Having changed the intake and muffler, the sound is just too loud and intrusive. :(
Oh well. I cannot relax in it and I know my wife will feel the same. We have the weekend to drive it, but I see no gain other than MPG. The muffler resonates and competes with the stereo all the while muddying it up. I know the future stereo upgrade will take care of that, but we are going back to the stock muffler. Oh well, we tried:( :p:

If we end up taking off the intake too, I guess we'll sell them as a slightly used kit. Still good stuff, just not for these aging and nerve damged ears.:red:
Car design is a compromise. I do not want to compromise the serenity of the cabin for slight tradeoffs in MPG and performance. For the noise we are getting, I want an extra 100 horses. Then it would be justified. :thumb:

Too bad, I like a properly aspirated engine. Perhaps Chevy gave us the best compromise with stock. Dunno, ......

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy others like the setup, but for us, the trade offs are not worth it. I'll be sticking to decor mods for a while unless some new suspension thingie comes about and we all absolutly must have it!:D

It's all good. Not every modification works for every HHR's owner tastes and preferences.
At least you gave it an honest try!

Robert, Are you sure you were sold a IMCO-924 ???and not just someone's turbo muffler????
I have to put my foot into it, and stick my head out the window to hear mine....especially over the CGS intake.

maybe i'll hold off buying CGS intake also... i'd much rather have a quiet ride than performance.... guess i need to hear one in person before i decide

how long have u had the IMCO?
after i had the 924 around 4 to 6 weeks to me it got alot quieter.
I hear the intake more than the muffler.

no biggie, we have to do what we have to do

i love mine

how long have u had the IMCO?
after i had the 924 around 4 to 6 weeks to me it got alot quieter.
I hear the intake more than the muffler.

no biggie, we have to do what we have to do

i love mine

Cj's Stereo :bow: is way louder than his muffler..

Cj's Stereo :bow: is way louder than his muffler..
Thank you Tom
and yes it is

that got me laughing good

Your right Harpozep it is louder than stock but man i love the sound of the imco and the intake when you put your foot into it.:thumb: I've seen people a block away turn to see what's coming.

I'm not the only one that mods their car and then decides to totally remove what they did. :thumb: :lol:

I'm not the only one that mods there car and then decides to totally remove what they did. :thumb: :lol:

My Muffler guy thinks I'm batty, but he'll redo it on Tuesday if that is what I want. That gives us a few more days to break it in.......... stay tuned.........
Some folks here have said it gets a bit quieter with time.

The muffler has been on a day, the CGS intake , a few weeks. I cannot hear the intake at all over the muffler rumble.

Tonight, after I wrote the post and left work, I had all the windows down, sunroof open, and put my foot on it!:thumb:
I was in the mood for the performance/noise and it was quite fun :nuts:

Too bad we cannot run two exhausts and pick from them as we need .

The car actually chirped its tires which it had not done before. The road noise was high enough with all the windows open that I did not mind the muffler sound so much. Not relaxing, but invigorating, but that is what I have the convertible Corvairs for.
They are the "fun" performance oriented cars, or at least my '67 is. I do know loud with four carbs on an open roofed car with twin 3 3/4" flow through Ford Ranger Mufflers and an exhaust leak! My Bazooka bass tubes have a real hard time overcoming the engine sound:smile: Sometimes the music and engine frequencies boost each other and I think the car is going to explode! This is what I used to call fun.;) .... not so much any more though:red:

Now I'd rather hear my daughter talk to me from the rear seat than keep yelling back at her " What? What did you say?" That is what is going on in the HHR right now. Our family car needs to remain family friendly to all, and not just middle aged dad trying to go where he perhaps should not :lol:

Addendum: After eighteen years of great turn-the-key-and-drive service, the '67 Corvair has blown an exhaust valve seat:roll: I knew the time would come, as 140's always have some valve issues, but hey I got eighteen years:thumb: Now the decision to sell it as is or fix it. It has to go anyway as we need the room and my wife "convinced" me we have get rid of one. Twelve grand into it, the first $2,500.00 takes it I guess. Perhaps I should list it in the for sale section if we have one here ( I never looked ).
Heck, the stereo cost two grand back in '89! Anyone want a fun project on a solid body classic Chevy? Let me know. Nice car needs a new home and some engine work. It has new tires and a lot more.

