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Can you guys point me to a good thread or some good advice for installing a relatively stock exhaust system? Any tricks to the install? Can I dry fit first and test out with engine running and then seal it up? Should i use the Walker 35959 Hardware Sealing Compound that Joe P. Mentioned between the joints? Thanks guys!
Chris
Not much to say - it you've got parts that (mostly) fit, it's just plumbing.
You'll always have some banging and pulling to do to get it just right.
You must dry fit it and test it out with the engine running - you've got to incrementally tighten all of the clamps as the installation progresses and all of the pieces are massaged into place, and then tighten them reasonably well, and then start the engine on fast idle and immediately dive under the car and feel for leaks around the manifold connections, then work your way backward - the manifold will become too hot to touch within seconds, so you need to move fast. Just feel all around each joint with the palm of your hand for air passing by.
Just keep tightening the leaky ones until they don't leak, then give every clamp a good firm tightening and you are almost done, because something will shift after your first drive, and you'll have to retighten something.
I recommend using Nevr-Seize on the fasteners, but not on the joints themselves, and it will allow them to twist and you'll have a hell of a time getting the pipes to stay put.
You shouldn't need any sealant.
You may wish to check out Scott at Classic Auto Exhaust, depending on exactly what you are planning to do.
OK, thank you! Can I ask exactly how and where the donut gaskets that I got from felpro should be installed on my exhaust? I didn't see these when I took the exhaust off, which had been replaced once before, although maybe that's why it leaked??? I attached a pic of the gasket. Its metal with a blue material around it. Thanks!
Hey guys... Its been a while... I have the Inline tube exhaust system, supposedly no cutting needed... I am having trouble fitting everything by myself. Any advice? SHould I connect the head pipes to the exhaust manifold first, and tie the back of the headpipe with a wire to the underbelly to hold it in place but allow for flexibility? Then the muffler and then the tailpipe? Or am I going about this all wrong? Thanks guys!
Chris
SHould I connect the head pipes to the exhaust manifold first, and tie the back of the headpipe with a wire to the underbelly to hold it in place but allow for flexibility? Then the muffler and then the tailpipe? Or am I going about this all wrong?
Connect the entire exhaust system together on the garage floor first, to be sure it all fits together, and that you know what goes where.
Then hang it up under the car, front to back, attaching to the manifolds, and hanging with the hangers.
Then tighten everything up slightly and get it into a better position.
Then reposition and tighten more.
Jack it up with weight on the wheels, if possible, to be sure that the mufflers don't hit the driveshaft.
When you think you've got it right, tighten it down good and take it around the block. Then see what moved or fell off, and reposition and retighten again.
Repeat periodically for about a month, until you get it right
Its easier to get the tailpipes in place with the rear end hanging down. There will be no interference with the driveshaft as everything moves up from there. I prefer not to tighten anything until the system is in place as the clamps will distort the tubing as it crushes inward. An extra set of hands will help if your doing it on your back with the car on jack stands.
Eric and Eric, thanks for your replies! So once I put the system together on the garage floor, do I move it as one assembled unit under the car and proceed with your directions, or do I dismantle again, and install piece by piece? I will try jacking up the rear as I think that would give me more room to angle the tailpipe down to meet the muffler. Does anyone have a good undercar photo of exactly how the pipes should run in relation to the driveshaft? The assembly manual doesn't show this very well.
Thanks!
Chris
You're welcome. We are always glad to help, and occasionally even right!
You cannot install the exhaust system onto the car in one piece, because the tailpipes have to go over the rear axle.
Just put it together on the floor to be sure that all of the ends are the right size to fit into each other, etc. -- It's a lot easier to find this out and fix it on the floor, than holding it over your head.
Yes, jack up the rear of the car, with the wheels hanging, to get maximum clearance for the tailpipes to roll into place, but then when fitting, try to have the rear wheels at driving height.
