I'm now convinced that SS is the way to go vs chrome.....will the OBX stainless setup accept inserts or do I have to run them "open"? I'm really thinking open would be too loud.......

 

Yes you can choose your own inserts or make your own.

 

I have the OBX SS side pipes on my 68 Vert. I use the Hooker inserts to keep the noise level down. I first used the "free flow" (You can see down the middle of them from front to rear). Sounded great but loud as all heck at 70-80 MPH. I changed to the less noisy inserts and like them much better. Still will growl but you can hear the radio or talk to your spouse now. A major word of caution. Test fit the drivers side. My car is a 4 speed, (now 5 speed) and the driver header rear pipe was dead in the way of the Z bar. I also had an issue with the front pipe clearing the steering box. Took it to a shop and had them do some changes to the way the pipes went so it would fit right. After six years on the car the outside still looks great but as expected the inside have colored from the heat. I polish the outside with just some glass cleaner and then with a wool dual action polisher. Nothing else. Now after getting a burn badge of honor on both of my legs and seeing the need to save my marriage I bought the side pipe covers with the laser cut "stingray" on them. Stainless Steel, highly polished and look great. A little pricy ($450) for both if I remember right but well worth not letting the wife getting her leg French fried getting out of the car. You might want to think about it. those shields are great and really do work good. Just google for them I forgot the manufacturer. Good luck and I hope OBX has fixed the driver side header so it fits and clears the Z bar and steering box. I also used the aluminum header gaskets not cooper. I could not get the cooper to seal good. Aluminum did the trick as well as doing a little work on the headers. Surfaces in the middle were not flush. Check with a straight edge. Just some stuff to think about. Not a lot of work but I had to learn the hard way.





You can see the covers I am talking about

 

Wow! Great information...I was thinking the max flow inserts mentioned on this site. The covers are a great idea and one of the issues I was worried about.

 

How do the inserts attach? Do they slide in from the front of the side pipe and "wedge" in or are there brackets inside?

 

you slide 'em in and screw them down, there should be holes for the screws in the side pips, you screw them down from the outside.

 

I have not had my car on the highway yet, but your comments about the heat shields have me reconsidering heat shields. I have seen the ones you chose online, they look sharp! I was leaning towards the clean look, but burns suck! Thanks for your thoughts. The inserts I found have a combination chambered/baffled design. There were metal tabs you bent on each end to wedged them into the pipes. Seem strong enough.

 

Hello, I found inserts that were a combination chambered/baffled design. There were four tabs on each end that you bent into position that allowed the inserts to wedge into the side pipes. Seem solid enough, but I have not been able to drive my car much yet. Interesting comments on the heat shields. I think I might get some....

 

I have OBX on mine, 454 4 speed, just a little massaging on one pipe to clear the frame, but theyv'e done very well.

 

I went with the classic chambered vette packs. Loud but not to rediculous in my opinion. Of course that all is personal preference. It's definitely loud under wot and on the interstate (keep in mind interstate is 3k rpms at 60mph). These have tabs you bend out on either end to fit tight and slides in the pipe. I had one that rattled and took it back out and made it fit more snug. Installation error on my part by not wanting to wedge them in too far.

 

i have the OBX also on my 1971. mine came with free flow i guess? you can see down the center it is lined with perforations then outside of that center pipe it is clear (open) . i take her up to 120-140mph often then hard cornering on 180 degree exit ramps .no matter how i drive the temperature never exceed 98 degree where i exit the car.you can not burn yourself or your wife however you can get burned were primary pipe exit under fender were they connect to side pipe. when you jump on it ,yea it is loud but cruising speed not bad.

 

As far as the temperatures on the pipes. You are correct Captain Bob, the pipes right before the collectors are the hottest and they will burn you. I have the badges to prove it. Just got to close and leaned into them when doing some tuning stuff. As for the 4 inch collector long tubes themselves. They will not get hot enough to really give you a good burn but non the less they get very hot and will leave a good red mark. Here in Florida we start out at 98 degrees sometimes so the temp just keeps going up. Any kind of hot on the back of a woman's thigh will ruin the whole day. My side pipes get hot, even sitting in the Florida sun at shows. They will resister 120-130 degrees (checked with temp gun) just sitting at a car show. Again not a blister maker but sure will hear about it all the way home. So I did the next best thing, put a shield on them. Yep the shields get a little warm also but nowhere near the tubes themselves. My motor is a healthy 355 roller motor at about 425 HP. I run a 5 speed in it so RPM at 80 MPH is about 2000. The 3:08 rear helps as well. All of this is to cruise with C5 on up boys and girls without the engine screaming. Back to subject. The tubes will get hot. They may not leave a blister burn but will leave a red mark that my wife will swear is a bad burn. I use the chambered exhaust. I found that after changing to those from the free flow that I gained some much needed back pressure to get the motor tuned correctly. It is my pleasure and show driver. Love those side pipes no matter what. I loved the loudness of the free flow, the wife not so much. Was just trying to throw some thoughts from my experiences at Rangepony69 as he gets ready to mount some sweet pipes on his Vette. Great place to share idea's.



These were the first set of inserts I used. Like running an open header. Loud but sweet. These are now sitting in a box in my storage area.







Without the shields. The "clean look is very nice.






Better picture of my shields. All stainless steel. Get lots of compliments. You can also get them with nothing to help maintain the clean look if I remember correctly.

An after thought, The welds on the OBX I found to be very good but a little discolored. I used the wool buffer to clean them up before installing. Like I said These are 6 years old and look great. Also think about spark plug wire protection and so on. A good quality valve cover gasket is a good idea also. The SBC's get hot at the center exhaust ports and will get a valve cover real toasty. I have Vintage Auto Air on my car also. All header bolts need to be the 1 inch (the flange is thick) , except for one if you have the A/C. I needed a short one (3/4 in) in one of the number 2 cylinder exhaust bolt holes because of the pipe clearance. Not a big deal but just another minor set-back in the middle of a job. I hate those. I'm sure OBX has corrected the issues I had so it should go a lot better for you. Every car is a little different so just be prepared for a little ankle biter in the process. Nothing is easy on these cars. I wish you success with your set up and I'm sure you'll be happy with them.







polish the weld area's for a better look. I used nothing but a wool pad








Test fit your exhaust manifold gaskets before trying to install. One of my bolt holes was a little off.






they are beautiful right out of the box

 

Hey Bluegtp, Great video. Is that a Cyber Gray color? Looks great!!

 

excellent post Condor 7 and yes my 98 degrees surface temperature is taken on a normal 70 degree day on south shore long island your car is in a 20 degrees hotter environment so pipes will be hotter. my wife has no desire to ride in any of the 11 corvettes i have own except the 1962 i dated her in ! this 71 C-3 was the best and the 82 collectors edition with 5000 miles was by far the worse and any speed above 80mph is down right dangerous in that car. all three 67 were big block side pipe cars and due to limits of tires due to being NCRS stock cars could not drive upper limits with 670/15 nylon polyglas tires.

 

Thank you sir! ......it's actually medium spiral grey metallic which is a c5 color. Slightly lighter than the cyber grey metallic. Looks great in the sun!

I ended up using a metal polish and pad to get the discolorations out. I had to dimple mine around the idler arm and steering box. They initially fit, I just wanted more clearance for peace of mind. I also had to elongate a couple of flange holes on the flanges. Be aware that a few (very few) have had these pipes rust on them even though they're stainless. Mine did, from what I've leaned they somehow get contaminated with normal steel and appear to rust. Obx's customer service/support is nonexistent along with the vendor I purchased the pipes through. That being said I'd likely buy again due to price at the time.