Yes, I will likely go back to stock mufflers on the Corvair too if I keep it :lol:
http://www.pbase.com/harpozep/1967_corvair

I got my IMCO put on WED and couldn't tell any diffrenence in noise level even on the hiway.
Maybe I'm just old and def for all the jet engine noise?:lol:

I think you have the wrong muffler. The IMCO 924 is not that loud at all. Like others say, you really have to put your foot into it to really hear it. You can't even hear it when you're on the hwy. Now if you can hear that thing over the intake there's something wrong.

I had RPM do a full cat-back on mine today with the IMCO 924, and I honestly like the sound. They replaced the stock resonator with a performance one also. I want to put an intake on mine also.
The noise I don't mind because the stereo drowns it out.

One note, the 2.2L exhaust system is a 1 3/4 inch system, I had them replace it all with 2 1/4 seeing that is what is coming out of the exhaust manifold.

Iremember the very first day with the IMCo 924 on, and it did have some slight droning at highway speeds. It all went away after a few days, as the inside of the muffler "carbon's up" and that reduces the resonating considerably. I would give it a week of driving and see how it sounds to you then.

If not for just the performance factor, I'd leave it on for the mileage increase! I saw a 2-3mpg jump up after the IMCO was installed.

Iremember the very first day with the IMCo 924 on, and it did have some slight droning at highway speeds. It all went away after a few days, as the inside of the muffler "carbon's up" and that reduces the resonating considerably. I would give it a week of driving and see how it sounds to you then.

If not for just the performance factor, I'd leave it on for the mileage increase! I saw a 2-3mpg jump up after the IMCO was installed.


I hope you'er right about mine too. That would be good. I'll give it a few days and maybe some heavy footed not-too-good-for-decent-MPG-driving :lol: It can be fun trying to break it in.

Another poster sugggested it may not be the right muffler. It does indeed seem to be the one I was billed for and the one in all the photos online. So I think I'm ok there. I just find the family quality of the car gone with the drone. Not my cup of tea as I do want to hear things in the cabin besides the radio and the engine.

Heck I have two Corvairs and one sounds like a sewing machine and the other an outboard speed boat!:lol: You can guess the one I'm keeping.

Thanks for the post. I will give the Imco a few days....It looks great with the tip I picked out:smile:
I'd like to get the better MPG if I can tame the sound. Perhaps with a nice internal blanket of carbon :lol:

One note, the 2.2L exhaust system is a 1 3/4 inch system, I had them replace it all with 2 1/4 seeing that is what is coming out of the exhaust manifold.

So does the 2.4 litre car have a bigger exhaust pipe? I thought I remember someone saying 2.25" for the 2.4?

Thanks.
.

I'm not sure!
I have 4" exhaust!:cool:
Well after the rez. duel 2":D

So does the 2.4 litre car have a bigger exhaust pipe? I thought I remember someone saying 2.25" for the 2.4?

Thanks.
.

Yes.

I hope you'er right about mine too. That would be good. I'll give it a few days and maybe some heavy footed not-too-good-for-decent-MPG-driving :lol: It can be fun trying to break it in.

Lemme know (PM me a price) if it gets removed... I might take it off your hands.
:thumb:

:smile:
Just running the CGS intake with the outlaw filter now , and life is much better. I cannot belive how much muffler sound actually made it into the vehicle. :eek:
I think I can live with the intake as its noise seems to subside once you hit steady state on the highway. The muffler just droned and made me involutarily uneasy. I guess I'm getting old and just want things quiet :D
Ever since my first car, I respected "silent balls". THe Olds had a 455 w 400 HP, but ran quite silent. Not that the HHR has much in the way of "Balls", but for me quieter is better.

