71VetteLT-1(my son) and I finished fabricating / coating the 3 inch Mandrel Bent Sidepipes and hooking them up to the Hedman Hedders on our 71 vert/383 Stroker. 69 OEM Sidepipe covers will be used. These are a tight fit under the OEM covers and required modification of the front bracket on the cover. Needless to say I was a little nervous taking a die-grinder to a set of $2200 covers but we wanted the performance benefits of the 3 inch. Well I really didn't pay $2200 for the covers since they are original from 1974 when I purchased them for $250, but they are $2200 now

Materials we used:

10 foot section of 3" O.D. 14 gauge aluminized exhaust pipe purchased from local muffler shop -, Muffler shop swaggeed the ends for slip fit -$40
(2) 180 degree 3" O.D. Mandrel UBends 16 gauge purchased from Summit - $50
(2) 3" Stainless Steel STS Baffles - $195
(1) Can Dupli-Color Aluminim High Heat Exhaust Paint w/Ceramic purchased from Napa - $6
Stainless Steel Bolts/Washers/Nuts purhcased from Lowes - $36
69 Sidepipe Mounting Hardware from Zip - $35
Miscellaneous 3/16 inch plate steel I had laying around - to facbricate the pipe to frame mounts and the tabs to hold the front/rear section of pipe together.
High Heat silicone to seal the front/rear section of pipe, by not welding these 2 sections together we will be able to separate them and tune the baffle via the end cap.
This sidepipe design is a combination of the OEM and the Hooker pipes(slip fit on side pipe) enabling us to have the OEM look with the performance flow of the 3 inch / mandrel bends and tunability of the spiral baffles.





Finished pipes: one smiley for me, one for my son

 

Nice job!!! Looks killer...nice to have a partner in crime...

 

like the pics dad...good write up too! now we just gotta get the throttle, clutch, and brake linkages hooked up and roast them old tires off the rims

tell us wat yall think!

 

I like the colour of you car a lot. Great work guys!

 

Great job...

 

Bice job. What covers are you using?

 

I agree the workmanship is first class but it would bother me slidding a baffle inside a 3 inch pipe. Wouldn't a full unrestricted 3 inch under the car system flow alot better???

 

Thanks for all the compliments, really makes us feel proud of our work/vette. My son and I wanted the OEM sidecover look, the baffles are only 12 inches long and the end caps have a 3/8 inch hole, I believe the flow will be sufficient for street use, we may even have to fully cap the end to keep the sound police away. Also, with this design we can go straight side pipes in about 15 minutes by removing the baffle insert, not that we would ever do that

We considered going with the Sweet Thunder but we could only have gotten those in 2 1/2" and they would have been more restrictive, not have the tunability of the baffles, and cost an additional $100.

The color of our vert is OEM 1971 Bridgehampton Blue.

Here is a pic of the side covers, I am installing them today and will post a pic.


Thanks again for all your feedback.

 

I would like to do this, what is the part # of the headers you used.

Thanks

 

Here is a video of the Sidepipes with Baffle - Video:

 

Hedman Sidepipe Headers for SBC part#68280, they come with 2" Collector reducers which are used for connecting to OEM sidepipes, I purchased Hedman part#21119 for 3".

We bought the uncoated headers from Jeg's then test fitted, we had to dimple at the idler arm on the passenger's side to allow access to idler arm grease fitting and had to grind off about 1/4 inch on the driver side collector flange for clearance to the frame when the engine torqued,

They were then shipped to Jet Hot for coating. It was ironic Jet Hot is located in Posgacoula, Mississippi, they were shipped back out to us the day before Hurricane Katrina hit that area.

 

 

 

Really great looks.

 

I like it... the performance should be outstanding...

 

Nice job

Now a question, why would your video be an .exe file, my virus detection software said it contained a virus

 

I got a .MOV file when i downloaded worked fine,great sound there

 

"100_0627.MOV.exe" is that file in your download directory, if it is your computer has a virus now

 

yeh, stingraymaniac is right...should be a .mov file...did u click on the link and then click the button that says "Download File" ?

 

Spectacular. I love the look of the OEM covers. The underside is also looks very well done

Brent...