LouisvilleLT4

My car is going to a local shop to attach the stock exhaust to my new headers. On the way there, my headers will be hanging down under the car with wide open collectors. Is it safe to drive like this for a few miles, with the top off for ventilation, or should I just get it towed there? I know the SMC fiberglass in the transmission tunnel can take a lot of heat but I don't know how much, or if there's something I should be more worried about. Help!

Pete K

Tow it.

Aardwolf

I drove mine about five miles with it wide open near where the collectors would be. I had cut the old exhaust off right after the stock o2 location. It's loud as hell! I had no trouble. Drive it.

aboatguy

Drove mine. It was pretty cool I set car alarms off like I was back on my old FLH.

jonecap

I drove mine 12 miles to the muffler shop no problems. Just don't turn it up. Keep the revs low.

hippy

I try to be as annoying as I can possibly be so I vote to drive it.

I drove my Camino 20 years ago with open headers til I had the exhaust put on and the only person who was pissed at me was my dad.

Muffin

I drove mine 4 miles,had a blast.

Yellow92LT1

I had a tranny line leak, that the exhaust shop noticed. They left a section of pipe out, to make access to the lines easy. I drove over to the tranny shop. (3 or 4 miles) Then I drove it back to close the pipe. No problem at all. Took it easy.

Red Tornado

SCCA VETTE

Drove mine 5 miles with open headers and the exhaust shop was only 1/2 mile from my shop!

It was a BLAST!

LouisvilleLT4

So, great, it's a blast, whatever, but nobody has mentioned anything about risk? What about the prolonged 1000 degree heat on my parts? What about my transmission? What about structural weakening of fiberglass and adhesives at high temperatures? What about the shift linkage and the opening from there into the cabin? My center console and carpet? The fire hazard??? Fumes? Anyone???

Pete K, I know you have a lot going on lately but if you get a chance, why specifically do you say I should tow instead of drive like this?

psychodiagnostik

I think since it's a manual trans it would be fine. I would worry about an automatic. If I was worried just a little, I wouldn't risk it. Do you have AAA? If so, just call them and have it towed for free. I have AAA and I've used them for a "convenience tow" before. The tow truck guys have never asked what it's being towed for anyway.

vinnies87

I would take from the posts that its no issue for 6-10 miles, and drove mine 4mi with no issue, no burn, no funes, no fire, no tranny issue, no carpet issues, no linkage issues, and the frame stayed together...and didn't melt the tires.

LouisvilleLT4

I know fiberglass can burn, which is not an acceptable risk... even though nobody here ran into any major problems doesn't rule out the probabilities of certain things happening. I'm looking for more of an actual explanation as to why it's safe instead of the anecdotal "mine didn't blow up!!!" which proves nothing about the actual potential risks.

corvettedan22

I think the myth has been busted, it wont blow up !!!

I dont want my car on a tow truck, So i would take the risk of it "blowing up"

How does this risk weigh for you is the question ..


Also if you really dont want it on a to truck, go buy some flexxi exhaust pipe and rig it up to get you there....

Frizlefrak

Now there you go. Some flexible exhaust pipe, a couple of hose clamps, and the remnants of your old system. Bingo....ghetto exhaust. Drive it.

On the other hand...if it's only a few miles, get a few quotes on flatbedding it there. Might cost less than the ghetto pipes and will alleviate your fears.

It's 99% probable that everything would be OK. I just always seem to be the 1% that runs into problems....at the very minimum Johnny Law Dog would slap me with a fine that would be 10 times the cost to tow it. When you have rotten luck, you learn not to push it. YMMV.

black96lt4c4

im from louisville also.after i got my e/m longtubes on i called every exhaust shop in the book about connecting my e/m extensions to my flowmaster catback.i cant remember talking to anyone who knew what mandrel was.i also think the word corvette made the price triple.i couldnt find a shop id let put a muffler on my gokart.hope you have better luck than i did.

black96lt4c4

i forgot to answer the thread.i called a buddy at bob montgomery chevy and he said come up and ill give you some pipe.leaving the chevy lot there was a ss camaro trying to race me on dixie.telling him i had no pipes,just got car,he said something really bad to my girlfriend.i turned off the asr,first time,grabbed second gear and did 6300 rpms.its the loudest gasoline engine ive ever heard.it scared all of us,including the camaro guys.long story short.open headers in an lt4 are quite docile at idle especially,keep it under 1500 rpms and you can pull up to a cop.do 6300 rpms and people in indiana will hear you.im not sure what headers youre using but i have a set of e/m off road extensions. good luck on the pipes.junior

xrcrx

Not just people in Indiana, hell, people in Siberia will hear ya! I'll be driving mine 4 miles on thursday w/ open headers-oughta be cool!

LouisvilleLT4

Buying tube and making a temporary connection myself is unfortunately not an option. The stock exhaust will not even hang up with the headers on. They interfere with each other and overlap by about 7 inches. Towing would almost definitely be cheaper than cobbling something together, especially if I convince some poor soul at AAA to do it for free (well, I guess they get paid by someone).

Hahhaha WOW, great story, it also happens that Bob Montgomery is the place I bought my 'vette last summer. Good people over there. My opti took a dump during my test drive and they got it all fixed and running right again before I bought it, and still sold the car for way under what it was worth.