If at all possible keep that car running and mobile. You want to drive and enjoy that thing as much as possible... You don't want it up in the air on jackstands all summer and you dont want it to empty out the bank account this early (and your enthusiasm this early) on exhaust when you have a new one sitting there already!!

If the motor is stock... then keep the rams horns for now. Headers are not going to do much for you over the rams horns except leak.

I Personally would keep those new pipes and work in the other muffler type. I am sure you could get them to work and not spend all that money. Maybe the original owner could tell you where he got them from and you could contact them to see if you can mate up the other mufflers. Get some louder mufflers if that is what your after. I completely understand the need for a more aggressive sounding exhaust on these cars. I simply would NOT waste those new pipes an go through the issues of headers or side pipes at this point.

You can apply that saved money to the other things you find wrong ... and you will....dont get hung up on "while your at it ITus" this early on... make it safe and drive it!!

 

The problems I have with the existing exhaust system are...


The head pipes are perfect although there is no clamp that would keep the pipes from rattling around when they pass through the cross member.
The intermediate pipes appear to be bent wrong. They go straight back and then angle to the left and the right but there is no way for them to go vertical to connect to a set of flowmasters or magnaflows. These pipes were bent to attached to the large round mufflers that hung down very low. I have seen pictures of what the pipes are supposed to look like and these are just flat out wrong in many respects.
So... in order to use this existing exhaust I would need to replace the intermediate pipes and the mufflers. For that price I can buy a complete system from the head pipes to the mufflers and all the clamps from Corvette Central using my existing ramhorns.


I bought all the interior parts I need to get it back together and I am just waiting for the parts to come in. Seat parts, console parts, soft parts, some clips and things to put the inner door panels back on. It will look nice and be fully functional.


That leaves me with the suspension. The car sits fine. The rear spring is pretty much straight across. The front end is very solid although the power steering isn't very POWERED!!! Tires, brake lines, calipers are new. From what I see the car definitely needs the following...
Rear spring bushings upper and lower. These are the rubber bushings that have the approx. 8" rod going through them vertically. They are SHOT. All the body mounts are crusty and crushed although I will probably hold off on those because that's way more work than I want to get into right now. I am not sure if the mono leaf spring in the back is good or not but its level and the car sits up pretty high in the back. It appears very stiff. This car is very clean underneath. Just surface rust that can be taken off with a scotch brite pad. The rear strut rods don't look bent and I wanted to replace them but I was told if they aren't bend leave them. Since the car sits nice and is a very tight driver I don't think it really needs much.
I am taking all the advice I am getting and I am not going to drop the mother load on a side exit headers and side pipes. I am not even going to go with headers. I am going to go with a 2.5" true dual exhaust system with magnaflow's on it. I am going to buy the entire set up from Corvette Central. Its cheaper than piecing my existing exhaust together and having a muffler shop make the pipes. This way I will have extra money for suspension parts that I will need along with the money to repair why only one of my headlights pops up. The seller told me it was an actuator that went bad. I didn't do a vacuum test on it yet.
Once I get the car on the road I will drive it this season and make a list of all the things that are wrong with it and address them in the winter.

 

Why not drop the existing exhaust cut the pipes in the straight section, then rotate them so the point up and will work with what ever muffler you choose?

 

I can't because the straight pipes are not round. They are ovalized like somebody beat them with a mallet. It looks like they were formed that way to gain extra clearance after they exit the crossmember. Also... the angle in which they bend to the left and the right doesn't look as sharp as pictures I have seen online. The proper way to do it shows the pipes aren't very close to the spare tire cover. My pipes are about 1/2" away from the cover. Also...the pipes from my manifolds to the cross member are different lengths. One of them stops an inch before the cross member. The other stops 8 inches shy of it. The longer pipe is flanged so that the intermediate pipe slips into it. The shorter pipe has a piece of reduced diameter pipe lodged in the end of it acting like a splice to connect it to the intermediate pipe. Its real half ***.

 

So anyway.. my plan is:


1. Get the interior back together
2. Address any suspension and steering issues.
3. Inspect the brakes even though they are new.
4. Install a new 2.5" true dual exhaust system using Magnaflow hideaway mufflers and using the existing ramhorn stock manifolds.

 

if you dont want to deal with leaking power steering you can always put a burgeon steering box.(in the winter)

 

UPDATE. I got everything sorted out and I am now focusing on the exhaust system. My choice is between installing a new 2.5" true dual exhaust system using Magnaflow hideaway mufflers and using the existing ramhorn stock manifolds or going with Hooker side headers and side pipes.