DIY Marriage-saving muffler delete - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

robertway · 02-04-2010, 10:53 AM

OK, we all know it looks like GM welded two garbage cans under the rear end of our cars and I like so many other wanted to get rid of them. One problem for me... my car is parked in the garage right under my master bedroom and the wife already says the car scares her to death when I fire it up in the morning leaving early for work. So this is the compromise I have made for the immediate future, the marriage-saving muffler delete a.k.a. spray painting the stock cans. I know this has been done by some other members but here is mine.

I had the car up on jack stands installing Pfadt sway bars so I used the opportunity to black out the garbage cans at the same time.

A couple view of the stock cans...

My blackening weapon of choice, Rust-Oleum high heat flat black, can says it is good until about 1200 degrees and there is no need to prime the surface. I picked it up at my local Lowes for 5 bucks...

I first did a light rinse and wipe-down of the cans and then hit them with Meguiar's All Wheel Cleaner which you can get at a Pep Boys or AutoZone for about 6-7 bucks, I let the cleaner sit on the mufflers for about a minute before scrubbing them down and then rinsing them off. Once dried I sanded them a bit just to scratch up the surface a little bit, nothing crazy and I didn't really worry if I sanded every nook and cranny, just a rough sand around the whole area I was going to paint. I blew them off with an air compressor and then draped some newspaper around the surrounding areas to catch any overspray...

I coated pretty much any part of the muffler I could see from the rear and sides as well as what you could see through the exhaust tip openings which is why the tips are taped off as I was spraying into the opening around the tips to get to that part of the muffler...

Two coats in....

All cleaned up after a third coat and ready to go, they blend in very nicely and don't stick out like a sore thumb now...

This will keep things quiet for a little while and satisfy my wanting to get rid of the otherwise obvious garbage cans hanging out from under the car. Unfortunately (for my wife), I have some Kooks Long Tubes on the way so things are about to get louder, once she gets over the fact that it is going to be loud after the Kooks, in come the Magnaflow Competition Catback

... By then I'll be sleeping in the shed anyway so it probably can't get any worse, unless she makes me roll the car out of the garage in neutral out into the street before I start it

. Funny thing is, my kids like it when I rev it up and it gets loud, they say it sounds angry, my 2yr old says it sounds like a T-Rex... The Jurassic Camaro!!!

brtaus · 02-04-2010, 11:36 AM

Looks nice; if I weren't installing my new exhaust this weekend, I would consider doing the same thing.

BlaSSt Off · 02-04-2010, 12:09 PM

Looks good. But man, if the stock exhaust scares her... She must have VERY good hearing because you can barely hear the stock exhaust standing BEHIND the car. LoL

2ndgenz28 · 02-04-2010, 12:17 PM

cheap 99cent walmart black will work just fine too, only near the headers does it burn off / turn white

Been painting my exhaust black for years for similar reasons.

I freshen them up yearly, works best when the exhaust is medium hot, instant stick that wont come off.

I do similar when welding stuff now, paint is easier to remove then rust and fresh weld can rust up fast.

robertway · 02-04-2010, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlaSSt Off

Looks good. But man, if the stock exhaust scares her... She must have VERY good hearing because you can barely hear the stock exhaust standing BEHIND the car. LoL

I say the same thing, it is not so much when the car is just idling but when it first fires up and revs a little bit before settling down, if a fly goes by and farts she can hear it so you could say she is a LIGHT sleeper... Luckily all of my kids could sleep through a SCUD missile attack so there is no worry in waking them up...

HeavyD · 02-04-2010, 01:23 PM

Actually, your pictures are a good guide for locations of placing jack-stands. Thanks again!

robertway · 02-04-2010, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeavyD

Actually, your pictures are a good guide for locations of placing jack-stands. Thanks again!

Here is a better shot for that, I did not set the car right down on the jack stands on the pinch weld, I cut a 2x8 into 2.5" wide lengths about 6 inches long and placed them along the pinch weld so the car is resting on the wood which is resting on the jack stand. Even if the wood compresses enough so the pinch weld touches the jack stand, at least the full weight of the car isn't right on that weld.

You can kinda see the jack stand and the block of wood on top of it off to the right of this shot...

jcamere94z28 · 02-04-2010, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robertway

my 2yr old says it sounds like a T-Rex... The Jurassic Camaro!!!

awesome...

I can't wait until my 1.5 year old start saying things like that.

looks good btw...

those wheels look nice.. do you have pic of the car with all the wheels on?

Silver Ice · 02-13-2010, 05:20 PM

If it were me I would put the car in neutral, back out into the driveway, then start the car. What you did looks good though.

bluman · 02-14-2010, 03:06 PM

I did this when the car was 2 hrs old in my possession

My2SS/RS · 02-19-2010, 06:02 PM

Very nice! That looks 10x better than stock!

tom692010 · 02-20-2010, 01:49 PM

Hey rolling the car out of the garage ain't so bad. That's what I used to do with my Harley's when I went to work at 5am. The only bitch was the time or 2 it didn't start. I have a pretty slopped driveway so there wasn't any pushing it back up.
Nice job on the cans though. I put on QTP cutouts so I have his and her mode. Loud when my son and I are driving and quite for when the daughter and wife are in it.

