nothing sounds like Y block

Johnnydidd

Johnnydidd

Well-known member
When I was young I had a 56 Merc with a set of pipes that would shake windows. I didn't realize at the time that only Y block sounded like that. My 56 I have now has that same sound, man I love that sound. Does anybody else enjoy that sound like I do?









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Glasspack Concerto, Henry Ford composer. Actually they do sound a bit like a flathead on steroids due to the shared firing order.
 
Yeah, my first car was a 56 Fairlane. I put glasspacks on it and it sounded wicked. You are right, nothing like Chebbies or Mopars sounded like it.
 
My thoughts on that is that a major contribution to the sound with the original header -like manifolds is the rear cylinder firing "down the pipe" so to speak. You don't get the same with the Ram Horn manifolds.
Any other thoughts on this?
 
My '55 originally had single exhaust with the crossover pipe. Back in the '70's I ran across a pair of dual exhaust manifolds off a '54 239 Y-block had them sandblasted, painted and put them on my car. Needed all new exhaust anyway and got hold of a couple of "cherry-bombs". Wow! In later years, I got hold of a set of exhaust manifolds off of a 312. They are physically a little bigger than the little 239 manifolds. I treated them like I did the other ones and swapped the little ones out for the 312 manifolds. Really nice sound with those cherry-bombs.
 
I found a set of NOS Belond Yblock headers for my Fairlane and have Porter steel pack mufflers. It sounds SO nice! Purrs at idle but will bark loud when I want it to.
 
Our y-block powered truck has no mufflers, and Fenton headers. Sounds good, but not loud enough. The 73 Ranchero we have for sale however has a pair of Cherry Bombs on it, and they REALLY sound off. Sounds like shotgun blasts.
chevs all sound the same. No matter what you do to them, or what kind of cam, you need not even turn to look when you hear it, you know what it is. Same sound, same belly-button.
If a t-shirt sounds good, Cherry bomb sells them on their website, and a few years back I made up a half dozen Smithys shirts of my own, and gave em all away
 
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When I did my '55 Courier (it only has the 223 I-block 6-cyl), I was in a hurry to finish and picked up a "thrush" glasspak from a local auto parts chain (probably Autozone). Now I wish I would have taken the time to find somebody that sells "Cherry-bombs", because I really don't care much for the mellow tone that the Thrush muffler produces. I could not remember where I got my "Cherry-bombs" for the car since it was so long ago, and the place probably doesn't exist anymore anyway.
Unfortunately, the Thrush will probably outlive me if it has a lifespan anywhere similar to the "Cherry-bombs" and I will probably just leave it as it is.
 
My 56 with stock exhaust has a really nice sound at idle. I like to just stand behind it and listen to the exhaust music piping out through the dual ports in the bumper ends.
 
What's the scoop with H pipes on duals? The guy who installed the exhaust on my truck suggested straight "true" dual exhaust when I asked him what he'd do. Figured ai could always add one later; haven't seen the need really. They do sound nice at idle.

Also even stock engines have a really nice deceleration rumble, if you can get lots of initial advance dialed in. I limited the total mechanical quite a bit inside the distributor so I can play with the curve a little bit. Y blocks tolerate a lot of ignition advance, I would say, certainly more than the stock 4° or 6°.
 
An "H" pipe that connects the left and right side pipes together before the mufflers, improves low RPM torque slightly.

Sal
 
A cross over pipe makes for better scavenging in the exhaust. Better scavenging means more efficient function. The performance increase is not much but any increase is good.
 
Freeway underpasses are a GREAT place to experience that wonderful Y Block musical serenade. I love my Y-Block!!
 
H pipe is supposed to increase power but takes away the distinct crackle of 2 separate pipes. The flathead guys block the exhaust crossover for a more distinct sound. Solid lifters add to the symphony.
 
5851a said:
H pipe is supposed to increase power but takes away the distinct crackle of 2 separate pipes. The flathead guys block the exhaust crossover for a more distinct sound. Solid lifters add to the symphony.
Click to expand...

That was what the exhaust guy was saying basically. Blocking the exhaust crossover on our Y blocks would tend to make them cold blooded would it not? Although this would also be preferable in hot weather. And maybe keep percolation at bay with modern gasoline formulations.

I've wanted to try this, I was thinking maybe just snaking some thin shim stock in there, after loosening the center intake fasteners. This should work I'd think. In other words there's no reason to remove the entire intake to block them off?
 
Don't know if you could just slip in something on a Yblock, never tried. If you had a automatic choke it would have to get the air through the exhaust manifold to work right I would think. On my FE engine I cranked choke off and pump it more, but I tend to let the older iron warm up before drive away.
 
I've heard of some folks putting a piece of stainless steel shim stock to block off the crossover.
'cold blooded'? 'cut down on percolation'? yes it could do that. Depends on the climate where you live.

If you don't want to go to that extreme there are intake gaskets available with a smaller crossover hole. (second photo below)
Choke heat... an electric choke cover might be the easiest solution, or a passenger side exhaust manifold with a heat tube fitting.
 

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