What EXACLTY will it sound like if I cut out stock resonator?

TheDog

Registered User
I have a 90 SC with a totally stock exhaust system. I'm just thinking of cutting the resonator and putting in a Y-pipe. Leaving the rest of the system stock, what will it sound like without the resonator? Will it be loud or sound like crap? I've done a forum search and can't get a definite answer anywhere! So who can be descriptive and let me know? Thanks!

(picked it up for $1000 in perfect condition a few months ago with 122k. YES!)
 
if u cut off the resonator you will sound like a civic with a fart can at the tip. honestly do urself a favor and dont cut it off... just get a exhaust system with a magnaflow resonator and it will sound and give u better performance..
 
TheDog said:
I have a 90 SC with a totally stock exhaust system. I'm just thinking of cutting the resonator and putting in a Y-pipe. Leaving the rest of the system stock, what will it sound like without the resonator? Will it be loud or sound like crap? I've done a forum search and can't get a definite answer anywhere! So who can be descriptive and let me know? Thanks!

(picked it up for $1000 in perfect condition a few months ago with 122k. YES!)

If the cats are in good condition and the rear mufflers are stock then removing the resonator will not be obnoxious. It will be slightly louder at idle and it won't have any problems on the highway. You may get a little bit of a tinny resonance under moderate to heavy acceleration at certain rpms but you won't hear it inside the car.

Replacing the stock resonator with a Magnaflow or Borla straight through muffler will mellow out any tinniness and give the car a slightly more aggressive note than stock.
 
is there anything more annoying when you see mid 90s like grand prixs/luminas with exhaust leaks ?

i haaaate that sound.
 
Do you really think it's that drastic as sounding like a civic with a fart can on the end? Is the resonator really just a backwards muffler? I'll check into that magnaflow, but yes the mufflers are stock and they don't seem to be clogged.
 
TheDog said:
Do you really think it's that drastic as sounding like a civic with a fart can on the end? Is the resonator really just a backwards muffler?

Yes, it is that bad. A resonator is just a muffler before a muffler.
 
A lot of it has to do with the thickness of the straight pipe that you weld in the place of the resonator. I had the resonator removed on both of my SCs' a 90 and a 95 and had a stainless steel pipe welded into place. I don't recall the thickness of the stainless steel pipe but the thickness of the wall kept it from buzzing horribly.

I also had two magnaflow Stainless Steel Mufflers put on and it did not sound bad at all. It sounded a lot like a V-8 at idle. The stock mufflers are not the problem in the exhaust system it is the resonator. The resonator is pinched down to a small diameter on one end and that is where the major restriction is. If you really want to keep it quiet replace the resonator with a magnaflow piece or equivalent and you can keep the stock mufflers.
 
Keeping the cats and getting rid of the resonator will not sound all that bad. Teh factory cat showever are a restriction as well. I;d replace that whole section with some highflow cats. Either two Highflow cats or one 3 inch.

Both options will be louder then with factory cats but stil livable if indeed your mufflers are in decnt shape.

Remove the cats and resonator and watch out
 
i had a 93 lx 3.8..... ooh man... I got bored of the car and wanted somethin different so i was playin around and thought it would be cool to sawzall everythign off ... i had the cats and thats it... ohy man it was so bad instantly i was regreting it... then I tried to fix it, haha with some cheap cherry bombs... ha...... I got pulled over and the cop was liek DO YOU EVEN HAVE AN EXAUST ! .. i said kinda, he saw the pba card told me to fix it n that was it.. but yea.. dont do it :eek:
 
Thunder427 said:
is there anything more annoying when you see mid 90s like grand prixs/luminas with exhaust leaks ?

i haaaate that sound.


I've got a 96 Monte with an after market exhaust, I think it sounds good. I will admit though that there are times I think it sounds like crap. Rahter have a silent exhaust that a noisey one, bought the car this way.
 
what kind of HP gain do you think I'd get by removing or going with a high flow resonator?
 
TheDog said:
what kind of HP gain do you think I'd get by removing or going with a high flow resonator?

It might be all in my head. But I swear I could tell the difference when I left the exhaust shop. When I had the rears replaced all I got was a small drone, no difference in performance.
 
Flow Master

Flow Master makes a great replacement exhaust from just behind the cats back. It's not that expensive if you go through an after market dealer. I got mine from a place in FL, express exhaust i think was the name, i'm not sure. I love it... sounds great too.
 
My brother got a Dynomax cat-back for his 91 with a 5.0. That sounds nice - you know it's a V8, but it's not loud. I think he paid like $340.
 
The first thing I did to my SC....when it was bone stock was to have the stock cats and resonator cut out and replaced with pipe. IT was BAD. It had that horrible drone....the Civic fart can noise, but only from about 2500-3500 rpm. It was quite, then ricer fart can, then quiet as you pulled up to 5000 rpm. Sounded retarded.

Now these guys say if you keep the cats in there, it won't be too bad. Maybe, but I can verify that it sounds retarded with nothing in the mid section ... no matter what mufflers you have out back.

To fix the drone, we threw two 12 inch glass packs in the mid section. That took the drone right out and gave it a consistant exhaust note from idle to redline.

Anything you do to the exhaust to pick up that fart can noise, beware, it's not like a Civic that has the fart can noise from idle to redline. Your's will only have the fart can noise in the mid rpms and out of no where. Sounds very quiet at idle, then all hell breaks loose, then it gets quiet again.

Micah
 
Hmmm that's really informative. I don't want that fart can at ANY RPMs. What kind of a place will take the cats completely out for you? I live in FL where there is no inspections but muffler shops that I've been to won't take them out cuz they're nervous about me being an undercover EPA cop or something. Kinda retarded.
 
I only know of one place that does it. And I think these days he's a little leary of doing it. You pretty much have to be able to name someone who suggested you go to him. And cash only. :)

Micah
 
Unless your cats are bad most exhaust shops won't touch them. I asked my local exhaust shop to install hipo ones and they said they couldn't.

I've often wondered if I told them that my mechanic said they were plugged if they would install new ones.

Or I could take a hammer to them...:D
 
just cut out ur mufflers and run some extensions to the back or u will have the horrible noise... thats what i did... i live in CALIFORNIA too... the worldst toughest smog laws... who cares if they ask me were my mufflers are i just point to the resonator... thats a muffler... and im out... the smog techs didnt care either...
 
I think part of the leeriness is the fact that all the vehicle manufacturers are required to warranty emissions components (Cats) for something like 8 years, 70,000 miles. So, anyone with a fairly new car should (in EPA logic) be going to the dealer if they have a catalytic converter problem. But, if you have an older car, and you are replacing cats with cats, there should be no problem. Maybe they got busted in the past.
 
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