Now I can hear that the outlaw filter I put on is hitting the engine/body when the car turns a certain way. I could not hear the rattling with the Imco.
Tomorrow I'll adjust the CGS. I'm sure I can work out the fitting. It worked fine with the regular filter, so its just a matter of fiddling.

I was going to take a pic of the muffler ( Imco ) on the car, but was sick all weekend ( Hence I posted here a lot ) and today it just came off before I thought about it. Anyway, it looked nice with the chrome tip I have on it.

Anyway it was a fun experiment. I think the intake stays, I know the muffler goes. It will be fine for someone else.:smile:
Me, I'm gonna overreact and sound deaden the entire car.:lol:

To all those who PM'ed me to buy the muffler, I'll take a pic of the muffler with the tip and post it. It is slick looking and nice sounding in a motor launch kind of way ( To Me, YMMV ).

if you cant get rid of the combo, i defiantly would like to take them off of your hands!!!!!!

Sorry to hear the combo didn't suit your taste...but you gave it the old college try. Back to the drawing board. :thumb:

:cool: Now I'm wondering if I should pursue putting the T924 on my Wife's HHR or not :confused: I can just hear her smart remarks if I did, and then she thought it was too loud or something!:roll:

:cool: Now I'm wondering if I should pursue putting the T924 on my Wife's HHR or not :confused: I can just hear her smart remarks if I did, and then she thought it was too loud or something!:roll:

The noise increase is real, though its effect is largly heard through personal bias. In the end it comes from what a person is used to.

Some members who have the muffler on their cars say it hardly adds any noise they can notice, while I reversed gear and removed it.

Does your wife come form a gearhead background? Is she coming from a noisy car? Our Vibe was much noisier than our HHR.

If it is to be a family car with lots of talking between children and parents, I'd keep the muffler stock.

I'm still wondering if they sold you an IMCO T-924. Would really like to see pics of the muffler on or off the car. While there is a slight interior noise increase, it's nothing like most import "fart cans." In fact, the CGS intake adds more audible noise inside the cabin than the IMCO does.

Can you post some pics of the muffler?

Too bad we cannot run two exhausts and pick from them as we need .

Here's some info from a mod done on an SSR: :thumb:

Just put a new muffler on my SSR. It's called the SBD Muffler (Silent But Deadly). It's a polished stainless steel mufler with a 12v. motor driven baffle. With the baffle closed it is very quiet, but with the baffle open it has a very loud, throaty roar. You can go to my new web page to see a pic and listen to a sound clip. When you get to my web page, just click on 'SBD Muffler' on the tool bar and it will take you to the page with the pic and the sound clip. The sound clip takes a little bit to load so be patient. I got the last one he had, but he's expecting more sometime around the middle of December. While you're there, sign my guest book. My URL is: http://mysite.verizon.net/res088se/

Here's some info from a mod done on an SSR: :thumb:

Just put a new muffler on my SSR. It's called the SBD Muffler (Silent But Deadly). It's a polished stainless steel mufler with a 12v. motor driven baffle. With the baffle closed it is very quiet, but with the baffle open it has a very loud, throaty roar. You can go to my new web page to see a pic and listen to a sound clip. When you get to my web page, just click on 'SBD Muffler' on the tool bar and it will take you to the page with the pic and the sound clip. The sound clip takes a little bit to load so be patient. I got the last one he had, but he's expecting more sometime around the middle of December. While you're there, sign my guest book. My URL is: http://mysite.verizon.net/res088se/


wow...that thing sounded MEAN! I'm off to contact the sales rep to see how much they sell this muffler for!

I'm still wondering if they sold you an IMCO T-924. Would really like to see pics of the muffler on or off the car. While there is a slight interior noise increase, it's nothing like most import "fart cans." In fact, the CGS intake adds more audible noise inside the cabin than the IMCO does.

