Hello all, i have a 1974 cougar xr7 currently running no exhaust i cut it in the middle as rodents made a den in the exhaust and filled it with nuts. I am wondering if there are any suggestion for an exhaust system to give it a good sound, as well as if there’s any info for headers, the engine is a 351m.
Didn’t your car come with a “Y” pipe from the factory? If you didn’t cut too close to the Y, then you should be able to just get a new length of pipe welded in. Headers and duals are always a good upgrade, but can be problematic. Mostly because “a good exhaust sound” is so very, very hard to determine online. I just had new duals put on my 69, was hoping for a more mild sound than what I got, wit a two chambered, Thrush Turbo muffler. Car sounds great, but is still louder than what I wanted. I did a quick search on Summit, headers have gone up on price! I believe that the 351C,M and 400 all have the same mounting pattern - 1974 MERCURY COUGAR Flowtech 12118FLT Flowtech Headers | Summit Racing
Depending on your budget, I’d seriously consider just a new length of exhaust, with whatever performance muffler you want, I/E., Flowmaster, magnaflow, Cherry bomb, etc…My local guy did a great job on my exhaust, and the bill was 700 parts and labor, plus another 80 dollars for the 2 Thrush 2 chamber turbo mufflers.
at the time me and my buddy were focused on getting it to run and not have the exhaust catch fire due to the amount of debris packed into the muffler, it had about fifteen pounds of nuts in the exhaust, it was cut before the Y so its just a straight pipe with nothing on it at the moment, im not sure if its possible to put it on here but i have a short clip of it revving
edit heres a link to it revving
(https://youtu.be/U7husDk1nN0)
Well if there is enough of the original pipe, after the Y, I would still say just get the long pipe replaced and add what ever muffler you want. Keep on eye on the local craigslist, and facebook market place, and you can get a deal on some headers, and a muffler-