well i have been thinking about GordonM's ball and socket H pipe for several weeks now and i started looking in my "metal scraps " and low and behold guess what i found.....parts....check out what i made

these are the parts i cut off of my exhaust for the headers and they have been lying around for a while now.... i bought the 18" of straight pipe for $6 at pep boys



this is the part i'm interested in the "union" coupling so i cut it off of the curved exhaust piece and stick it on the straight pipe i purchased

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so i cut the straight pipe and i cut the top off of the other exhaust piece and i weld them together

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i then weld the two inserts together

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so i have no leaks i even welded the inside seam

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so here is a mock up of an H pipe that can be unbolted

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i cut some holes with a "hole Hawg" in my exhaust pipe and use the dremel to get rid of burrs

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i then stick the pipes in and trace around the area i need to cut and trim them using a grinder

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and i put it in and weld it in place

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i checked for leaks ..........and i tomorrow AM i will give it a test drive.....i wonder if i will notice any difference in power or sound.

 

Nice job Bob.

 

thks, it was 68* and a pleasure to work in the garage! the floor was kind of drafty for the lying in my back and welding part but not bad consdiering its about 20* outside.

 

Good job but you could not have waited till I got home to do that?

 

Nice work Bob. Seeing all of these projects that need a welder makes me want to go and get one. This would be one of the things I would be interested in doing.

 

nope....a motivated father waits for no one.......the test drive comes in a couple of minutes.

 

looks sweet...hope the drive is going/went ok! Do you have any pics of finished pipe from underneath looking back to front?
Great work.

 

no i didn't think to take that photo............it seems like it is actually more responsive off the line and at the lower RPMs.. maybe its my imaginaiton

 

test ride #3.....previously in 4th gear (700r4/3.08) at about 1000 rpm the car would lug a little bit...now it does not "lug" at all ...this definitely increased low end power.

 

Not exactly like mine but the same idea applies. Nice job.

 

thks, i almost think it makes the car quieter?

 

It should balance out some of the pulse waves and make it a little mellower, not as raspy IMO.

 

we actually hear the engine now where before it was exhaust rumnble

 

heres what flow master says

http://www.flowmastermufflers.com/faq.html

"Do I need to install an "H" pipe to my dual exhaust?
Flowmaster strongly recommends using an "H" pipe, commonly known as a "balance tube" on all "true dual" exhaust systems. An "H" pipe equalizes the pressures between both banks of the engine giving a broader and flatter torque curve throughout the rpm range. It also eliminates "back-rap" common on deceleration, and creates a deeper mellower tone both inside and outside of the vehicle.

Is an "X" pipe better than and "H" pipe?
Over the years, Flowmaster's testing of all types of crossovers, including "X pipes", has revealed no substantial benefits over a properly installed "H" pipe on street driven applications. However, in race applications with small cubic inch engines and /or restricted (small bore) carburetors, will respond well to the addition of X pipes, tri-y styled collectors and/or properly designed single exhaust systems.

 

and this is waht hedmans says about "X" pipes

THE SCIENCE BEHIND X-TREME EXHAUST EQUALIZER SYSTEMS

"HEDMAN's Exhaust Equalizer Kit completely eliminates firing order pressure differences between the right and left banks of the exhaust manifolds, or hedders. The tangentially siamesed crossover junction synchronizes the exhaust pulses.
The firing order of all production V8’s, regardless of make, has one cylinder in each bank that will fire within 90 degrees of crankshaft rotation of another cylinder in the same bank. This occurs twice during completion of the entire firing order. These two cylinders will be exhausting almost simultaneously into the same manifold system. Full length 4 tube hedders help separate these pulses until the collector is reached. After the hedder tubes dump into the collectors, the two cylinders again are fighting each other for space in the collector and exhaust pipe. The result is reflected pressure waves traveling back up the exhaust system, backpressure, lost power and poor economy.

At the same time two cylinders exhaust in one bank, there is no activity in the opposite bank. The traditional H-Pipe equalizer allows some of the excess pressure to bleed over the “quiet side” of the exhaust system, resulting in some low and mid-range torque improvements. At high RPM’s however, the gases cannot bleed across the H-Pipe fast enough to help power significantly. Hedman’s X-TREME equalizer pipe splits the flow in the crossover junction so the pressures on both banks will be equal and pulse free after the crossover, regardless of the RPM. Volumetric efficiency and power are therefore improved at all engine speeds."

 

what waldron says

http://waldronexhaust.com/basics.htm

"H pipes, X pipes and competing claims
There are many suppliers of performance exhaust systems making claims of huge torque and horsepower gains to be had by utilizing their X or H pipe designs. Do your homework; evaluate the claims in light of your intended use of the vehicle and be certain that the claims are substantiated by hard data, preferably comparisons of vehicle performance with ONLY that specific exhaust system change having been made between comparative measurements. Dynamometer data is useful, but be certain that you understand what was done to the engine/vehicle to achieve the published results. You won’t often be driving your vintage vehicle with bags of ice packed around the intake manifold to reduce intake charge temperature, so consider how important the results are for your vehicle situation!



There ARE inherent benefits to improving the breath-ability of your exhaust system. Engines are basically big air pumps. The less restriction there is to outbound (exhaust) flow, the better the engine can process incoming fuel/air mixtures and the more power the engine will produce. H Pipes provide a balance of the exhaust gas pulses between the two exhaust pipes, equalizing the system pressure in the two “sides” of the exhaust system. This generally provides improved low-end torque and some amount of top-end horsepower improvement. An “X” pipe design may provide a slightly better result than a simple H pipe on identical applications, especially at higher engine speeds. Whichever way you go, be certain to re-tune your engine for the changes you’ve made in the exhaust system. A reduction in exhaust system back pressure can allow improved breathing, which will probably require carburetor re-jetting, idle mixture and idle speed adjustments, ignition timing adjustment and spark plug changes.



Many high-performance vehicles manufactured after 1960 were available with factory-installed duals that incorporated H pipes. In many cases, your car can be equipped with an OEM style H pipe and duals, even if it was originally equipped with a single exhaust system. The factory dual system can be a great performance and sound improvement."

 

X or H seems to help out. Interesting reading.

 

Ain't that the truth. My GMPP 350 HO ran terrible after changing to full length headers, 2 1/2" true duals through a modified cross member, H-pipe, and Flo-Pro mufflers this summer. I ended up changing the distributor weights and springs, major timing change, faster and longer accelerator pump cam, and bigger jets. All worth it though!

 

i'm thinking i am pretty close to set up right, Lars tuned it before the H pipe install and when it gets warmed i will put a vacuum gauge on the carb and see if it needs to be tweaked any.

 

OK you have way too much time on your hands, where's Sally?

Nice job. Can't wait to hear it run.