Can you post some pics of the muffler?
I'm beginiing to wonder too if I got the right muffler. With so many folks saying more or less ."aint no real noise increase."


Bowtie asked the same question back on page one, but all seemd fine...... I guess I'll do a tripple check....

I looked at the invoice and it said it was the right Imco that I ordered. I was sick and did not get a chance to take any pics of it on the car. I did however take some pics of it this morning on the grass and in my hand. I'll post them later when I get home. Perhaps I do not have the right muffler, though all should have been right. It looked like the ones in the pics posted here and the car ran well enough with it on.......well, I'll post some pics and write down the code numbers on the side of it if they'll be of any help.

Might as well get to the bottom of this.
Thanks for the interest all.

Here's some info from a mod done on an SSR: :thumb:

Just put a new muffler on my SSR. It's called the SBD Muffler (Silent But Deadly). It's a polished stainless steel mufler with a 12v. motor driven baffle. With the baffle closed it is very quiet, but with the baffle open it has a very loud, throaty roar. You can go to my new web page to see a pic and listen to a sound clip. When you get to my web page, just click on 'SBD Muffler' on the tool bar and it will take you to the page with the pic and the sound clip. The sound clip takes a little bit to load so be patient. I got the last one he had, but he's expecting more sometime around the middle of December. While you're there, sign my guest book. My URL is: http://mysite.verizon.net/res088se/

Sounds great for the SSR. Not a good idea for the HHR; the main problem is that the HHR likes to see more back pressure than most other engine's. This pretty much eliminates the use of any free-flowing "performance" muffler. We have tested several mufflers and cat-back systems here - none of which provide the performance and sound combination the IMCO offers.

In addition, all the free-flowing mufflers (and cat-back systems), increase noise dramatically on the HHR. It's van-like cavernous interior magnifies the slightest droning from an exhaust system. The IMCO has been our best solution to gain power and mileage while reducing undesireable "droning." Coupled with the CGS, it adds 2-3mpg (if driven conservatively), and provides a nice "healthy" sound at startup and during normal driving conditions. With your foot fully in it, it breathes well without exuding the "import fart can" tone most 4-bangers are cursed with.

Hope it help,

I'm beginiing to wonder too if I got the right muffler. With so many folks saying more or less ."aint no real noise increase."
.......well, I'll post some pics and write down the code numbers on the side of it if they'll be of any help.

Might as well get to the bottom of this.
Thanks for the interest all.


:D Just for the heck of it I went out and checked the Imco I've had sitting in my trunk for a month.:roll: It does say T-924 on the end of the box, and the numbers on the muffler itself are "809241", and below that, in smaller numbers, is "14662" :thumb:

:D Just for the heck of it I went out and checked the Imco I've had sitting in my trunk for a month...
:wtf:
A MONTH!?!?!? That thing should be UNDER your trunk... not IN IT!!!!:p:

:wtf:
A MONTH!?!?!? That thing should be UNDER your trunk... not IN IT!!!!:p:

:cool: I know what you mean, it's been a problem of sorts.:roll:
See my "Tale" on the "Trying to get my Imco installed" thread. :(
(Post # 14) P.S. It's "REALLY QUIET" in the trunk though!!:nuts: :nuts:

:D Just for the heck of it I went out and checked the Imco I've had sitting in my trunk for a month.:roll: It does say T-924 on the end of the box, and the numbers on the muffler itself are "809241", and below that, in smaller numbers, is "14662" :thumb:


Hiya Alzone :smile:
I'm gonna read yer thread on gettin' the Imco on when I get home.
For now, since I am boxing up my Imco at work, I thought I'd share the numbers on the side.

Same large # on the side 809241
Beneath it another # 09062

Likey the style and batch #'s

The larger number is the same as yours. My empty box is at home. I'm boxing it in a different box because it has the nice chrome tip on it and is now larger, though I suppose I could reconstruct the old box ( its flat and spread out then tweak the box end..........

