I am rebuilding the engine in my 1955 TBird and will be replacing the exhaust system at the same time. I am using 1957 TBird iron exhaust manifolds and inlet pipes.   My question is about mufflers.  The stock mufflers are too quiet for my taste.  I want a powerful sound but I don't want to wake up all the dogs in my neighborhood.  Will glass packs be too loud?  The 55 exhaust comes out the bumper, so I would imagine the sound level from the driver's seat may be an issue.  I have used Magnaflow mufflers in the past and I liked them.  Will any muffler fit in these birds or do I have to use a specific type?

Does (or did) your outfit use the resonators just ahead of the axle? Popular way to cut heat in the passenger compartment is to replace the mufflers with straight pipes (maybe wrap them?) - and fit some short turbo mufflers in place of the resonators.

I replaced the '56 exhaust manifold set-up with the '57's - and also sent them out to be "Jet-Hot" coated. It eliminated a lot of heat from the engine compartment.  

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

My TBird had no resonators.  The mufflers connect to the inlet pipes behind the transmission cross member.  I read somewhere if I drilled the stock mufflers straight through the sound would improve.  Anyone have experience that that?

I have been running the stock Ford mufflers without resonators on my '57 312 forever and am happy with the sound. That being said i am now looking to going to bigger pipes and less restrictive mufflers. I think i can get 2" pipes through the bumpers and am considering magna flow or flowmasters.

I have had them both and I prefer Magaflows. The sound is a little less harsh.  Back in the day not too many Tbirds were converted into hot rods.  They cost too much for most gear heads.  I had a friend who's brother had a 55 TBird and he drove it while his brother was in Vietnam. We drove the piss out of that car and had to replace more than one transmission.   I treat my TBird a little better than that.

I’ve got hushmasters on 2.25” pipes, FPA headers on my bird. They were too loud at anything over half throttle and I had to add resonators. So I’d recommend against them. I’ve got Flowmasters on another car, and they’re fine.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