289cobra

I have side pipes, but would like to replace with standand exhaust. My system is 2 1/2 in . Who sells the best system, is it corvette central, long island, ecker and do you recommend welded or non welded mufflers. thanks,jim

rick charles

Gardner exhaust . $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

ELEFUNTMAN

I just put Gardner on my 67, very happy!

Nowhere Man

Corvette Central sells a very good system

Bluffman

Gardner +++++++++++

Kerrmudgeon

I don't know if anyone does this anymore but when I built a system for my 66 I bought the mufflers and the headers. I installed the headers and took the car to a bender who built a quality gauge 2.5 in system in a couple of hours. Cheaper than a bought system too.

Nowhere Man

if your building a driver that is the way to go. if your going for points then the CC or gardener system is the way to go

Daren67

I did earlier this year corvette central full exhaust system welded with off road mufflers. Installed on my back in a weekend. Nice quality nice sound (after they break in ) and the weld was great to keep it tucked under tight of car. . I have no complaints except the mufflers need to break in

buns

Either that was a long time ago, or my local muffler shop is trying to get rich off of me. I was recently quoted $1400.00 to bend two tailpipes and install with new mufflers.

I think Corvette Central is a worthwhile place to check. Complete systems under $400.00, and flat rate shipping at $45.00.

Nowhere Man

They offer free shipping on exhaust systems every once in a while

MAD IN NC

I still have shops here that do better with there own product.... had shop exhaust on 69 Mach1 from them when they fixed Magnaflow misfit, 73 eldo, 64.5 Mustang new exhaust. Find a good local.

While you can make it fit, they can remove all doubt....


BTW, you trying to bring car to OEM or a driver ?

GearheadJoe

I bought a complete "off road" welded system from Corvette Central a few years ago. It fit fine, but the head pipe on the driver's side drops down about 1.5" lower than the passenger side head pipe. It's actually lower than the oil canister, and tends to scrape on speed bumps and such.

I made detailed measurements and took photos that compared the Corvette Central driver side head pipe to a NOS original head pipe. This clearly showed that the Corvette Central pipe differs from the NOS head pipe. Unfortunately, Corvette Central just blew me off and insisted that their driver side head pipe is correct.

The attached photos are what I sent Corvette Central. Note that the end of the tape measure includes the gasket on the NOS pipe but does not include the gasket on the CC pipe. So, the actual difference is about 1/2" greater than the tape measure implies.

This experience soured me somewhat on Corvette Central. Maybe they have fixed the problem by now, but if not, I think their driver side head pipe is simply made wrong and creates a problem with ground clearance.

Mike67nv

This isn’t meant to defend Corvette Central if you got a misshapened set of pipes from them, but I bought a set back in 2011 and was impressed with the fit. I bought their N11, welded muffler set for my ’67.

Looking at some pics taken a while back, I see the left side is below the oil filter but about even with the bottom of the pan. It also looks a little lower on the left but it couldn’t have been higher or it would have hit in the tunnel area. Clearance around the spare tire tub and rear suspension is perfect.

I've had no ground clearance issues with mine. Guess I would be more concerned with the fit rather than how it compared dimensionally to an old set of pipes.

ghostrider20

I like mandrel bent pipes, just me.

vmaxpwc

i have the CC N-11 welded system on my 64 fuelie. Easy install and I love the sound with the 30 30 cam.

jfr's 63swc

ghostrider20,

Does anyone sell mandrel bent pipe sets for C-2's or are they a custom fab item only?

Jon

GearheadJoe

Thanks for the comments and photos. I'm away from home right now but I will compare your photos to my car when I return.

First, I'd like to clarify that I'd not trying to dump on CC as a vendor overall, but I did have the experience of getting blown off (phone calls and emails not returned) when I inquired about what I thought was simply a defective part that they could replace. I documented my concerns very clearly with photos and a written description, so I think I deserved better treatment.

The system I purchased was the N11 "Off-Road" system. Based on what I had read (and listened to), I felt that the internal construction of the CC version of the off-road muffler was the best match for the original GM muffler.

I did not include all of the relevant info in my original post, so here are a few more details:

1) The system that was on my car was an Allens 2.5 inch system. The driver side Allens head pipe had significantly more ground clearance than the Corvette Central head pipe. I would have simply re-used the Allens head pipe but it did not mate as cleanly with the rear section and was difficult to seal at the junction near the the transmission mount.

2) In terms of ground clearance, the Allens head pipe was very similar of the NOS head pipe. I think I have a photo somewhere that compares the Allens head pipe to the Corvette Central head pipe.

3) Attached is another photo that I have on hand that compares the left and right Corvette Central head pipes. Note the very large difference in height. In theory, the difference here should be only the thickness of the heat riser valve. It is far more than that.


I don't think there is any technical reason that the driver side head pipe has to hang down lower than the passenger side, and both the Allens and NOS pipes support this view.

Maybe I just got a bad head pipe from Corvette Central, but I certainly didn't get treated well when I inquired about it. Also, based on conversations with a guy who owns a Corvette restoration shop, the low ground clearance I noted is simply characteristic of the Corvette Central design.

Brian VH McHale

I have an Allens system on the Corvette for the past 15 years, still looks new and receives standard deducts on judging. I just installed a Gardners system on my 66 Impala SS. What a beautiful system with everything included sans a heat riser to manifold gasket.

GUSTO14

You might want to check with Allen's. Some of the vendors here have carried their systems as well in the past. They offer most of their systems in Stainless and Aluminized steel. They can even bend you a full 2 1/2" system if you have the 2 1/2" manifolds. They can also do a 2 1/2" system necked down to fit the stock 2" manifolds as well.

I purchased and installed this 2 1/2" SS system for my '73 back in the early 90's. It still looks terrific today.





The mufflers are definitely 304 stainless.

Good luck... GUSTO

ELEFUNTMAN

Gardner on 67 L79. Easy to install, fit is great.