Hydration is indeed very important! Also agree about the new intake manifold as well, looks awesome

 

Installed,well,more like partially installed I guess,one of the Thrush "welded mufflers" ,aka,poor mans Flowmaster 40.I just removed the stock intermediate pipe and replaced it with the muffler and a 12" long turndown.I plan to replace the turndown with a stainless bend to run out the right side in front of the tire

Haven't driven it yet,but it sounds really good in the garage.So much deeper,lower pitched sound compared to no muffler.Looking forward to driving it tomorrow to hear it

 

Just got home from driving with the new muffler.It sounds so good,I was thinking I'll probably just leave it be,and not bother with replacing the turndown. Problem is,it turns out even though it's tucked up against the floorpan nice and tight,it still scrapes the ground just from pulling in and out of the garage There's a bit of a dip at the edge of the garage,and when I parked I noticed chunks of ground missing for a few feet

As much as I love the sound,I may have to replace it with a glass pack,although that should only give me another 1/2" of clearance,so I dunno if that'd be enough to do the trick (2 1/2"glass pack is 3 1/2" OD,Thrush is 4 1/2" thick,so 1/2" radius,or thickness,smaller)

Looked like it was barely hanging any lower than the pipe itself,so I don't get it

Guess that's the price you gotta pay when you lower a car that already has very little ground clearance

 

Changed plugs. Yuck

 

Disintegrated both back tires from just one insane burnout with each on the right side

A couple weeks or so after my one and only at the time burnout in the Stang,when I removed the wheels to change the springs,I noticed several huge chunks of tire ripped off of the right rear That was a new one on me.I figured it must've either been from that giant burnout,or I ran over something

Last night when I was almost home from work,I decided to do another big smokey to hear what the 'new exhaust system' sounds like at high rpm.As she approached redline in 4th gear (I think,may've been 3rd) it sounded like severe detonation/pinging,so I let off.But even after closing the throttle,the sound continued.I looked in the mirror and saw "gators" (large chunks of tire) flying everywhere,in addition to the biggest smoke cloud not in California.

I thought the tire must've blown out from overspeeding it,so I pulled over to look at the tire,expecting it to be flat,and noticed the right side of the bumper popped out of place,and lots of new scuffs/scratches/missing bits of paint/etc on the right quarter panel.Then I saw a 2 or 3 foot long strip of what used to be the tread area of the tire hanging off the back of the tire.

Both times this happened,the tires hadn't lost any air,only chunks of rubber,but this time the long flap beat the bumper out of place and the other chunks tore up the paint job even more than it already was

So I have a perfect record of massive carnage with every burnout I've done in this car

 

Well that should tell you something, I am not going to tell you to stop doing some great smokey burnouts but maybe invest in some different brand tires. Trust me burnouts are a must after a long day/week at work and just want to let off some steam/smoke lol.

 

Burnouts on public roads are illegal and highly dangerous that's why I never do them...

 

I was thinking the same thing.I have a pair ordered,different brand,and different size too.I decided to try a 255/50 this time

 

I'd say they're USUALLY not especially dangerous,but when they throw shrapnel at high velocity everywhere...

Ironically,the reason I chose to do a burnout was to avoid the dangerous situation of a high speed run to wind her out.There wasn't anyplace close by to go fast relatively safely,so I thought a burnout would let me hear it at high rpm while not exceeding the speed limit.That's my story and I'm sticking to it

 

I sat in my 2013 convertible today and looked at the foggy radio plastic. Is there a fix?

 

You may want to consider something like Meguiars PlastX-Plastic-Cleaner-Polish..

 

Thank you, will order it today. (sick)

 

Installed the new back tires.255/50-17,up from the 235/55's

 

More contact!

 

Yeah but I still wish I could've gotten more use out of the old tires.They didn't have a whole lot of tread life left,but as few miles as I put on her now,I bet they would've lasted another year at least

 

Lol. I get about 8-10k out of my rear tires.

 

With the power on you and wifey's rides,I'm surprised you even get a few HUNDRED miles out of 'em

 

Finally got the exhaust done.Well,close to done anyway.The functional part of it's good to go

New stainless intermediate pipe,and one of my slightly used Thrush chambered mufflers on.Still need to get a tip.I'm thinking maybe a dual outlet tip,and trim the bumper cutout wider for it

I cut off the inlet pipe/hanger part of the stock muffler and had it welded onto the Thrush.Same with the hanger

Since the new muff is center outlet instead of offset to the right side like stock,it doesn't quite line up with the bumper cutout,so that's why I thought a dual tip will hopefully do the trick

I had planned to spray the muff with high heat black paint later,but we ended up welding it on,so I probably won't bother painting it now

FYI, I used the Dynomax stainless right side intermediate pipe as a stock replacement,stuck with single exhaust,and it fit fine.It's meant to work with the Dynomax dual exhaust x-pipe,and the tech folks at Dynomax even told me it would not work as a stock replacement,but it does.It's about the same price as the regular aluminized steel stock replacement,that's why I went with it.Got it at Advance Auto,so I figured if it didn't fit,I could return it

It's part number 55518,and the aluminized stock replacement is I think 55555,can't recall for sure on that tho.

Sounds fantastic when buzzin' up thru the gears,but oddly,still as loud as no exhaust at idle and droning at low load,low peddle

 

Got more work done on the exhaust.Got a stainless tip welded on,and one of the welds from my last post adventure above re-welded.It was leaking where they welded the short pipe/hanger onto the Thrush muff

Still seems to have a leak at the exhaust manifold gasket,and the check engine light just came back,which I assume is from the "right bank lean" code again,which I assume is from the leak.Trouble is,I'm afraid to change the gasket because the bolts are so rusty,I figure most of them'll break

So after all this,I still have exhaust leaks to fix

I also got the airbag recall done this morning,so there's one less thing to worry about,having my face blown off.Probably be an improvement in my case though

 

Your putting in the time that's for sure. It will pay off soon.