TV programs of a car accelerating and shifting. It was always the distinctive sound of a straight 8 Pontiac with its straight cut transmission gears.

When you were poor folks like my family you improvised. A rusted out noisy muffler was repaired by cutting the bottom out and then splitting a 3 pound coffee can, wrapping the can around the muffler to cover the hole and securing it in place by a couple of clamps fashioned from bailing wire and twisted tight with our Okie socket wrench (pliers).

Yes, ready ground coffee was sold by the pound in one and three pound cans that were opened with twist off strip that was wound off with a bent wire key that was spot welded to the bottom of the can. You broke the key free to use it to open the can. Note that over the years the price of coffee, like a lot of other groceries, did not change but the size of the can shrunk from 1 pound to 13 ounces and is now 11 ounces and gone is the 3 pound can it shrunk to 39 ounces and the last one I recently bought is 31.5 ounces.

Edited by Bob Call (see edit history)
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John2d, I had forgotten all about cutting the ignition. I'd cruise around town with my cousin and look for unsuspecting pedestrians to scare with a loud bang. Best fun was going under a bridge with someone walking and watch them jump. Never once split a muffler.

Back in the day, my dad knew a guy that could identify a car from the exhaust note alone.

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Guest Bob Call

Another memory from the old geezer. In the 50's I had a neighbor with a 53 Austin Healey 100-4 he ran in SCCA road races. The 2660 cc 4 banger was about to give up the ghost. So, he went to a salvage yard and bought a 55 Chevy 265 V8, overhauled it and put in a Duntov 30-30 cam and 3 Stromberg 97's. He shoehorned the little V8 into the AH, picked the 55 265 because it didn't have an oil filter which would have been a clearence issue. Because of the low ground clearance of the AH chassis, he elected to forgo mufflers and ran dual straight pipes out the back. Pretty quiet at idle and then not much louder than a pair of Smitty's at speed on the race circuit.

Can you tell I have too much time on my hands.

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My first hand recollection of most 50s and 60s stock cars is that they were very quiet, at least the exhaust note. Most cars had single exhaust with a very large reverse flow muffler and many had secondary resonators on top of that. The exhaust sound on acceleration was more a rush of air than any combustion sound. Now the rest of the car sometimes made noise like the clicking of solid lifters needing adjustment, transmission and axle whine, and squealing bias ply tires. The first thing we did as teenage drivers was add duals with loud mufflers, then crank up the radio so we could hear it above the roar. No wonder we are all half deaf today!

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Guest LateNightCable

Thank you gentleman, I didn't think a Cadillac, Buick, etc. would have sounded exactly like a motorboat at idle, like so many restored jobs I have heard with non-factory exhausts. Quiet power being the name of the game then, it stands to reason that a dominant sound under acceleration would have been from the induction of air through a factory air cleaner. Thank goodness for new old stock mufflers, and factory reproduction parts!

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I'm an old geezer and I remember to sounds of cars back in the 40's and 50's. Model T's and Model A's had a distinctive sound. Most cars were very quiet. Living our in the country on US 169 in the 40's I remember cars speeding past with a whoosing sound from the exhaust. A lot of the time the distinctive sound was wind noise from the shape of body parts like the grill, or a Fulton SunVisor.

Another thing I remember was the sound track on radio and early TV programs of a car accelerating and shifting. It was always the distinctive sound of a straight 8 Pontiac with its straight cut transmission gears.

When you were poor folks like my family you improvised. A rusted out noisy muffler was repaired by cutting the bottom out and then splitting a 3 pound coffee can, wrapping the can around the muffler to cover the hole and securing it in place by a couple of clamps fashioned from bailing wire and twisted tight with our Okie socket wrench (pliers).

Yes, ready ground coffee was sold by the pound in one and three pound cans that were opened with twist off strip that was wound off with a bent wire key that was spot welded to the bottom of the can. You broke the key free to use it to open the can. Note that over the years the price of coffee, like a lot of other groceries, did not change but the size of the can shrunk from 1 pound to 13 ounces and is now 11 ounces and gone is the 3 pound can it shrunk to 39 ounces and the last one I recently bought is 31.5 ounces.

