Headers and side pipes on a 69?
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 36
Likes: 0
From: Rouses Point NY
Headers and side pipes on a 69?
Hey guys, i just signed up for the bored...my father and i have a 69 convertible with a 350 350hp 380ft lb 4spd tranny 57k original miles...the car is far from perfect, but a very good driver...we kinda do a different thing to it every year. Last year was redoing the suspension, new shocks new trailing arms and all new bushings and breaks....this year i think we are gonna clean up the engine bay...now at one time my dad had the hooker headers on the car with the big leg burner side pipes (car originally had regular out the back exhaust). Now, after not being able to find the stock manifolds, put some other manifolds on it and the side pipes with chrome covers....we wanna keep the side pipe covers but i was thinking about coming up with a new exhaust to run.
What headers are best fit on these cars? i'm not looking to make this car original, but i'm also not looking to chop it all up...i want to make it to my liking since its slowly becoming mine. is there a muffler that will fit under the exhaust covers without having to by those chambered mufflers? or anyone got any ideas?
thanks for your help and sorry about the rambling!
What headers are best fit on these cars? i'm not looking to make this car original, but i'm also not looking to chop it all up...i want to make it to my liking since its slowly becoming mine. is there a muffler that will fit under the exhaust covers without having to by those chambered mufflers? or anyone got any ideas?
thanks for your help and sorry about the rambling!
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,118
Likes: 0
I'm sure there's got to be someone that's come up with something. I don't know of any mufflers that will fit under the covers. Maybe shorty headers will work with stock sidepipes with some pipe tweaking. Someone also mentioned using full length headers to mufflers then pipes turned out to exit at the end of the covers, but that would put mufflers right under the floor pan.
Safety Car
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 3,637
Likes: 27
From: Norwalk Ct
There are 3 "made for" factory style sidepipes headers that I know of, I say style as all of them would require cutting and welding of at least a header flange.
Headman make a set designed to hook up with the factory style sidepipe mufflers. They are inexpensive ($140 ish from Summit) but are of unequal length, so not exactly the ultimate in headers (I have these , jet hot coated and the fit is great and they deffinately made a difference)
Stahl make a great set, equal length un-coated but cost over $900!!
Stainless works make a set, not sure of the price (I would guess around the $400-$500 range), but their quality is excellent.
You can fit 3" pipe under the stock covers, or 3.5" under the fiberglass replicas. You could easily make a pair of sidepipes from 2 length's of tube and buy some good spiral inserts. You would just have to fab the bend from the headers.
I used a pair of stainless works sidepipes for mine (3") with stainless tips and made my own connector pipe from 3" stainless (stainless works will actually mandrel bend pipe to your own custom requirements if you give them the angel you require..which I am doing this winter).
Let me know if you need any more info.
cheers,
Nick
Headman make a set designed to hook up with the factory style sidepipe mufflers. They are inexpensive ($140 ish from Summit) but are of unequal length, so not exactly the ultimate in headers (I have these , jet hot coated and the fit is great and they deffinately made a difference)
Stahl make a great set, equal length un-coated but cost over $900!!
Stainless works make a set, not sure of the price (I would guess around the $400-$500 range), but their quality is excellent.
You can fit 3" pipe under the stock covers, or 3.5" under the fiberglass replicas. You could easily make a pair of sidepipes from 2 length's of tube and buy some good spiral inserts. You would just have to fab the bend from the headers.
I used a pair of stainless works sidepipes for mine (3") with stainless tips and made my own connector pipe from 3" stainless (stainless works will actually mandrel bend pipe to your own custom requirements if you give them the angel you require..which I am doing this winter).
Let me know if you need any more info.
cheers,
Nick
Last edited by lvrpool32; Aug 26, 2004 at 08:24 AM.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 36
Likes: 0
From: Rouses Point NY
thanks for the replys guys...i'll do some research into all those headers...i'm not lookin for a huge performance gain just to wake it up a little..and make things look better than the ugly manifolds in the engine bay...i have a few places up here real good with pipe bending and welding...my father works for a steel fabrication shop (cheap stainless piping!!!)....i'll have to get some dimensions on some tube mufflers and see what i can come up with..someone has to make something small....i'll be doing my research thats for sure.
lvrpool..i'm up near plattsburgh NY..not sure how far that is from white planes but i know we're way up here! lol
lvrpool..i'm up near plattsburgh NY..not sure how far that is from white planes but i know we're way up here! lol
