rafalc

So my 1970 L46 has the original motor, tranny, alt, and a lot of other things but its by no means an NCRS car. I am in the process of upgrading the exhaust (I have everything out except the manifolds which I will attempt this weekend).

Original plan: long tubes with 2.5" pipes and magnaflows or flowmasters

Lately Ive been playing with the idea of going with side pipes.

From what I understand side pipes will be louder, will give a little more power, eventually will probably burn my leg......oh and the exhaust tip cutouts will be empty in the back :/

Im looking for benefits/disadvantages, personal experiences, opinions that will help me go one way or the other.

Thanks

oldalaskaman

your car, you likem , you doem

69VetteFla

Are you thinking about putting on the '69 style side pipe covers? When I first got my '69 which has factory side pipes I burned my calf pretty bad but then realized that the issue was that the previous owner taped the pipes and it prevented any airflow or space between the pipe and the covers. Once I removed the tape no burn problem anymore - the covers get warm but will never burn me now. I personally love the look of side pipes and highly recommend. I think the power pickup will only happen if you put on a wider diameter exhaust than you previously had.

GPGG70

I'll try to keep this short. When I bought my 70 coupe from the third owner I noticed the car at one time had side pipes on it. Come to find out the original owner had the 69 style side pipes installed and the 69 rear valance for side pipes installed as well covering up the rear exhaust outlets. When I bought the car the owner said, oh BTW the sidepipe shields are up on the top shelf in the building. I climed up and found the pair of 69 GM original side pipe covers in excellent condition. I bought a set of side exhaust from willcox I think and installed them. I'll run them for a while. The side pipes / car would sound better if it had a cam with a little more lope to it. Better yet a BB motor in it. Maybe a project down the road.
GG Good luck.

69 Coupster

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Factory side pipes? Love 'em. Wouldn't be the same car with out 'em

joewill

changing the exhaust tips out the back is the hardest part. you have to find and buy the panel in the back, you have to prep and paint and polish with matching paint, hard to do if your paint is old or hard to match.

GPGG70

OUTSTANDING!!

Stingray-Jer

I have a 68 convertible and thought about this. My jaw hit the floor when I saw how much the covers were compared to the pipes.


Maybe I was reading something wrong???

Ouch! http://willcoxcorvette.com/product_i...ducts_id=18102

TimAT

Everyone is proud of the factory style sidepipes- and rightfully so- they were not on the list of most popular options. My 69 came with them but the PO tossed them in favor of the Hooker sidemount headers.
I've gotten a small minor burn one time- My wife has been told to NOT open the door when we're out together. I get out, open the door for her and put a towel over the pipe. And for some reason, she listened to me on that little point.

I'd do it again. I've got the STS baffles- not real loud until there is a reason for them to be, and then they are. Probably a bit louder than an out the rear exhaust would be with undercar headers, but the end of the pipe is right at the rear of the doors too. And with the combination I have I'd nearly have to run 3-1/2 all the way back.

SuperBuickGuy

I put side pipes on my 75, I love them. With the right mufflers in the pipes, the outside of the pipe doesn't get hot enough to burn you - of course, if you hold your leg on it you get what you deserve.

I have the hooker pipes with the reverse flow mufflers - truth be told, my flowmasters (40s) were louder.... same hp

Best part is the stereo of it thumping down the road.

Worst part - where do you put the O2 sensor? (the 4 pipes go all the way to the outside of the car)... I'm putting it in the collector, but it's not optimal (especially since it'll be parallel with the ground rather than vertical)

Dheista

I'm considering the same thing, but wondering about clearance? Haven't been able to figure out if they decrease clearance or not - maybe that's because some side pipes DO decrease the clearance, and some DON'T.

Anyone have some facts about clearance vs. rear-exhaust setups? Especially ones done right (like my current setup from the PO, who had the headers go through the holes in the frame).

