Hey all.
My dilemma is that my '79 is in need of new mufflers very soon. I've done a lot of auto repairs but mufflers is one thing i have never done. i have a friend (a C5 owner) who can do any welding required, but I'm wondering how bad the old ones will be to get off. Is there any good tricks that will help?
Also, I'm looking at either Flowmaster or Dynomax. Any good advice? I want something with a nice low growl but not terribly loud. The pipes are good so I want replacement mufflers that will require no cutting or additional modifications.
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I'm also tempted to just let the pro's do the whole thing. There is a local Corvette shop that can do the job. I don't have an estimate but over the phone he thought it would be in the $500 to $600 range depending on the mufflers. Seems kinda spendy but i know it would be done right. What to do????

Flowmasters do not grown, listen to any late model mustang, because most of them use flowmasters. Dynomax are ok, but don't make the power. If you want a low grown get the Hooker Aero chambers, plus they have a resonance tube in them to cancel out any sound that may transfer into the cockpit. They are also 100% stainless internals fully welded, so nothing will break loose or burn out.

They don't offer a replacent style, but most of the mufflers out there are about the same shape and depth, and a 79 has a simple offset in and offset out.

$600 seems high, but if you use good mufflers your going to have $140 tied up in just the mufflers. IF the pipes are good I would just cut the old ones loose if they don't slip appart and weld in new ones. You can buy the aluminized pipe to make up any pieces that you may come up short in the length department. You can replicate or remove the hanger system from the old exhaust and weld them to the new mufflers.

$500-600 sounds way high for just mufflers.
I put Magnaflows SS 'guaranteed for life' on about 6-8Months ago. These mufflers were perfectly constructed, are low restrictive straight through design, and offer higher HP gains than most. I have not changed to true dual yet, sooooon I hope. The sound is good at idle and quiet at highway. I would like for them to be louder and think they will be after changing to true duals. Overall a good performance muffler. See sound clips at http://www.magnaflow.com/
Best advise for mufflers is to listen to other vettes at shows, until you find the sound you are looking for.

I put Flowmaster 50 Delta flows on my CE any love them. Nice rumble but ot too much growl and interior resonace. I had to fabricate inlet pipes though

When I replaced the system from the manifolds back I upgraded to 2 1/2 inch pipes and got the stock mufflers from Corvette Central (I think). That setup has a nice low rumble when at idle and has a nice growl when I put the foot into it. A lot of people ask me if I have a big block lurking under the hood.

Getting the old pipes off wasn't too bad a chore having all four corners up on ramps, but it would have been a whole lot easier on a lift.

I think the price is kinda high. I just had headers installed, 3 inch pipes from the headers to the mufflers hand made, mufflers installed and the 3 inch tail pipes hand made welded and cut to fit into the outlets hand made for $825.00. The guy had a lot of trouble making the tail pipes rectangular to fit the side pipe outlets so I told him to just make them oval and they look great.
If he is just going to use an 'off the shelf' set of prebent pipes I think you should look elsewhere for a better price.

I'm going out this Saturday and get a few estimates. I figure it should be in the $225/250 range since all I need are the mufflers (and whatever tube to join them to the pipes). It has headers with the equalizing tube in place already. I had the car out last night and it is getting considerably louder. Everybody I've talked to loves the Flowmasters, so that's what i will probably end up with. Looking forward to getting them on for the 3 day weekend. It's supposed to be near 80 around here all weekend (puget sound). Thanks for the feedback.

I have the stock mufflers that have been split open and the chambers removed slightly............

Hey Glenn, Do you have any ground clearance issues with the 3" pipes? I've got 2.5" pipes right now that I need to replace. Also, are those aluminized or SS?

I just put the undercar chambered exhaust on and I love it.