Yes, 809241 is the part number for that model.

FYI we are now stocking them HERE (http://www.socalhhr.citymax.com/catalog/item/2608356/3445373.htm).

Mike, I'm glad you carry them now. You are becoming a one stop shopping HHR superstore! :thumb:

Crappy pic, sorry:
The intake is cut off cleanly and just has a weld seam on it. Ready to go for the next person. Several folks have PM'ed me about selling it, so here it is. Just gotta figure out a fair price. I'll send it next week. I have to go out of state tomorrow for a few days. I'll still have a computer though!:nuts: This place is addictive!
http://www.pbase.com/harpozep/image/65664492.jpg
We put a custom hanger on it too :D Good for the next person.
The Tip:

http://www.pbase.com/harpozep/image/65664501.jpg

Anyway, It seems by the response from Mike and others that I did indeed get the correct muffler as the numbers on it seem right.
The Imco muffler just was not for me. I'm learning to really like the intake though. It quiets down when at a steady throttle. To me , this is a good thing :lol:
The engine seems even more responsive since I added Mike's "outlaw" Air filter for the CGS intake. It could also be because I am on the second tank of premium since we got the car, but I swear it shifts smoother and the midrange is just , nice.

So my score:

CGS & Outlaw = Great :bow:
Premium gas = good idea too;)
Imco T-924 = good idea for someone else :D :roll:

Hmmmmm...that muffler looks too short to be a 924 - how long is the body?

Here is a "real" T-924:

http://www.socalhhrs.com/i/Exhaust/T924_2_Glow.jpg

Yes, 809241 is the part number for that model.

FYI we are now stocking them HERE (http://www.socalhhr.citymax.com/catalog/item/2608356/3445373.htm).
:eek: Wow Mike... almost a 50% mark-up from other on-line companies!? I've seen some advertised for less than $30 with FREE shipping. :confused:
I support your cause whenever possible, but- for others... - just goto the IMCO website (IMCO (http://www.grabthepower.com/)) and click the 'Distributors' tab at the top. You can search for local distributors by zip, postal code, or 'On Line' retailers (Retailers (http://www.grabthepower.com/online-retailers.html)).

:thumb:

Hmmmmm...that muffler looks too short to be a 924 - how long is the body?

Here is a "real" T-924:

http://www.socalhhrs.com/i/Exhaust/T924_2_Glow.jpg


Hmm, the number are correct, but I'll measure it. It is ten miles away at my store right now, so I'll get to it.

I think the photo has fore shortened the muffler. As I say, not a great pic.

It fit fine. To bad I did not get some shots of it on the car. Damn cold......:roll:
Funny, I was sick the whole time it was on. Took it off and got better:lol:

Does the Imco muffler sound like those fart can mufflers the ricers put on their beat up Civics?

no it has a nice deep throaty tone
on this thread it is post #5 and there are 3 sound clips on a socalhhr post

http://chevyhhr.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1539&highlight=imco
take a listen

starting
revving and
accelerating

The clips are here (stock first / IMCO second):

Starting (http://www.socalhhr.citymax.com/f/HHR_Exhaust_-_Starting.wav)

Revving (http://www.socalhhr.citymax.com/f/HHR_Exhaust_-_Revving.wav)

Accellerating (http://www.socalhhr.citymax.com/f/HHR_Exhaust_-_Accelerating.wav)

That does sound really good :thumb:

E mail me about the corvair if you still have it
Thanks

Hmmmmm...that muffler looks too short to be a 924 - how long is the body?

Here is a "real" T-924:

http://www.socalhhrs.com/i/Exhaust/T924_2_Glow.jpg


I finaly measuerd my Imco Muffler. It is 16 1/8" long with the oval being 9 1/4 " wide.
I still think I was sold the correct part as the numbers match up too. I just think I'm more sensitive to sound with my bad ear. No problem putting the old muffler back on. The car has been great since then.