Hi all! I am rebuilding the exhaust on my 1955 Chevy, now the pipes ends in the middle of the car lenght, and I have fumes that come inside the car.. which is not so healty I want to move the pipes all the way to the rear, and now here's the question.. Pro and Cons to make the pipes goin back passing by to the bottom of the diff? I am doin everything myself and I do not want to bend the pipes, and make them go trough the top of the diff.. What should I do and why? Any suggestion would be SO MUCH appreciated Danny
Dump them in front of rear axle under the back seat with turn downs? I did this to my OT FE powered Fairlane and again on my current FE powered 64 Fairlane. You do get some reverberation noise issues however no toxic fumes.
Go up and over the rear axle and out the back under the bumper. Not what you wanted to hear, but..... Some times if you stop before the axle you get weird resonance and noise inside the car, plus fumes. If you go under the diff it's hard to get the pipes to the rear bumper without being too low and looking stupid. Also going under the diff has it's own clearance issues. Just my 2 cents.
What @mgtstumpy said, going under the differential can be done but causes clearance issues. extend your exhaust pipes to just in front of the rear wheels, much simpler and you get the same effect of no fumes in the car. ive done this on a couple of off topic cars I’ve owned.
Up and over and out. I haven't looked, but there has to be performance sized tailpipes for Tri-5 Chev's. Do you own a welder? Depending on the cost of pre-made pipes, you can make your own from mandrel bends----although the time and dollars you spend aren't really worth it over premade unless you require something special. This is the way I build exhaust and have done it for a long time, as most premade items do not fit my needs, I am very particular on exhaust for hobby cars. Also, does or will the car ever see a lift? If so, by the time you calculate in the full suspension droop, it'll hang to low. If you tuck it close to the rear underneath the housing, if the car goes on a lift ever, it will rip the hangers out or bend something at a minimum when the rear sags down.....and it also just doesn't plain look right in general, even at ride height.....looks like something a 17 year old with no knowledge, money or experience would do IMO, I think we have all been there on those situations.
What you have to understand is that if you use a good mounting system to hold the pipes, you can have clearances of a quarter inch. So going over the differential is really no problem. If you have a mig welder you can build an exhaust system out of mandrel bends. I have found that you don't even need 4 foot straight pieces when using J bends.
Hello, In one of our teenage high school cars, a 55 two door post Chevy sedan, we tried all kinds of stuff. One was running the exhaust out of the leading edge of the rear wheel opening. It looked very racy, the sound was nice. But, the teenager's next door neighbor was a California Highway Patrolman and said those were illegal. So, the next step was to make the exhaust tip come out behind the rear wheel opening. That was still cool and different, at the time. Both of those applications came with some unusual exhaust fumes coming into the cab running and when idling at stop lights. That was not good. It sounded good, but not worth the smelly fumes permeating our clothes and brains. Eventually, the stock dual exhaust pipes that went over the top of the rear axle and under the rear bumper was the best solution. They provided a nice sound from the V8 twin pipes and no fumes inside of the cab, a win/win all around. The one thing that made the changes was that his girlfriend did not like smelling like exhaust fumes while being inside of that cool black and white 55 Chevy two door post model. The final look of the sedan was on a lowered Cal Rake and that was cool enough. Jnaki We also tried the same set up on a 56 Chevy two door post, a 57 Chevy Bel Air Hardtop and yes, my brother tried it on his black 58 Impala to start the whole thing of exhaust tip trial and errors. (after my brother had the rear bumper exhaust tips, he had a custom made set of dual long scavenger pipes that attached to the downward cut outs from the 348 motor... plus and minus on that experiment) The stock, over the rear and out, under the rear bumper was the final/BEST result for daily driving and sound. Still plenty of power, very little noise inside of the cab during cruising and absolutely no smell. YRMV...
over the axle is the way to go. But make sure the "loops" are high enough, that the axle won't hit them when the car bottoms out. There are some exhaust shops who don't understand this concept....
