The one thing nobody mentions is with sidepipes people remove the bright rocker trim, showing off the ugly mess behind. I like the stock 69 covers, but it is hard to get stock sidepipes to flow as much as an undercar system.

Chambered exhaust is the most restrictive system of all, and not recommended at all.

Joe

 

Side pipes are good for that nice rumble. The other 2 good things is that they keep exhaust heat from under the cockpit, and for branding the back of your legs.

Many people don't like that racket after about 2 days or their first long trip. Others really don't go for the burned calves look either.

I think they LOOK cool, but wouldn't have them on a daily driver. Maybe a show car that was driven on occasion but not something meant for long cruises.

A good dual system (headers, good mufflers, hi-flow cats and an H-pipe) would perform just as well. I have headers, cats and an H-pipe on mine. I don't run mufflers and have exhaust tips instead. The sound is nice and does not resonate nearly as bad as side pipes or flow masters (Flowmasters :U ).

 

I opted for a 3" under the car dual setup for 2 reasons.First and formost was the flow improvement.Second they don't draw any Police attention when the flames shoot out the sides at night!
The neighbors are still adjusting there sleep habits due to my morning firing up the 406 in the garage. :yesnod:

 

I never really understood the problem with burning the back of your legs. I did it ONCE and my wife did it ONCE. 5 years with the side pipes and have never burned again. You get burned once, you figure out to be a little more carefull when exiting the vehicle.

 

:withstupid: I burned my leg the first time i got out, I have never done it again. I did however take a girl for a ride with a nice little mini-skirt and she roasted her calf pretty bad, I saw her a week later wearing pants... she showed me what my car did. About a 3 inch diameter circle scabbed over. I asked her if she had any coverup in her purse. She allowed me to put it on her leg if I took her for another ride. She did not burn herself that time.

 

flynhi,

I went directly to the owner, Jim. here is his site http://www.spiralturbobaffles.com/

Regular chambered or glass pack type mufflers really are restrictive. I made 483 rwhp with open pipes, 477rwhp with the JCL baffles (uncapped), only 6 hp loss. Yet the a/f ratio richened up with the JCL's, so if I had leaned out the carb a few numbers I have virtually no doubt that I would have picked up the 6hp at the same a/f ratio as the open pipe run showed. Another dyno run I am familiar with made 513rwhp with open pipes and 519rwhp WITH the JCL uncapped baffles.

When comparing power and flow numbers to open 4" collectors behind headers, who can really show better flow numbers than that? That a simple "slip in" baffle can still make as much power, and reasonably quietly, behind a high horsepower motor is very, very impressive to me.

If I could get the same flow, with the same ground clearance, at the same ride height, with the same degree of noise control by running the exhaust underneath and out the back without having to really cut up the underside of my car, I would do it! Gkull's setup comes closest to my ideal, but not quite far enough. Yet now that I cut out my crossmember, I could probably fabricate the clearance for his large pipes like he did pretty easily. But I still don't think I would have the same ground clearance.

The debate between side pipes and out the back; L88 hood vs normal hood; red vs. black; comes down to personal taste. I for one am glad that all the cars don't look alike.

Chuck

 

:withstupid:

 

:iagree: And you can't beat the looks of chrome hooker sidepipes