I remember those keyed coffee cans.

I also remember beer cans, when I was young it took an opener to cut a hole in the can. Then there was the pull tabs. They would be the source of many cut feet at the beach. We used to use the tabs as a way of keeping score so to speak. Some guys would have several feet of the tabs hanging from the rear view mirror.

Remember the 'Church Keys' ? I may have opened a few cans with a screw driver.

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My father, who grew up in the '30s and '40s, tells me that when he was little, he classified cars into two categories:

"Whee-tee-teet" cars (Model As and cars like that with smaller, cruder engines)

"Harooom" cars (bigger luxury cars and most 8-cylinder cars of the '40s)

I've always found that to be as good a description as any, and if you know the cars of the period, you'll know exactly what he was talking about.

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Back in 1975 I worked on a 1939 Ford coupe that was wrecked in "41. (1,78XX miles)

After the car was done the only thing you could hear was wind noise from the fan at idle.

It was all original except for the front axle, bumper, left front fender, tires and fluids.

By the mid 30's most manufactures had the cars very quiet.

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You might try this. When I go to AACA National Meets or other shows with only original cars, I find a spot at the show exit where all the cars have to pull out on to a highway, just to listen to the sound. Heard some great stuff.

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Guest kingofstarfires

My 62 Olds Starfire had an original sound from the factory It had glass pack mufflers that were discontinued in March of 1962 and changed to Arvin , The origina; sound was lost forever. The 54 Merc also had a nice original sound.

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There was an early Rolls Royce attending the Rochester area shows in the 60's that the owner would start by sweeping the spark advance. You could tell it started because the fan would start to turn ..... it was silent.

John Utz and Roy Berch liked to do that. They would enrichen the carb just a bit before shutting them off. That left a little extra fuel in the cylinders. When things are just right the advance rod will cause the points to snap and the spark will ignite one cylinder. That's all it takes. I miss John and Roy.

There is an old cartoon showing a Rolls-Royce limo, a boy on the ground with a damaged bicycle, and a bobby. The owner is getting out of the rear seat and the caption reads "He wasn't SUPPOSED to hear me coming."

It is really hard to buy a quiet exhaust system; too many Tim Allen wanna be knuckle draggers accept the noisy stuff. Commoners.

povsucks.jpg Bernie

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Car manufacturers went to a good deal of trouble to make their cars silent. Replacement exhausts are seldom as quiet as factory because they are not tuned to one motor and one car. Even dealer replacements are made to fit numerous models but still, should be quieter than aftermarket.

Plus, the motor may have some wear on it. As 28 pointed out even a rebuilt motor may not be as silent as a new one.

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I believe it might have been John Utz's RR, the name sounds familiar. This would be in the early 60's at GVACS meets. My dad had a 1933 Pierce Arrow. I used to love the car games at those meets - probably the liability factor comes into play these days.

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My 62 Olds Starfire had an original sound from the factory It had glass pack mufflers that were discontinued in March of 1962 and changed to Arvin , The origina; sound was lost forever. The 54 Merc also had a nice original sound.

All 1949-90 Oldsmobiles with Oldsmobile V8 engines had a distinct sound, whether a single exhaust 88/Ninety Eight, a steel-pack muffler or chambered exhaust Starfire, or a W30. They all had that distinct Oldsmobile sound but I find it hard to describe- like a combination of a turbine whine and a "whooom". It seemed to be more pronounced on Hydra-Matic cars.

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I resemble the OP's remark about "being old enough to remember!" My recollection is that NO car cam from the factory with Smitty glasspacks. Those were aftermarket products favored by us (then) youngsters precisely for their sound.

I can also state that having owned a whole lot of Oldsmobiles and and a few Cadillacs, the exhaust systems on them was "next to quiet; not anything like a Smitty glasspack would/did sound.

