Stock Car Mafia

Appleslicer, I do agree about the flex tubes. It was something I was contemplating doing but when I first was eyeballing the car for an exhaust kit, I wasn't sure there was room for them. Ideally now I do know I could add a small section of flex tube before the X. I could cut and weld these in at any time but I probably will down the road. I was doing some reading many months back and for some reason I recall that having as much piping after straight through mufflers was the best to cut down on drone and what not. Honestly my version of quiet exhaust might be quite different from everybody else. But in all reality I think it is fairly quiet and cruising in 6th gear you can barely hear the exhaust. Appleslicer, I'm not one of those internet guys that gets offended with constructive criticism. Shit if it wasn't for input from anybody I wouldn't be posting on here!

They are 4" Magnaflow tip with no rolled edge. I think they look great!

Hey guys thanks for the kind words! Ive been out of town so far this weekend but I'll be sure to get some videos for you guys. Overall, its really mellow at idle and while shifting prior to 2k. Its only loud when you get on it. I think its a perfect midway.

The rest of the exhaust was pretty straight forward with not too much complexity. I felt I did a better job on the mid pipe though. I took the U/180 deg. bend pipe and cut it in half. These got tacked on to the mufflers and had the perfect clearance for the diff mount and gas tank. Then a 90 deg. bend pipe was shortedned on one end and lengthened on the tailpipe side to get it all to line up. The great part is the mounts I got from Summit months ago at the EXACT height I need to mount the end. The stock mounting location on the drive side was utilized and some angle iron was used for the other side. The only down side if the pipes are not exactly level/parallel with the ground. The tips gave me enough leeway to get them close to parallel. The tips are nice and even and don't look kittywampus! What really turns me on is how easy the full system is to drop and install! It literally is 2 nuts and 2 V band clamps to remove the back half. Then 2 more V band clamps for the mid pipe.

Awesome, I haven't heard of them until now. Another great source for parts!

Ha, I know how you feel with throwing that diff in alone. I will have to say, I swore more that night than any other! That diff looks wonderful. Where did you get it from and was it rebuilt?

Kind of thinking about porting the stock intake and throttle body before the dyno now. Seems pretty simple. Might see gains with the intake and better throttle response with the TB.

I didn't know broken ones were going for so much. And I guess who knows what internal damage may lie in there.... If I were you I'd put it in and deal with climbing in and out a bagillion times. 5 hours would get most of the exhaust work done But again, I'm 28 and feel pretty spry yet!

I wrapped up the exhaust tonight and took it out for a good hour or so. Man does it sound good! I am used to H pipes but this X makes it sound like nascar over here! I am very happy with the fact there is very little rasp and no drone at all. I just need someone else to drive the car so I can hear how it really sounds. It is QUITE a bit more mellow than open headers thank god. I checked yesterday and also again today and I think I am exhaust leak free. I will look for some black sooting after a few hundred miles and fix it from there. I just wanted to fix any leaks prior to scuffing and hi temp painting. Gonna take the car to work tomorrow

When I see people using mockup engine and trannies I get pretty jealous. If you got your motor rebuild, could you still spring for the mock up engine and find a tranny somewhere?

Will do sir! I am pretty excited and relieved at the same time. After that day, things should slow down a bit. But who knows what other wild hair I might have by then.

JoeK, if you can still do it somehow, I would suggest it. My shoulders hurt from crawling in and out from under the car for days. I can't imagine doing this 30 years down the road!

Ha, I don't exactly know. To be honest I have been neglecting quite a few other things to get the car "complete". Having a dyno tune day set really is making me feel crunched for time but it helps to have a goal or a deadline. If you have kids and wife I understand. Family always comes first!

I have the stock bolts buried somewhere as well. I'd be happy to sell them if you need them. USPS ships pretty fast.

I threw everything back in after it was tacked up and sized it again to make sure it was set. Turned out PERFECT! I used a square and measured the driver side exhaust cut out and replicated this on the passenger side. I believe the cut is 2 3/4" in from the corner and the diameter of the cut out is 4 1/2", leaving me 1/4" of wiggle room with the tips. Since the mufflers are angled a bit, I am trying to get the 2, 90 deg. bends to work out for the exhaust exits. A little pursuation I should be ok. I got one side tacked up last night and is looking alright. I should have the exhaust complete and mounts welded prior to Sunday. Tonight will be tough for time.

