Walker Cat-Back Exhaust Installation

I was very impressed with the quality of this exhaust system; 2.25" (non-mandrel bent), fully aluminized. The mufflers are of a straight-through design, with one "tube" running straight through the muffler casing with small holes on the tube's wall. The "guts" of the mufflers look just like glasspacks, but the mufflers themselves are of a conventional shape, the case being about 8" across by 11" long (not including the inlet/outlet) and about 4" thick at the thickest point. The corners are not tapered like the factory mufflers are; nonetheless, these mufflers fit great.

The sound from this exhaust system is wonderful. I can't even describe what it sounds like. It really has a classic muscle car sound to it. I was (pleasantly) surprised, especially after seeing the muffler boxes. They're Walker Quiet-Flow mufflers, but I don't think they're real quiet. I was expecting this system to be quieter than the last, especially since the Edelbrock muffler is a performance muffler, and this is an OEM replacement system. The old system sounded just as good, but not as loud. There still is no mistaking the Olds engine in front of these mufflers, though. In fact, Greg Pruett took a ride in my car (with the old system installed) and commented that he thought it sounded like his '72 Vista Cruiser, just not as loud. Now, I think it sounds JUST like his! I'd be fooled...it sure makes you think that there's much more than a little 307 in front of this system! I have access to a microphone and a laptop computer, just can't get the dang thing to record anything...when I do, I'll post a .wav file immediately! :)

Following are a few pictures I took...admittedly after the installation. We had snow before Christmas and the VDOT trucks spread a LOT of sand on the roads, and my garage (and Flash) looked like a sandbox...so, I took these pictures after I swept the garage and washed Flash. :) Please note, some of the pictures were taken in obscure lighting with a flash, and therefore needed a lot of doctoring on the computer to get them to come out halfway decent looking.

This is the old system, with the Edelbrock crossflow muffler and single intermediate pipe connecting the catalytic converter to the muffler. Of course, it's cut up in this picture, but you get the idea. This system was left out in the back yard one night; and it rained that night. You can kind of see all the new surface rust on the mild-steel intermediate pipe (all the orange mess). The Edelbrock muffler and the tailpipes are aluminized, so they fared pretty well over the 3 years they were installed.	The logo on the Edelbrock muffler. It was a good muffler...sounded good and not too loud. The main reason I junked this exhaust system was because of the unsightly rusting intermediate pipe (see picture at left) and the fact that the int. pipe hung down a good inch below the rear axle, just in front of the rear axle, when it was fixing to turn up and over the axle tube.
This is the connection between the catalytic converter and the new intermediate pipe (the Y-pipe). The old int. pipe was welded to the back of the converter, but the converter-side flange was still there, so I just cut off the int. pipe with a reciprocating saw and bolted the new int. pipe to the converter's flange. Presto...good as new. :)	This is the connection with the mufflers. The intermediate pipe runs from the back of the converter (see picture at left) and slips into the muffler inlets, as shown above.
The tailpipes slip into the back of the muffler outlets and loop up and over the rear axle and turn out to each side of the car.	The mufflers installed under Flash. They hang up pretty nice...don't hang down too awful low.
The right-hand tailpipe, as it exits the car. I like the angle cut; looks like stock (well, this is the stock 442 system). My old system (see first picture) didn't have angle-cut tailpipes; that was another reason I wanted this Walker system.	The view from behind...at curb-level. Two mufflers lurking in front of the axle is a much better view than a single (rusty-colored) intermediate pipe hanging down on the left side!