I am slowly making progress with exhaust mods. Being the frugal SOB that I am I decided to try a Jones Exhaust Max Flow muffler. It's stainless, and looked really well built and made in the USA. $46 from Summit. It is model MF2259. 18" x 5" x 8" case, 3" straight thru core. I cut out the old muffler. Removed the heat shield and the T shaped hanger. I held the Jones muffler in place and figured out that I could reuse the Ford T hanger on the new muffler and only needed to add 9" of 3" tube to the tail pipe section. I modified the T hanger to fit around the smaller Jones case and welded it. I then welded the 9" extension to the tail pipe section. I then fit the tail pipe over the axle and back into it's hanger. I then slid the muffler on the tail pipe and the T bracket and muffler into it's hanger. I decided to weld the muffler to the pipe after the cat and clamp it to the tail pipe. It fits in the stock location with the stock hangers.

I was surprised on how "not loud" this muffler is. It did add a nice grrrrrroowlllll and slight rumble, but just a little bit more over stock. I am sure the stock 3" tail pipe helps here. (which looks mandrel btw)I may add a 3 1/2" tip which may give it more bark. On the freeway it was quiet and no drone. Now this may seem silly but I think it has just a hair more pickup, get up and go. If it had turned out to be louder(which is what I was expecting) I would have been fine. So for around $50 I have a nice exhaust that I can live with. Next is the Y mod. I am interested to see how that will change the sound.





FORD T bracket:

 

Looks pretty good.

 

Thanks. There are countless posts here on cat backs and mufflers so I just wanted to show that you can get some performance without spending hundreds on a cat-back.