Back in the day you could take your car into a muffler shop and they would custom bend what you needed. There still is a guy in my small town of Harrison. After checking with Midas Muffler and a couple other shops 2 years ago, I found no one wanted to mess with it, so I started to figure out what to buy and how to do it etc. But then found this old school shop and went in and asked him. Sure he said. Complete single exhaust from engine to rear bumper on the 56 F100 for $160.00. (I know apple and oranges) anyway if you can find a old exhaust shop maybe they will do it for you.
I’m in the up and over camp or the exit in front of rear wheel option like mgtstumpy suggested. There was a thread not too long ago where a member used headers, cut off and turned around. It looked like zoomies, they were well done and on the right car would look pretty cool. Edit: I just noticed your avitar. Might not look cool on that.
For a street car, route the exhaust pipes over the rear axle and straight out the back. Pros: -Quieter inside the car. -You won't suffer from Carbon Monoxide poisoning. -Your wife's/girlfriend's clothes won't smell like exhaust. -Exhaust tips under the rear axle look awesome. Cons: More work. Here's my old '55 for reference:
I'm in the custom exhaust business and do this sort of thing all the time. I'm sure you can find a local shop to do it the way you want it, I would stay away from the chains though. Also you can buy pre bent tailpipes for most any classic. Either way it probably won't be in the $160 range anymore.
anyone notice that OP is in Italy? still, there must be shops there that do exhaust work - or parts suppliers there - I am not a fan of individual exhaust pipe going to side of car because only hear that bank of cylinders - plus, if sitting in traffic, etc exhaust can still get into car - but, I know sometimes there is no other option or needs to be done to meet requirements for special applications
Probably because they're always in a pack of vehicles with engines running at 8500 RPM, pumping lots of air through the engine, burning a lot of fuel, tuned for power, not clean burn, and being in that environment for 3-4 hours at a time. I don't think it would make any difference if the exhaust was run out the back of those cars, or even if they had exhaust stacks out the top. I'd suspect that some of the spectators might have elevated CO levels after a race as well.
Here's what I've done on numerous builds, since I have no access to bending exhaust pipe, and too frugal to pay for it. I've simply bought from Jegs or Summit an exhaust kit from header back for '68-'72 Chevelle in 2.5". The last kit I bought last year was $170 for everything including turbo mufflers, clamps, hangers, etc. I don't use any of the clamps, and I weld the whole system up. I've used these kits on a '63 Falcon, a '35 Plymouth coupe, a '69 Nova, a '56 Chevy, and a '39 Chev coupe. All worked great, and all ended up with various amounts of leftover pipe. I start by going through the various pieces and figuring out how to use the pieces with the least amount of cuts or welds. Normally from the muffler back over the axle, and out the back, I can use the kit just as it comes. Then I simply choose from the other pieces forward of the muffler and begin cutting and fitting. I hold pieces up and tape them together, and mark with a felt pen. Tack them as little as possible on each side to test before final welding, and then take them down to weld it up. I usually end up with just one weld being done completely under the car, and that one is almost always at the inlet to the muffler. This setup is easy, cheap, and makes for a nice system I can do in my garage in 4 hours or so.
Another vote for over-the-axle here. Comparatively recently I extended the early dumps just like the op is asking. Total transformation of the experience of being in the car. I liked the rumble of the previous system but hated the fumes etc and the resonance was terrible even after a full 2 layer Dynamat job (mat and pad). I was however fearful that the change might make the car less hotrod like. I need not have worried, it sounds fantastic. And conversations are possible. Resonation gone. Throaty rumble maintained. Stainless mandrel bends. Tig welded. V band clamps (expensive but with it and aid in the fabrication process too). All my own work. I work slowly and carefully. Couldn't afford to pay to have someone do it to the standard I desire. I've tig welded systems for buddies who've tacked them with mig. Chris Sent from my SM-T515 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
One thing I've found by having the exhaust in front of the axle besides the noise is the bottom of your car gets filthy. My 57 Ford has 3" exhaust ending just in front the axle. The differential, shocks, springs, gas tank, everything gets dusty and grimey. Worse if you happen to drive on gravel from time to time.
