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aesthetic sidepipe/tailpipe question

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Old Dec 8, 2008 | 11:29 PM
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Default aesthetic sidepipe/tailpipe question

couldn't find a previous thread on this..

for those of you who went with aftermarket sidepipes on a car previously with tailpipes what (if anything) did you do to cover the semi-circular hole left by where the tailpipes would be. i would like to get rid of mine and wanted advice. did you use fiberglass and paint it to match the rest of the body?

thanks
mg
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Old Dec 9, 2008 | 02:38 AM
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Of the C3's I've owned, I've only ever had sidemounts (Hookers) on my '78 which didn't have such holes. That said, I'd definitely recommend swapping in panels which fills them like the factory did vs. glassing them up for good. Ought to still be available from a few vendors.

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Old Dec 9, 2008 | 12:00 PM
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Corvette Central shows a "rear filler panel with side exhaust conversion" which sounds exactly like what is needed.
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Old Dec 9, 2008 | 02:59 PM
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'69 stock N14 rear panel covers the holes on 68s and 69s. Won't work on 70-73s without a little work due to the rectangular tail pipe tips.
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Old Dec 9, 2008 | 04:48 PM
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You can buy the panel that will fit a 70-73 with the square openings. I have one on mine, but don't know the source since it came with the car. I don't have a good clear picture handy showing the panel.
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Old Dec 9, 2008 | 05:14 PM
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Originally Posted by Easy Mike
'69 stock N14 rear panel covers the holes on 68s and 69s. Won't work on 70-73s without a little work due to the rectangular tail pipe tips.
I'm pretty sure that won't work on a 68-69 that originally had under car exhaust as the cutouts were half in the filler and half in the quarter panel.

Here is the part needed for 68-69
http://www.ecklers.com/product.asp?p...8&dept_id=1434

and the N14
http://www.ecklers.com/product.asp?p...8&dept_id=1434

Last edited by DZRick; Dec 9, 2008 at 05:19 PM.
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Old Dec 9, 2008 | 05:38 PM
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The rear valance panel for a 69 side exhaust car had a straight vertical end. The rear quarters for a side exhaust car were different and didn't need any other work at St. Louis. The panel and the quarter together formed a straight vertical seam.
There are aftermarket valance panels that fill the remains of the exhaust bezel cut out in the quarter panels for both 68-69 and 70-73.
These fit just fair and often require some body work.
This picture is of my 71 with an original 69 side exhaust valance, and pieces of 69 quarters grafted to the 71 quarters. A bit of work, but I wanted a very 'original' look.
There are many, many, ways to deal with the exhaust 'holes', so it depends what you want it to look like.
Regards,
Alan

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Old Dec 9, 2008 | 09:50 PM
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This is the only way.
I reused the origional valance panel and filled the cut out, then filled the other half on the fender. it's not too hard and it looks so much better.
Using the 'filler panels' from Ecklers and the like looks really cheap, believe me, I tried one and threw it out and reused my origional.

Originally Posted by Alan 71
The rear valance panel for a 69 side exhaust car had a straight vertical end. The rear quarters for a side exhaust car were different and didn't need any other work at St. Louis. The panel and the quarter together formed a straight vertical seam.
There are aftermarket valance panels that fill the remains of the exhaust bezel cut out in the quarter panels for both 68-69 and 70-73.
These fit just fair and often require some body work.
This picture is of my 71 with an original 69 side exhaust valance, and pieces of 69 quarters grafted to the 71 quarters. A bit of work, but I wanted a very 'original' look.
There are many, many, ways to deal with the exhaust 'holes', so it depends what you want it to look like.
Regards,
Alan

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Old May 15, 2009 | 02:32 PM
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not sure what you guys mean when you say "valance" panel. what is that?
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Old May 15, 2009 | 04:34 PM
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Originally Posted by Alan 71
This picture is of my 71 with an original 69 side exhaust valance, and pieces of 69 quarters grafted to the 71 quarters.
This is what my 68 looks like, except it's light metallic blue. The L88's came with a rear valance that didn't have the exhaust pipe holes. Also, cars that came with factory sidepipes had valances that didn't have the sidepipe holes. You can buy a repro valance without exhaust holes from J&D Corvette. I suppose Eckler sells them also.

I had a fiberglass guy fill in the remaining portion of the hole that is in the rear quarter panels. He filled the hole mostly with the top edge of a standard valance. This way I have a flange molded into the rear quarter panel to bolt the repro valance panel up to.

My opinion...I'm not biased am I?...is that this is the only way to do it. It looks factory and not being glassed in like some, the rear valance can be removed if you need to.
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Old May 15, 2009 | 04:37 PM
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Originally Posted by mg267
not sure what you guys mean when you say "valance" panel. what is that?
It's the rear lower panel centered underneath the bumpers of a 68 to 73 C3. The license plate bracket bolts up to in. On a 68, it's the panel that has the backup lights mounted to it.
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