Corvette Central for whole package, bolted up to stock manifold.

Next time I'll go w/ Hookers; headers and all.

 

Be prepared to laugh? I don't think so, I think it looks custom. My system looks very simular with out the cross over.
Last Xmas I bought a Harbor Frieght 110 amp mig welder and searched the net thinking I could self teach myself to weld. "WRONG" I had friends over to help me and all I can really do is spot weld, I will bring this to a weld shop after I spot weld the peices together and get a decent weld over my crapy welds.
Thanks Eric for the pics, I will also have them add a cross over per your pictures. By the way how close does the (just aft of the header) U bend come to the floor board?
Thanks man you ROCK!!

Dale

Yeah I got shots - prepare to laugh...

I know it looks rediculous but its 2 1/2" pipe and a 2" crossover and it tucked nice.. so while It aint pretty it worked pretty well...

Alternately referred to as the "calliope" or "exhaust bong"

[/QUOTE]

 

There was a gentleman here a while back who had a side exhaust system made (by Stahl I think) that was a work of art. It should still be in the archives. I think the crossover was moved toward the rear of the car. It was probably quite expensive but, If you looked at the picture, you could duplicate the crossover if you liked it. I think it gave enough room to remove the transmission without removing the exhaust.

Rick

 

No closer than the factory exhaust would perhaps a little further away since IIRC you have to kinda step up an inch or so to get through the crossmember and of course the u-turns occured before the crossmember

 

I finally ended up tackling this and wanted to share. I was able to purchase the covers from a member for a great deal and I plan on painting them silver and black to replicate the OE parts. I decided to use Sweet Thunder oversized mufflers because I used them on a '66 with a 2006 LS7 and it made 540 HP and ran to 7,000. No reasonable restriction I could detect! It also sounded "right".

The headers problem really had me vexed so I decided to solve it myself. As other noted the side pipe headers have short comings like fit, ground clearance, spark plug access etc. I ordered 12 U bends, 4 45 bends, two flanges and two collectors from Stahl in 2 1/8 for a BBC round port exhaust. Shipped to my door it was $390. As an aside someone had mentioned less than optimal customer service from Stahl and I have to say my experience was really great. Very nice taking my order, I called back with some questions again very nice and I had the parts the next day by ground shipping.

Here are some photos of the passenger side header. This is a big block iron head car with A/C, big truck starter and 8 quart pan with kick out sides. I had to figure it all out to clear: starter, pan, idler arm, A/C box and car frame. It took me about two hours per tube to cut/splice and tack them together. Then another hour welding everything together. No laughing at my welds! It was much harder because the tube was thin (16 gage) and I need to stop and start every 1/4" to keep the material from blowing through.

I was too lazy to put it back on for pictures but the bottom of the lowest tube is actually ABOVE the oil pan bottom! I think I picked up between 1" and 1 1/2" of ground clearance. The heat may kill the starter but they fit - I can always buy a mini. They ended up around 28" long for all four tubes but they vary between 27" and 28".

I used a Millermatic DVI welder, Harbor Freight portable band saw (that made for some tough gaps to fill!) and a 4" disc grinder. I think I can knock out the other side a little faster since there are less obstacles. Also I think if I had a vertical band saw I could have controlled the gaps better. Oh yeah - I also have a lift. I could have done it w/o but it would have really been a headache!