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Stock Muffler Restoration

5/19/00 -- When I first saw the Monza dual exhaust on the rear end of my Spitfire, I was very pleased. The previous owner had installed a Weber DGV carb and was obviously concerned with performance. The Monza lets out one rip of a wail as the car is driven, which is great for attracting attention, but frankly, murder on the eardrums. At least mine.

After a great deal of inner debate, I recently decided to get rid of the Monza system -- or at least try and quiet it in some way. Part of my decision was prompted by my stealth audio project. I mean, there's no use in having a great stereo if you can't hear it. Additionally, conversation was very difficult while driving with a passenger -- and at freeway speeds, the sound was deafening. I have no idea when the Monza was fitted to my car -- or if they were ever less loud than they were now -- but I suspect they might have been.

After weighing my options with the shop manager, I opted to remove the Monza system entirely and replace it with a more stock-like muffler. The decision was made easier by the discovery of a hole in the pipe just in front of the Monza system that had been wrapped. The reason that I call it a "near-stock" restoral is because I decided to forego the smaller silencer that sits about midway through the car, hoping that I could still retain some nice resonance, while maintaining a good flow through the pipe.

One of the nice things about hanging around was that I learned a bit about MIG welders and had a chance to take a good look at the undercarriage of my car. I think that my apprehensions about learning to use a MIG welder have faded and that I might in fact, attempt to do some of my own bodywork next year.

I also fell in love with the four post ramp lift. Man, I'd love to have one of those in my garage!! I was pretty surprised when the manager told me that they could be found -- used -- for under $2,000. Never mind. My wife would kill me. It would sure make a lot of repair work easier, though!

I was really pleased with the quality of the work that the shop performed. I was out the door for $169 total -- including $20 I spent for the chrome tip. The muffler technician recreated the original center pipe section and ran it along the original path and fabricated new hangers. He also welded a nut to the floorpan for me that belongs to one of the seat rails. One of the PO's broke off a bolt in the hole previously. I tried drilling it out and re-tapping, but ended up having to grind off the welded retention nut under the floorpan when the tap broke off inside the hole!

When the work was done a couple of hours later, I was flabbergasted at the difference the new Thrush Turbo muffler made. It's going to take a few days to get used to, but it almost seemed too quiet. I really like the photo at the right -- seeing the blue sparks from the MIG welder lighting up the end of the muffler.

The timing of this project was rather opportune. Today, for the first time since I bought this car and began working on it, my wife actually volunteered to take a ride with me. I've never really pushed this issue -- but when her best friend (who used to own MG sports cars) went for a ride with me recently and raved about it to Kim, I think that might have helped. I felt very proud to give my wife a ride around the neighborhood and it was nice to be able to chat effortlessly as we drove.

A couple of things I do miss about the Monza:

• They looked great.

• Letting my foot off the gas produced a very cool back-pressure rumble that's all but squelched now.

• Letting go of the rip-roaring sounds that the Monza produced forces me to say goodbye to a part of my youth. 20 years ago, I would have kept 'em.

A couple of things I don't miss about the Monza:

• The PO's installation placed the tailpipe well below the lowest part of the frame with the Monza setup -- I was always scraping the mounting bracket nuts against speed bumps and would occasionally "bottom out" on the open road if I hit a dip.

• Driving at freeway speed was very uncomfortable because of the sustained noise level. I was seriously concerned about hearing loss.

• The car sounded too "show-offy" before. I felt a little self-conscious with all the racket that was going on.

In retrospect, I should probably have simply had the shop replace all three resonators with new units and re-hung the pipe so it would hang correctly. This would have been more expensive, but the car would have probably retained more of the sound I liked if I would have gone this route.

I'm going to take a few days to decide if the current setup is too quiet. I think it's fine -- still sounds a bit sporty -- but only a bit. I may decide to throw in a glasspack in place of the Thrush Turbo -- or see if the shop can make swapping the muffler for the glasspack something I can do whenever I feel like it.

Of course, if I buy my own MIG welder, I could always do that myself...

Please. Always wear your seatbelt while driving -- and that goes double for your children if you hav any.

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