Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Duratec Performance MSDS Header Question...

the gargaling or raspyness went away when i put the bosal exhaust on.

Here's a couple vids of my newly installed MSDS headers, along with the SHO Shop Ypipe,hi-flow cat and trubendz duals. It should give you a good idea on how loud it is.

Start-up
Cruising Speeds
Wide Open Throttle

Alright cool, thank you for the sound clips, I really appreciate it. Why don't people use the Y that comes with the MSDS anyway... I see a lot of people that use the MSDS headers and the sho shop Y. Bassicaly, the ideal is for the car to sound exactly as smooth and have the same note as the factory, just a little louder, I think that the headers will do that alone, but the Cats in the headers dissapearing with these new ones definitely could add to the raspiness cause the tubing is larger, and there are no cats. We'll see how it sounds... but I would like to keep the rasp completely out of the picture... so if that is there... do you replace the center muffler? I hear people say resonator... and they refer to the rear two as resonators, then some people call those mufflers and the center one a resonator. Either way, is it the rear two or the center that I would need to replace to get rid of the rasp if it's there? I would say the center, but what have you found?

replace the center resonator,esp on stock svt exhaust, its the same one used on the standard duratec exhaust so the inlet/outlet is smaller than the svt pipe is...plus you can pretty much put any length resonator there..

I've replaced a regular 2.5SE with SVT exhaust before and the diameter is the same anyway between the two... looked identical to me with the exception of the split at the rear to two tailpipes instead of one. What center are most people putting in, what brand, lengh, and size... for stock SVT exhaust, and what impact would that have on the sound? I would imagine that if you replaced that piece even on stock exhaust with a "high flow" version it would simply get louder... cut it out and it would rasp like hell... that's what I would think.

ok i read a few different things in your post that need clearing up.

1. the msds y pipe does not delete the main cat. if you look under your car, the main cat bolts to the y pipe. no removal necessary. a few here have said they are using a test pipe, which is a pipe that bolts in to the section where the cat is (about a foot or so long). its the section between the y pipe and the "cat back."

so, you will lose your precats with the headers, but not the main one. as many have said before, there really isnt a huge gain to be had from losing the main cat.

2. most refer to the "center muffler" as the resonator. on stock systems (all of them) that is where the res. is located. however, a few aftermarket systems (like trubendz ), use one muffler and two resonators. the muffler is in the middle with the two res. at the end. not sure why they do it this way.

so when you hear people refer to the two further back "resonators," they probably have a system like the trubendz. otherwise, the center "muffler" is the res., with mufflers in the rear (like the stock svt exhaust, my aftermarket, and others).

hope all that helps.

if you are interested in my exhaust, search for justmagnaflow.com. they have the best prices on all magnaflow stuff.

if nothing else, replace your res. with an 18" long version for the 2.25" stock svt piping. my part number is for 2.5" piping, so it is not the right size for you.

with a good res. and svt mufflers you should not have any problems with rasp with the headers and msds y (as long as you leave the cat!).

dont worry, it will sound great!

Good deal... yeah I know that people refer as the cats in the stock manifolds as pre-cats... but the fact of the matter is that they are cat's too... that was what I was refering to, the cats in the exhaust manifolds (pre-cats, whatever you want to call them) losing those, that was what I was concerned about giving the natural engine rasp back... but the last cat after the Y also known as the "main cat" will be left in, yes. I may change the catback out eventually, but for now I just want to make sure that the MSDS won't give the car a totally different sound as far as the smoothness... and if it does, if there is a quick easy way to fix it, great. Thank you again for all of the help on this topic, I will let you all know how it goes when it's all said and done. Sounds like it will end up pretty nice. Kingpin, you need to post a sound clip of your car too