02-04-2010, 10:53 AM	#1
robertway Drives: 2012 Challenger SRT8 Auto Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Central New Jersey Posts: 839	DIY Marriage-saving muffler delete OK, we all know it looks like GM welded two garbage cans under the rear end of our cars and I like so many other wanted to get rid of them. One problem for me... my car is parked in the garage right under my master bedroom and the wife already says the car scares her to death when I fire it up in the morning leaving early for work. So this is the compromise I have made for the immediate future, the marriage-saving muffler delete a.k.a. spray painting the stock cans. I know this has been done by some other members but here is mine. I had the car up on jack stands installing Pfadt sway bars so I used the opportunity to black out the garbage cans at the same time. A couple view of the stock cans... My blackening weapon of choice, Rust-Oleum high heat flat black, can says it is good until about 1200 degrees and there is no need to prime the surface. I picked it up at my local Lowes for 5 bucks... I first did a light rinse and wipe-down of the cans and then hit them with Meguiar's All Wheel Cleaner which you can get at a Pep Boys or AutoZone for about 6-7 bucks, I let the cleaner sit on the mufflers for about a minute before scrubbing them down and then rinsing them off. Once dried I sanded them a bit just to scratch up the surface a little bit, nothing crazy and I didn't really worry if I sanded every nook and cranny, just a rough sand around the whole area I was going to paint. I blew them off with an air compressor and then draped some newspaper around the surrounding areas to catch any overspray... I coated pretty much any part of the muffler I could see from the rear and sides as well as what you could see through the exhaust tip openings which is why the tips are taped off as I was spraying into the opening around the tips to get to that part of the muffler... Two coats in.... All cleaned up after a third coat and ready to go, they blend in very nicely and don't stick out like a sore thumb now... This will keep things quiet for a little while and satisfy my wanting to get rid of the otherwise obvious garbage cans hanging out from under the car. Unfortunately (for my wife), I have some Kooks Long Tubes on the way so things are about to get louder, once she gets over the fact that it is going to be loud after the Kooks, in come the Magnaflow Competition Catback ... By then I'll be sleeping in the shed anyway so it probably can't get any worse, unless she makes me roll the car out of the garage in neutral out into the street before I start it . Funny thing is, my kids like it when I rev it up and it gets loud, they say it sounds angry, my 2yr old says it sounds like a T-Rex... The Jurassic Camaro!!! __________________ "When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic." - Benjamin Franklin LS3 Camshaft Swap Do-It-Yourself Instructions - 2010 LS3 gone but not forgotten!!!

02-14-2010, 03:06 PM	#10
bluman Drives: '10 Corvette GS/'13 Mustang Join Date: May 2009 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 636	I did this when the car was 2 hrs old in my possession __________________ 2010 Camaro SIM/CGM RS/2LT VIN #310 SOLD 2010 Corvette Grand Sport

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
DIY: GFX Outlets add Wire Mesh and Paint, Muffler Delete	Li0nel1234	Camaro DIY & HOW-TO instructions & discussions	25	01-07-2017 07:36 PM
Muffler Delete or Aftermarket?	JohnForeman	Camaro V8 LS3 / L99 Engine, Exhaust, and Bolt-Ons	3	11-01-2009 11:46 AM
DIY at home Muffler Delete for $20	CDBiker220	Camaro V8 LS3 / L99 Engine, Exhaust, and Bolt-Ons	23	10-12-2009 06:32 PM
Considering a Muffler Delete, Straight Pipes or NOS in Ontario?	Matster	Canada	18	08-29-2009 03:41 PM
Muffler Delete with Dyno clips and pictures	KK2010SS	Camaro V8 LS3 / L99 Engine, Exhaust, and Bolt-Ons	9	07-26-2009 02:09 PM

02-04-2010, 11:36 AM	#2
brtaus Drives: None Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 574 View My Garage	Looks nice; if I weren't installing my new exhaust this weekend, I would consider doing the same thing.

02-04-2010, 12:09 PM	#3
BlaSSt Off Drives: 2SS/RS Join Date: May 2009 Location: Texas Posts: 586	Looks good. But man, if the stock exhaust scares her... She must have VERY good hearing because you can barely hear the stock exhaust standing BEHIND the car. LoL

02-04-2010, 12:17 PM	#4
2ndgenz28 Thread Killer Drives: All Black Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: NWO Toledo Area Posts: 4,720	cheap 99cent walmart black will work just fine too, only near the headers does it burn off / turn white Been painting my exhaust black for years for similar reasons. I freshen them up yearly, works best when the exhaust is medium hot, instant stick that wont come off. I do similar when welding stuff now, paint is easier to remove then rust and fresh weld can rust up fast.

02-04-2010, 01:23 PM	#6
HeavyD Drives: 1SSRS RY L99 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Ontario Posts: 1,329	Actually, your pictures are a good guide for locations of placing jack-stands. Thanks again!

02-13-2010, 05:20 PM	#9
Silver Ice Drives: 2010 Camaro 2ss-rs Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: RI Posts: 845 View My Garage	If it were me I would put the car in neutral, back out into the driveway, then start the car. What you did looks good though.

02-19-2010, 06:02 PM	#11
My2SS/RS Drives: 2010 2SS/RS M6 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Louisiana Posts: 95 View My Garage	Very nice! That looks 10x better than stock!

02-20-2010, 01:49 PM	#12
tom692010 Account Suspended Drives: 4 wheels Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Here Posts: 1,404	Hey rolling the car out of the garage ain't so bad. That's what I used to do with my Harley's when I went to work at 5am. The only bitch was the time or 2 it didn't start. I have a pretty slopped driveway so there wasn't any pushing it back up. Nice job on the cans though. I put on QTP cutouts so I have his and her mode. Loud when my son and I are driving and quite for when the daughter and wife are in it.