I have definitely had mufflers hit the driveshaft, when going over bumps - it can happen if the hanger allow them to migrate a bit too much toward the center of the car, which can happen if the exhaust system was cut into multiple segments for shipping (the original system came in three pieces: engine pipe, muffler, and tailpipe (with or without integral resonator), and there was only so far out of line that they could go, but a system with more pieces has more places to rotate, and can easily slide out of place in unexpected ways.
Just put it together one piece at a time, and keep adjusting everything's positions.
As for pictures, the best ones are in the Chassis Service Manuals - there should be a picture, including exact clamp locations, for each configuration.
Ok. Very clear. Thank you. I noticed that these mufflers have slotted inlets and outlets so the pipes fit Into them. However one side is 2 1/2" long and the other is 2 1/4" long out from the muffler. Should either end point to the front or back? Thanks!
chris
Directional mufflers are usually marked inlet /outlet, have arrows on the case, or A/ B (A being inlet, B being outlet). If they are not marked I would put the 2.5 in flange to the front of the car.
I would suggest connecting the muffler and the exhaust pipe together. Then hang the rear of the muffler. Now you can use the rear of the muffler as a folcrum point by raising or lower the front end of the exhaust pipe to adjust where you need the rear of the muffler to be to aid in attaching the tailpipe that goes over the axle. Once you have everything together you can start your adjustments. Ensure your tailpipe is well forward of your gas tank and the bend has chassis clearance. Once you've got everything dialled in, tighten it all together. Start it up, take it for a ride, check for rattles and banging. The mark all the jointe with a sharpie for depth and alignment. When your happy, take it all apart again, use you muffler sealer and reassemble permanently. This is how I did mine anyway.
I hope Oldssupreme doesn't mind me hijacking his thread, but I have exhaust questions that fall in-line with his original questions and it seems appropriate to have all the info together in a single thread. I'm getting ready to install the engine & trans in my project which is a frame-off, 442 convertible, resto-mod and I'll have a rear bumper with the exhaust cut-outs. It would be much easier to fit the exhaust piping with the body off the frame. Is this a good idea, or do I need to have the body in place to check for clearance issues? How do I align the trumpet exhaust tips to the bumper cut-outs? Do I need to have the bumpers installed first or can I trim the tailpipes and fit the trumpets & bumper later? And lastly, I don't want the exhaust to be too loud and I've been told that larger (longer) mufflers are more quiet than shorter ones. Will 20" mufflers fit under the car? I think the OEM mufflers were 17" long, don't know if 3 more inches will make a difference. Thanks.
Rodney
Hi guys! Ok so I just got our there today to
work on the car for the first time since yhe winter. For the life of me I still cant get the head pipe to meet flush with the manifold. There's a 1/4" gap on half of it. So I am officially conceding and going to bring it to a Muffler shop to have it installed. It's almost like it's the wrong angle pipe. So in the meantime I still have to get the rest of the engine accessories on before I start it (carb, radiator, starter, has tank, alternator, etc). Is there a temporary fix that I can run around with for a few months while i get the car together or is there danger in running it with a leak like that? Thanks so much guys!
Chris
Rodney did you ever get an answer?
Thanks, but as Joe said, they won't swap. The drivers side manifold exists almost straight down but the passenger side is at almost a 45 degree angle.
Any thoughts? I heard steel wool might work and there was that stuff from napa that joe mentioned a while back. Will those work on such a large gap?
Any thoughts? I heard steel wool might work and there was that stuff from napa that joe mentioned a while back. Will those work on such a large gap?
Not really. I have to confess that I'm having a hard time understanding how you can get a gap there. Typically you bolt the head pipes to the manifold first, then slip on the mufflers, then install the tail pipes. What's hitting that's causing the gap?
Try loosening the down pipe from the exhaust pipe and pull it forward a bit. You could even detached the muffler from the hanger and tighten the flange to the manifold then re-adjust and tighten the exhaust and muffler. Quarter inch should be easy to recover in tweaks and adjustments. Sounds like your almost there. Good luck!