Bangkok Dean

Now that's one beautiful C3. and oh yes (Side pipes rock)

chadronvette

I have the stainless obx pipes. The sound control system that came in them sucked and had worse airflow than the chambered exhaust. I ground out the baffles and put in the sweet thunder baffles. The chambered exhaust was always hitting the ground and did not tuck up under the car with the monoleaf fiberglass spring I installed. My side pipes have never scraped the ground and they sound great. The new engine is louder through the pipes but on the highway they really sound great!!! I really like the reduced heat under the car, the clearance, the look and the sound of side pipes.

Garys 68

My 68 came with 69 sidepipes. I probably would have got rid of them when I did my LS engine swap, but the chrome looks way too good on a black car. I pwesonally dont like the aftermarket pipes, too easy to burn your leg too.
If you go with 69 style, consider Sweet Thunder mufflers. Much easier on the ears compared to the original ones, flow better too.
http://www.sweet-thunder.com/corvett...pes_68_74.html
And no effect on clearance. My vette is about as low as you can go, the frame hits exhaust is fine.

69 Coupster

Thanks Dean. She's my baby
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SuperBuickGuy

same here - and that about sums up the reasons why I went to sidepipes.... especially removing the heat from the composite spring

Jeff_Keryk

I had beat-up 69 pipes on my 68 Roadster. I then had Hooker Chrome sidepipe headers; they looked great on shiny black paint. I now have hedman headers with 2.5 duals and chrome tips out the back. Side pipes look great; I just like my current setup better. Oh yeah, for working under the car, side pipes ROCK!

keithinspace

I LOOOOOOOOVE my sidepipes. The original owner had them put on and I am so very happy that this is how I purchased the car. It would have taken me years to convince myself that this was the way to go, but I couldn't imagine going back.

My guy did it right and glassed in the rear valence. He actually filled all the seams of the valence itself, so there are no seams along that entire panel from under the rear bumpers to the side quarter panels. Very cool. For the love of Pete, DON'T leave the blank holes!!!

Regarding the burns, I made the investment in the SteelShields as soon as my 8 YO daughter brushed her leg on the sidepipe. I actually carry her out of the car and am so very careful, but all it takes is a moment. Through her ballet leotard, too. Just a slight redness, but it was enough. I zinged myself twice by then, so the decision was easy before someone went to the hospital.

The temperature of the shield itself probably doesn't get 20 degrees above ambient...very little heat transfer.

I am 100% for the Hooker style sidepipes. I'm pulling my engine this weekend and will probably replace my entire sidepipe package (rust holes in sidetubes, bent exhaust flanges, and rusted out inserts) with a new black set and STS baffles. Having the chrome pipes beside the aluminum rockers and the chrome shields is just too many "layers" of chrome for me. The black will set the pipes off nicely.

As far as clearance: I recently lowered the rear of the ar 1 inch and still don't have a real problem. The biggest thing is how FAST you go over speedbumps with the FRONT wheels. Basically, if you go over the bump too fast, the car 'lands' and the headers themselves slam onto the top of the speed bump. There is really very little risk of anything happening...it's not like you're risking ripping the engine off its mounts or anything...it is just a solid 'thud' that you don't want to repeat. Beyond that, I have never scraped the sidepipes on anything in a "high center" situation, even loading the car on my 20 foot dovetail trailer. Really no issues, except for that one issue with the taller speed bumps.

Here are some pictures of my bucket of bolts...note the SteelShield and the gap between it and the sidepipe. Please don't laugh at my car. I bought her ("Bella") for $7k as a tinker-toy hobby car (instead of buying a kit car), so "correctness" is NOT part of her vocabulary. But SOOOOO much fun...

zuendler

I have Hookers on my C3. And if you drive on wet roads, they get dirty like nothing else.
Water drys within seconds on them, but the dirt stays and gets burned on the surface.
This is the bigges disadvantage for me.

One advantage that was not mentioned yet: working under the car, at transmission and tank is much more easyer with no exhaust there.

Nowhere Man

ride in a side pipe car on a long road at one RPM for a few miles and come back and tell me how much you love them.

you can't beat them for around town