I agree the noise is what wares on you. I had a 79 trans am with a 4 speed 3.23. It was nice on the highway. Plesent on a trip. I traded it in on 1979 corvette l82 4 speed with 3.73's. It was fun on the back roads but not half as good on the road as the trans am. Before the trans am I had 1970 442 olds w30 with auto and 3.23 it was factory air car. It was also great road car. I would do some insulating and add out the back turn down tailpipes. I would use 2.5 tailpipes mandrel bent. The exhaust has cooled enough by the time it's made its way through the mufflers for the 2.5 tails not to hurt you much. The F. A. S. T cars do it through a full 2.5. That along with the 3.23 I believe will fix you if your converter is tight enough.