This is the setup on my blazer, as near as i can tell

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 CHEVROLET BLAZER 4.3L V6 4WD CATALYTIC CONVERTER | eBay




......I am just starting to school myself on the exhaust, I would like just a little more sound, so at least i can tell if it is running right......I'm just not used to a QUITE exhaust....I know enough by now that i just can't start tearing pipe off and building my own exhaust..........it didn't take long to figure that out with the first computer controlled pickup that I bought ;-)

My system is all in great shape, but too quiet, ...can i leave the two cats [I guess they are both cats???] and just go with a glasspack or thunderbolt or whatever may sound the best.....If i do take the stock muffler off I plan on welding flanges on for easy changes......

I've got my blazer running better than it ever has..........but i just can't leave it alone

just thinking and planning, if anyone wants to give some experienced advice I am listening......

 

Gibson makes a nice sounding cat back exhaust system. I question the performance gains they claim due to the factory exhaust is already a low restriction system.

 

I don't care to much about performance, it does all i want it to do now, i just want a little sound and i know that i will have to set it up so i can change things easily ..in case i don't like it......I've heard some that sounded really good and some really bad......

the term "cat back" I take it, as to mean "from cats back"........??

I'll look up some gibson products.......thanks

 

I wonder why [what is called Exhaust Intermediate Pipe] is so expensive.......40 to 60 bucks.........is it a cast flange??......it looks like a flat weldable flange to me??.....I guess i will plan on making a couple of them too......

The prices on the mufflers and cats don't seem bad.......??

 

when i look for a flange or flange gasket for the end of the exhaust pipe I see a three bolt flange listed for 2001, and the muffler is also shown with a three bolt flange....so the drawing will go together ;-)...........but my flange is a TWO bolt flange,,,,and i think the part number is 15027074......i found a good deal on this part number [5 gaskets for 10 bucks],,,,,,,but if they aren't the right ones...........???

What is also confusing is that the Exhaust Intermediate Pipe is listed for 2001 and is a two bolt flange???

Can someone clue me in on this deal.........did they make exhaust changes mid-year in 2001 ????

I hate to pull my flange apart to get a measurement, until i get the parts that i need......I'm sure the gasket will disintegrate......and i don't want an exhaust leak,,,,,,,,,

 

I think the 3 bolt flange was used in 97 and older trucks, and the 2 bolt is 98+. I know my 2002 Sonoma is a 2 bolt flange.

 

ok thanks, El_Beautor

I'll go ahead and order that pack of gaskets........I need a pattern so i can make a flange ..........I just refuse to give 60 bucks for a flange and piece of pipe ....I just can't figure that one out......

I guess if i didn't plan on trying different mufflers, I would just cut the flange off my muffler and weld it onto a pipe.........but I don't want to destroy my muffler....I may not come up with a sound that i like.......these engines are pretty hard to make sound good.......IMO.......

does anyone remember the 60's gmc v6????........I thought they sounded great......:-)

 

I went to my salvage yard and found a good setup from cats back, so I cut the muffler off and welded in a walker glasspack [old new stock] and an extension for the difference in length.......now i have two sets that i can change in a half hour if i want to.......

The glasspack sounds good to me right now.......I'll wait for the packing to go and see what it sounds like then....... I may have to go with a flowmaster ......

Hardest part of the job was getting the old gaskets scraped off.......had to use my little grinder and a hard disk.......

 

Thanks for the updates on the exhaust system. How does the exhaust sound inside at highway speeds. Any droning?

 

The blazer sounds so good now,.. that my wife likes it... ;-)........I guess she misses my old chevys of the past.........she drove our 72 monte 402 bb with dual glasspacks for 120k.......

I still have the monte and i hope in the near future I can get her listening to that 402 roar again.....:-)

I haven't taken any long rides yet.......but droning sounds like purring to me........so it's all relative, I guess........I just miss hearing .... SOMETHING......

The good thing is that I have and extra complete cat back that i can set up with any muffler that i want to try, and have it on in an hour or less........

When the glass pack burns out, I'm sure I'll make a change, I just don't like that [hole in the muffler sound]...I've been listening to some you tube recordings and the Walkers and Flowmasters sound pretty good to me??........I see that some of them have the flange welded on.....that's better yet....just one less fitting to line an measure....