I used to have a buddy in Texas who ran cheap turbos with the turn downs in front of the axle when it was the super car dude fad in the 70's. That was the most annoying frigging car to ride in that I have ever been in exhaust wise. You got a freaking headache from the concussion and noise after about ten miles and in slow traffic the exhaust tended to find it's way inside the car. Unless you have some pro street suspension under it getting tail pipes made to run out to the back shouldn't be an issue and you will be a lot happier in the end for it. If you are cheap get some bends and run the pipes out past the side of the car in front of the rear wheels where the exhaust gets out past the sides of the car. Then you only have to worry about cleaning the accumulated crud off your rear wheels on an all too regular basis. You can buy Flowmaster 2-1/2 inch tail pipes for the 55 From Speedway or other places for 160 bucks if you don't have a local muffler shop that can do it or don't want to take it to a muffler shop. Flowmaster 15816 Tailpipes, 2.5in Pair 55-57 Chevy (speedwaymotors.com) 150.12 and free shipping if you have Amazon prime Amazon.com: Flowmaster 15816 Prebend Tailpipes - 2.50 in. Rear Exit - Pair: Automotive That's if you want pipes that big.
Out the back and over the axle is the way to go. Exiting in front of the wheels just gets your nice wheels really dirty. Plus the excess noise and fumes. Do it right or do it over again. .bjb
The exhaust pipes have to be secured with hangers (usually with a bit of rubber to kill noises). So the "system" is attached to the body which moves up and down with bumps and load, etc. If you have pipes under the axle, you would have to have as much space between the pipes and the axle as the amount of possible suspension travel. For example, if there is a half-inch between the pipe and the axle and you drive at speed over a dippsydoodle or jack up the car to change a tire, if the axle can hang down 2" or so, you will bend/crush/ripoff the pipes. Has it ever been done under the axle? Probably. Was anyone ever happy with that? Probably not.
I never knew side exhausts were illegal, depending where you're at/how they're done. Interesting. I have side pipes on my car, and it doesn't get my wheels or wide whites dirty at all, nor do I smell fumes at all. They're tucked up underneath enough that burned legs are of no worry. I've had a cop walk up at a gas pump and talk to me about the car, but he didn't mention the pipes. Seat belts laws aren't retroactive for cars, are exhausts? I don't have any belts in my car and I'm exempt.... Is exhaust different? Just curiosity.... Because lakes pipes would look great on that. Edit: found this with a Google. Exhaust laws by state. Kinda cool.... https://www.semasan.com/resources/exhaust-noise-laws-state#Michigan
I ran straight sections of pipe from Autozone and hung my mufflers way back. Then I let the local muffler shop finish it over the diff and out the back..which is what I reccomend. FYI,- the 55 gas tank is offset towards the driver's side. I repositioned my tank to the center which required a little ingenuity and lengthening the filler neck. This allows room for dual exhaust to clear the tank on the driver's side.
You absolutely do not want exhaust fumes entering the car. I had an episode during which I became dizzy and thought I would have to pull over to the shoulder of the highway, simply from having fumes from the big rig in front of me entering my passenger compartment through the fresh-air vent. As far as legality goes, I live in California. You can pretty much do whatever you want to your 55's exhaust system, as long as it is not too loud. In your case, it's the noise, not the location of your exhaust exits, that could be an issue. No doubt, it's the noise that your CHP neighbor has an issue with. There are many vehicles, most of which were manufactured much later than 1975, with modified exhaust systems, where I live, some of which with the electric cut-outs, which are clearly illegal. My local police don't seem to care, but there are times I wish they did. I don't like noise for the sake of noise or attracting attention. You can build an acceptably quiet exhaust system that will not significantly reduce horsepower, set off car alarms, or annoy your neighbors. If you want to attract attention, don't be surprised when you're issued a fix-it ticket.
I had lowering blocks on my car so I just ran straight exhaust pipes out the back under the rear axle. Worked great until I tried driving out the driveway and it hit the floor. Had a muffler shop bend it up in the rear and I was good to go. Sent from my SM-T350 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
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