So toucing on where I left on for the exhaust build, I placed the mufflers where I wanted them positioned under the diff. I then clamped up the mid pipe and measured the length of tubing I needed to connect the two. I ended up welding the other side of the v band to the pipe and clamped them in place. The hardest part is the x pipe isn't truly centered in comparison to the muffs so it took a little trickery. I used the driveshaft as my "straight edge". This worked out quite well. After getting these close, I took the mid pipe out to angle cut the X for the pie cuts. Everything went back in and was measured for the pie cut. This was the outcome.

Sounds like more drinking than fishing then. I am 75% sure I will be there, depending on how weekend plans unravel. I might start my cam swap around that time so we will see.

I say grab a welder, buy a couple coupons of various thicknesses and practice a bit. It comes pretty fast and isn't too hard at all. Just make a chute mount that bolts to the car, that way if you ever want to change or redo it you can just unbolt instead of cutting welds. Seeing the work you've done I am sure you'd pick it up in no time.

I'd be crazy to get that elaborate with exhaust that is hanging under the car. I'll live once it is coated in hi temp paint. How'd the fishing go? I made it to CnC and the turn out was pretty good.

I wish I could say the same about my welds! I guess they are ok but I am hoping for no leaks. As for the cuts, I've been using a Milwaukee chop saw. For cuts other than straight tubing I am using a 4" cut off wheel and making sure it is as flush as possible. Using a carbite bit to clean up the inside and outside of each cut really goes a long ways. I will have to admit that I am going on the basis of cutting with some room for play and grinding away until it fits. It has worked so far instead of doing all the intense math to figure out the bend radius of my turns.

Great news Keith! Is the guy building your chute mount the same fabricator you have used before? I know it stinks wondering when you'll get a car back but we don't rush surgeons on the operating table either. Good work is attained by taking the time to address all the details.

The X-pipe is pretty close to being symmetrical under the car. One side is maybe a tad bit lower. The pipe is not entirely centered under the car but maybe it is just the location of the mufflers that make it seem that way. The muffs tuck up really nice under the diff. I am pretty sure ground clearance will be just fine. I tacked on 6" extensions on the mufflers to get past the supposed location of my mystery sway bar. Another set of V-bands were added to the mufflers so the mid-pipe will be removable for tranny service. We will see how often that is. lol. I didn't take any pictures last night, but I worked from the V-band back to the X-pip. Since the mufflers are slightly angled I was going to add some pie cuts to get the straight tubing parallel. The pie cuts were going to be so damn small again, I just ended up cutting the straight tubing at an angle... The straight tubing ended up being 9 1/4" on on side and 7 1/2" on the other I believe. The back portion of the X will be asymmetrical pass to driver side. I think it will still look fine

I've definitely read most people leave it off with no issues what so ever. Maybe it is just me but I seems like the car does roll or lean quite a bit in the rear when turning. But I am used to a solid axle so that could be why. I need to finish my fenders so I don't have any tire rubs. I would like to test the car with and without it on. Like most, it's probably not noticeable.

I could possibly get some shorter bolts if i delete the nuts. Id probably still use loctite as i dont have the need to remove the axles often. I am very surprised at how the u joint half axles held up. I wasnt necessarily gentle with them but driving didnt include much drivetrain shock as i wasnt dumping the clutch. Busy ass weekend so not much progress on the car. I realized i need to test fit the rear sway bar with the axles. Kind of struck me as im working on the x-pipe to muffler routing.

I had to scoot the boots up about 1/8" more to make the boots stay on. They are some cheap O'reilly boot. I used the part number for the outer boot for both the inner and outer. I drove probably 100 miles and checked and no leaks or ejected grease so far. The flanges I got are threaded as well. I torqued them good and tight by hand, but wanted the extra precaution of a nut to keep them on. I added blue loktite as well. Maybe I am a little paranoid but it plays to be safe on a car that was just a shell a couple months ago. lol