You know, Dick, the entire silliness of having to have the muffler "in cowl", is just that. . silly.

Automobiles are made as an integrated system, so are computers, stereos, TV's entertainment packages and even thing as simple as a bicycle get the same thought process these days. I keep asking myself WHY we even bother with "in cowl" setups anymore. We have this HUGE plane (in comparison to the exhaust system). It's a simple matter to merely re-design the planes structure a little bit to make for a wider engine torque box, or totally eliminate it, leaving all sorts of room in the front of the plane for tuned exhausts. The entire aircraft should be an "Integrated Design" concept now, not a "bit of this and a tad of that" type of piece.

There's just wayy too much "old style" thinking in this hobby. I've been using Canisters for 3 years now, and can't remember the last time I used a "can" muffler I really can't even see the use of separate headers/mufflers. We should have systems, by now, with bolt-together header-muffler flanges instead of slip joints, manufactured-in hardpoints for mounting, and durable o-ring type hanger mounts like cars use.

Seems a bunch of people are still a "day late and dollar short" when it comes to solving these sorts of really simple problems.