How quiet was a new '78 bus?

[WendyArmbuster]

I recently had the opportunity to drive somebody else's '79, an absolutely original California bus. I was blown away by how quiet it was. It was very nearly modern car quiet, engine-wise. My '78, which I have converted to a '72-'74 exhaust system with a stock muffler from BusDepot, is loud, and I've worked hard to get it to where it is. I can talk to the front seat passenger easily, but not to the back passengers. I assumed my bus was as quiet as it could be, but I was wrong, by a lot.

Are the original mufflers better than what's available today? Is the '79 square exhaust flange that much better? Is it all those crossover pipes that were by some miracle still there on the '79 I drove?

I sort of wish I hadn't driven that '79 now, but it's too late to go back to ignorant bliss.
_________________
Brian Z
1978 Westfalia

[busdaddy]

Did the 79 have a cat?, that may add to the muffleage a little, but a 78 or a 72-74 isn't loud either, especially with a bed in the back.
_________________
Rust NEVER sleeps and stock never goes out of style.

Please don't PM technical questions, ask your problem in public so everyone can play along. If you think it's too stupid post it here
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

Слава Україні!

[SGKent]

try putting some foam insulation, like from a place that sells foam under the rear seat. That will quiet it a lot. Also make sure you can stall the bus with a rag or your LEATHER shoe sole over the muffler tip. If you hear a whoosh, and the engine won't stall then you may have an exhaust leak that is making your bus noisy.
_________________
“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[williamM]

Read here about silver bubble wrap in the gas tank space when the tank is out- I'm trying that next-
_________________
some days I get up and just sit and think. Some days I just sit.

opinion untempered by fact is ignorance.

Don't step in any!

[Wildthings]

The carpet, carpet underlayment, and the covering of the interior panels all make a difference in how quiet a vehicle is. When I pull out loaded for a long trip the van is always fairly quiet as the luggage acts as added sound deadening. I would suspect that old hard engine mounts and cheap shift rod parts all add extra sound to the vehicle.

Another thing that makes noise is concave valve stem tips. Once the tips wear concave the valves will always end up being adjusted very loose and thus be noisy. Assuming the '78 had hydraulic lifters, then the engine just may have made less noise from the get go.

[Tram]

[Dana Champion]

Pretty quiet !

Bought one new. It was amazing!

I was comparing it to the '65 Westfalia that I was driving at the time; stock 1500 singleport, prior to the 1835 dual carb build.

Seems like loud exhaust was popular in the seventies and early eighties !

I remember my brother getting pulled over in his '68 bus, for excessive noise from the headers with an extractor exhaust tip on it ! Loud and proud ! ...fun times !

Back then, stock was not cool !

[SGKent]

[WendyArmbuster]

Thanks for the responses everyone. The noise seems exhaust related, as it is a low sound. Much of my road noise went away when I had my transmission rebuilt recently. I have long suspected my motor mounts were bad, but the threads on the crossbar motor mounts are so buggered up that I have not installed the new ones. The sound does seem to reverberate throughout the cabin. I have filed my exhaust pipes flat where they meet the head. I can't seem to keep my exhaust nuts torqued to 16 ft pounds either. I use new copper coated nuts and even split lock washers.
_________________
Brian Z
1978 Westfalia