Reply to "Headers"

The previous owner of my white Pantera installed a new Hall big bore system.
It isn't much louder than the ANSA mufflers that came on my red Pantera but I've
heard Hall big bore systems that were deafening. My guess is the Hall mufflers
use fiberglass packing which eventually burns up leaving little sound absorption.
Magnaflow uses stainless steel wool and warranties their mufflers. The PIM mufflers
are OBX Racing items (DB001K universal dual exhaust muffler, 2.5" single inlet,
dual outlet). The OBX website mentions a mixture of aluminized steel, stainless
and rock wool fiberglass in their construction so they may get louder over time.
Brent Stewart has the PIM-sourced OBX mufflers on his Pantera. He says they are
loud but he loves the looks and sound:

http://www.poca.com/index.php/...ery/?g2_itemId=26403

However, I have my suspicions about how well the OBX mufflers flow. If you look at
size of the minimum ID (the important dimension in this context) in this picture:

http://tinyurl.com/obxsmallid

you'll see it appears quite restrictive. When I was at PIM, they had a set
of the mufflers on display but I forgot to check the minimum internal ID.
You might try contacting Brent to see if he can measure the ID. I checked the
OBX website and they don't list the DB001K any longer but there are a couple
of other similar mufflers (e.g. 20-9999-DB1 Slant Cut Tips 2.5"In/2.75"x2 Out)
listed. Not sure if the DB001K have been superseded or are just not listed.

> I'm considering going with magnaflow mufflers, provided I can keep the big bore
> glasspack look. Photo of the rear of the car is attached.

The Magnaflow I'm running is an oval case with dual tips. I thought I saw
something similar to the OBX in their catalog but don't see it now. They
do have the round body mufflers if you want to make your own. Check
Kelly's (Panterror on this forum) 180 degree header sticky for sources for
stainless merges. I picked up a pair for my long tube tri-y header design
and they are nice.

All of the short 4-into-1 Pantera under car headers, including the Euro GTS
with tri-y collector, lose low and mid-range power compared to the Mustang
4-into-1 long tube 1 3/4" Hooker Competition headers we baselined them against
but the best of them are a pretty good match near power peak.

Dan Jones