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One of the best sounding stock exhaust systems I remember was on my 1967 Plymouth GTX with the 440 engine. Not really loud but a very mellow rumble at idle and enough of a roar at full throttle that you knew you were in a muscle car. I liked it so much I had the shop duplicate it on my 63 Starfire using a couple of giant "Hemi" mufflers and a crossover pipe between the two exhaust pipes.

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Most cars had a very distinct sound once you got to know them. One cylinder cars, Model T's, A's, etc. were easily recognized. Two of my favorites were the fuel injected early Vettes, and the '69 SS Chevelle with the dual ripple exhaust pipes and resonators. You could always tell what was under the hood when those big block engines pulled up next to you at the stop sign.

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Most cars had a very distinct sound once you got to know them. One cylinder cars, Model T's, A's, etc. were easily recognized. Two of my favorites were the fuel injected early Vettes, and the '69 SS Chevelle with the dual ripple exhaust pipes and resonators. You could always tell what was under the hood when those big block engines pulled up next to you at the stop sign.

Those Chevys with chambered pipes are what provoked Virginia and other states to outlaw chambered exhaust systems in late 60s. Had Chevy used resonators at the end like the Olds Starfire and Mustang Arvinode systems, those laws would likely not exist.

Nah, they probably would anyway. The Starfire sound kingofstarfires mentioned created a lot of hassle here- there was a hardline police chief here in early 60s who despised any rumbly exhaust and made it his mission to do away with them. Soon as he found out 62 Starfires "rumbled" he had his beat cops look for new Starfires on the Cad-Olds dealer's lot and then sat one of them about half a mile away, waiting for the new owner to travel past. The brand new car immediately got pulled over and ticketed for noise, which you can guess created a lot of hard feelings. They had the Olds zone and factory people here explaining that was how the cars were designed and built, and even a letter from Oldsmobile's engineering department wouldn't change his mind- "If it's in my town it's gonna get a noise ticket". So every 62 Starfire delivered here had Dynamic 88 mufflers installed as part of its dealer prep. All because of a bitter and petty old man who had the horsepower to back up his pettyness.

It's telling he was chief of police during the 1963 civil rights riots too, and he handled that as you'd have expected.

And then damned if they didn't name one of the local community college's classroom buildings after him.

Edited by rocketraider (see edit history)
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There seems to be a tendency these days to use stainless steel for replacement exhaust systems. While a superior material for longevity, there is no doubt that the sound they make compared with mild steel is completely different. Generally noisier in my opinion.

Ray.

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Rocketraider,

Chevy did use a resonator on their dual ripple pipe exhaust. We still have the '69 SS 396, convert in storage. 22,000 actual miles and everything is there except the ripple pipe. We could not find a supplier back in the early 80's, but they are making them now, so we might go back to the original style. I kept the original resonators.

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Caddy, any chance you have a picture of the resonators? Friend and his brothers have several late 60s Chevs and are considering the chambered systems, but doesn't look like any of the repro systems have them. These folks are sticklers for correct as-built so they would be interested in seeing the correct resonators.

R.White- I generally have my exhaust done in aluminized pipe. Regular mild steel rusts too quick and the stainless systems have a "pingy" sound.

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Glenn,

I don't have any pictures of the resonators and they were cut off of the tail-pipe and put in the trunk for future use. Car is in storage in northern MN.. There is a web-site however that shows exactly what I have. Gardnerexhaust.com shows all the components of the '69 Chevelle chambered exhaust system as used until May of '69. GM quit providing due to noise issues.

If you can find original GM parts, they wil have Part # 3956749 (LH), 3956750 (RH) chambered pipes, and 3956751 (LH), 3956752 (RH) non chambered tail-pipe with resonator (round approx. 18" long). Hope this helps, good luck.

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Thanks!:cool:

I can't help thinking those chambered systems on 60s Olds, Mustang and Chevrolet were no louder than what you hear on a lot of new Camaros and Mustangs. Probably quieter truth be known. I know the chambered system on my Starfires is actually pretty quiet till you romp on it and then all hell breaks loose.

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