I know everytime this is brought up, its starts with a reply that says to search for "cone of silence"

Has anyone who has given this responce actually tried to do the search?

I think there needs to be a sticky about the topic.

I havent been able to find out much about it, and the one link that would have helped out 100% is no longer working.

We need to post pics and FACTS about the exhaust

Ive heard-
they put the cone of silence on 96-97 ss camaros
they put it only on 1997 ss camaros
they put them on only 97 ss camaros but some late 96 SS camaros.

Ive seen everything, but havent seen what the cone of silence actually is.

Sorry if i sound like a dik, but i have a 96 SS with 2otl exhaust and i cant figure out if i have the cone or not. mine was made in 06-1996 car # 2032. it sounds alright but i have no idea what one sounds like.

THANK YOU

 

from camarosource.com
"The "CONE" is a device that was inserted into the exhaust system on all 97 Camaro SS's built before April 1st 1997. The cone is in there to cut down on ambient noise. Some late 96's cars may have gotten this as well. No cars built after April 1st 1997 with the dual dual exhaust received this. None of the 98 cars received it. For details on how to disable this device please see."

i guess the 97 SS failed the "driveby" test, so the cone of silence was invented.

 

i found that also. from what ive collected, its some sort of reducer welded inside the opening of the muffler to slow down the incomming air.

we need some pictures of where at its located, and how to get it out of there. I'm going to try going to a shop to see if i even have on in my exhaust. i'll try to document as much as i possibly can.

is there any way to tell when exactly they started using them? by broduction number? Ive heard the first 1500 cars in 1996 didnt get the cone, but the rest did. im just over 2000 so i'm guessing i've got it.

 

"The 97 Camaro SS - "Cone of Silence"
All Photo's Taken of My Camaro SS #1341 (Valkyrie) on January 20th 1998.


During a recent discussion on the Camaro SS Mailing list it was discovered that some Camaro SS's built during 1996 and 1997 had been "quieted."
After some research it was reported to the list that early in the 1997 model production year the Camaro SS failed a drive by test which required the cars to "quieted" down.
Now as many of you know April 1st 1997 SLP redid the "Performance Exhaust" option. The newer exhaust had to meet more stringent noise limits. This was done by splitting the exhaust so that it now had exhaust tips on either side of the vehicle.


However, before this new exhaust went into effect in April it seems that SLP (At Chevrolet's behest) inserted a restrictor into the exhaust pipe to quiet the cars down even more. This device which we have been jokingly calling the "Cone of Silence" after the old "Get Smart" television show further restricted the exhaust."


Details on "The Cones" Removal

After hearing about this I took my car to the local Meineke outlet (#588) in Palos Heights, Illinois. The owner of the shop Brian Lawrence is a performance enthusiast who has worked on many F-Body vehicles (including his own Z/28). He has over fifteen years experience in the field. He along with manager of the shop John Cozzi who has been doing this for over eight years, listened to the problem, and said it should be a simple fix. Brian also was quite willing to discuss other perfomance exhaust systems his shop handles. For those of you near the Chicagoland area this shop is worth looking into. Give them a call at 708-448-0632.
As a side note they also noticed a leak in my rear pinion gear while the car was up on the rack - so it's back to the shop for the Valkyrie next week.


My car has been driven 14,500 miles since I got it last January 4th. The stainless was discolored as you can see from the pictures. John was able to quickly remove the brackets holding the pipe to the "over axle" pipe. Unfortunately, no amount of heat would allow the pipe to be separated because there simply was not enough room to turn the pipe and hitting it was almost out of the question since the floor was so close.
Brian suggested that the muffler be removed to allow them more freedom of room to work. I immediately agreed. Another note here. Brian was nice enough to wave the regs and let me into the shop to shoot these photographs. He also waived the cost of the job. This was a very nice gesture on his part and was greatly appreciated.


Once the hanger and clamps were removed and the pipes were heated the joint from the "over axle" pipe came away from the muffler and there it was "The Cone of Silence." It seems that on some installs it was easier for SLP to insert it right next to the muffler. As a suggestion I would recommend most people start here because it's a lot easier than taking apart the other connection, especially if you have several thousand miles on you car as I did.


As you can see from the balance of the pictures this little metal cone restricted the exhaust in my vehicle from 3 inches down to less than 2 inches. In other words I had less interior diameter than a stock Geo Metra. (See photo with tape measure.) The entire job from start to finish was less than an hour and should cost less than $30 at most muffler shops. My car was dynoed last February and is due again this February. (Kind of like a once a year baby photo.) It will be interesting to see how much of a performance gain this was worth. I only wish that I had dynoed it before doing this and then immediately afterwards.


For what it's worth my car is #1341 and was built on Thursday, December 19th 1996. This means that if your number is higher than mine and you were built after December you definitely have it. Geno I owe you a donut!"


Hope this helps all of you guy's with "performance exhaust" out there. I did notice an immediate increase in the volume when I jumped on it. Unfortunately, the snow is once again starting to fall here in Illinois so it's back into the garage for the Valkyrie."

he had some pictures, but they didn't work, i'll try to find em for ya

 

okay, here is the link for ya, hope this is what you were looking for - complete with pictures

http://web.archive.org/web/200208041...cone/cone.html

 

I had it on my car. I read that same website about 8 years ago. I went to a local exhaust shop and had it removed.



Nick

 

thanks for the link to the pics, exactly what i wasnt able to find on my own. my car being a 1996 and being made in 06-1996, is it possible i have it?

 

I'm glad mine doesn't have it. Sorry, I had a crack moment.

 

they also put this on some of the 98-02's but i think they called it the "ring of silence". there was a huge thread with pics of it being removed by some guy over on ls1tech's external engine forum a while back. try a search there.

 

your glad it does have it? your car was made before mine, so i should have it if yours does.

 

Sorry, mine doesn't have it.

 

Damn I wrote that article 13 years ago <g> There was another silencer on the car that I wrote a companion piece on - The elephant intake. I ended up replacing mine with one from a B4C Police Camaro. I have a lot more detailed pictures from the original articles the archived one is missing pictures.

97 Camaro SS
"Valkyrie" 1341
Beginning Reconstruction

 

Mike, I am wondering if you ever did a dyno compaison without it? I removed mine also.

 

According to the dyno at Lingenfeler I gained about 10/12 not too bad for a minor improvement.

 

Did you ever find out?
Mine was also made on 6/96,car # 2166 and it had one.