Did you assemble the exhaust system from the engine back (manifolds / headers, engine pipes / header pipes, mufflers, then tailpipes)?
If not, then there's almost no way you'll get it to fit.
If you did, then your problem is a bit mysterious -- You're saying that one pipe will not bolt up to one manifold or header, right?
First question (asked already by Eric): Which side?
Second question (asked already by Joe): What is keeping the flange from fitting flush?
Third question (for clarity): Manifolds or headers?
And, just to be clear, there is nothing you can stuff into the gap and have it work for more than a very brief time. I was young once. I tried.
Joe, i think that might be the issue. Maybe they gave me a pipe from a 455 or from a different year with a different angle. This is th drivers side. When i bolt up the head pipe so that its flush with the manifold, it actually sits on the ground and i have to physically lift it up with a good deal of force to meet up with the muffler. But of course now its too late since i purhcased these parts back in 2012. You. Know how it is a lot of times, you buy a a part and it sits in a box for several years until you get around to it and then you realize it doesnt fit. Maybe ill try to buy another pipe locally and see if it fits before i bring it to a shop. I hate when im defeated by not acomplishing something. I am generally always able to work through an issue and figure it out. This is the first time in the restoration that i have not been able to figure something out and i feel like a failure lol!
Chris
When i bolt up the head pipe so that its flush with the manifold, it actually sits on the ground and i have to physically lift it up with a good deal of force to meet up with the muffler.
Wait. You mean that you can bolt it up, and then get it to meet the muffler properly?
That sounds like it's within the range of "normally-fitting" exhaust parts to me.
All you need to do is to get it into the right position, and heat the angle a bit with a torch to relieve the strain, and it should be fine.
Alternately, you could bolt it up tightly to the manifold and jack it into the right position, close to the angle, using something on the jack to prevent the pipe from flattening, and you should be all set.
Thank you all so much for your suggestions. Eric I tried bolting up to the manifold and then jacking the muffler up and attaching into the tailpipe but I still have the gap. When you say to heat up the angle with a torch will it get soft enough to bend?
Chris
I've just recently had a similar problem with the pre-bent pipes for my 67 Delta. One side just wasn't quite bent correctly. I ended up making a small pie cut in the pipe and welding it back together. Of course, I only paid $40 for the two manifold to muffler pipes, so I wasn't about to complain.
Chris:
No I didn't get an answer to my muffler question, I did some measuring under my car (the body is back on the frame now for quarter panel installation). It seems like a 20" muffler would fit in the raised section under the back seat but I'm not sure if the head pipe will fit without hitting the floorboard. There is a curved, raised section in the floor pan just in front of the back seat on both sides of the driveshaft tunnel that looks like it allows additional clearance for the head pipes. The 20" muffler would push the head pipe forward enough that is would not fit into this raised area.
I'm also planning to run headers and it looks like most of the header exhaust kits (i.e. Pypes, etc.) don't route the head pipes into the driveshaft tunnel as much as the factory systems did. Inline Tube sells a 2-1/4" OEM system with 17" mufflers and 2" tail pipes that looks like it would fit really well, but it's $200 more than the Pypes kit and Walker 17749 mufflers. If I cut the head pipes to meet the header collectors would they line up? Walker also makes the SuperTurbo muffler in a 16" length (PN17629). Maybe this is the safest way to go; I just want a little rumble but not too loud. Here's some pics:
Factory System
Pypes System
InLineTube System
Last edited by cdrod; July 11th, 2017 at 05:37 AM.
Reason: formatting issues
If you have a torch and the pipe is not really far off, attach the pipe to the manifold so it sits flush and sealed. Then heat a 4 inch long area completely around the pipe in the place you want to adjust, it needs to be cherry red. Gently move the pipe where you want it. You may need to heat up a couple of places to adjust correctly. The pipe will move easily when cherry red.
Anyone know off hand the size bolt I need to thread the head pipes into stock exhaust manifold? I'm in hw store and forgot to bring the old bolts with me. Thanks!
September 5th, 2016, 07:02 AM
