When I first started noticing modified cars, circa 1951, one distinctive detail that set a car apart was dual exhausts. Before 1952, no American car came from the factory with anything but a single exhaust, so it was a popular and fairly inexpensive modification. Any muffler shop would do it, or you could buy kits from some vendors in HRM and the like -- Belond, Huth, and Douglass come to mind as some of the early advertisers. As I grew through my teens, the terminology changed among the car kids I knew: dual exhausts became dual pipes, then just duals or pipes. A little later still, "twice pipes" came into usage as a joke, but kinda stuck. As performance became a marketing tool in the '50s, factory duals began to show up on lots of stuff -- not only Cadillac, who were the first to offer them, but even factory Fords, Chevies, Oldsmobiles and others had them available as an option or as part of a V8 performance package. Even now, 50+ years later, I still notice early cars that have a pair of pristine, shiny chrome pencil tips peeking out under the rear bumper. Even if the car has no other modifications, twice pipes raise the cool factor of the car by a big chunk.
Well, shoot, I thought that SOMEBODY would have commented on this. Funny thing nowadays is that stuff like Honda Accords and BMW M5's have dual tailpipes sticking out below the rear bumper, but except for Corvettes, American manufacturers seem to have been ashamed of their exhausts for a buncha years.
when I was in high school in the 70s dual exhaust was the FIRST thing you did to a car. The first dual exhaust job I had done cost $100. That included removing the old exhaust, new mufflers, pipes, hangers and installation. Hell today it is a challenge to find anyone around here that will do anything infront of the cat.con., at any price, no matter how old the car is
Our late model R/T Charger has "twice pipes". You had to buy the HEMI to get them though, which was what we were after anyway. And it is a true dual system from the factory with an X-pipe. The first thing my wife did to the car was modify the exhaust for a louder note. She had the resonators at the rear cut out, pipe welded in their place and some nice chrome tips installed. But I do agree as will most here that even on a completely stock 30's - 50's car, running duals definitely increases the KooL factor!
... And, if you are interested in a 'sleeper' look, a single exhaust pipe works wonders. Even if it is 3" or 3.5 " in diameter, if the (one) muffler is quiet, people will think you have a stock motor (heh heh).
C9, you were exactly the guy I had in mind when I wrote this. It was your piece on hubcaps that make me think of this.
Cast iron headers and dual pipes with steelpacks was the first 'upgrade' I did to my daily inline 6. I knew little about engines, but being an instrument maker, I wanted to hear the sounds it could make... Things have never been the same after that and I still haven't heard another engine without mufflers giving me a rush like these. Double barrel fun is hard to beat!
Got them on my '54 Buick Special, with the stock (and a bit tired) 264 Nailhead. From the factory, that engine came with a compression ratio in the low 7s. Due to the frame design, true duals couldn't be installed without cutting holes in the frame, so we ran one with a cross over pipe off the manifolds, as per stock, until just ahead of the rear axle, and them split to duals. No mufflers, and the low compression engine sounded pretty good (this was about 6 years ago). '56 Buicks were the first Buicks to come from the factory with dual exhaust. The driver's side manifold looks like a cast iron header. I'll be swapping these onto a 322 for the Special, and will be cutting the required holes in the X-frame to run true dual exhaust. I'd LOVE to find a set of Belond headers for it, but don't see it happening. -Brad
Now many 4 and 6 cylinder cars have duals. My dad bought a new 56 Ford with a 292 and duals through the bumper.I was about 9 years old and started paying attention to dual exhaust on various cars.That and the V-8 emblems.Especially on Chevys where the V and crossed flags meant bigga the eng.And the bigger duals on some Mopars meant a police intercepter engine as we used to call any performance engine back then
I've always seen duals as an indicator of performance. Btw, the 1930 Cadillac V16 had factory dual exhaust. The Duesenberg Model J did also, but the came out next to each other instead of split. Here's a Mercedes 540k which along with the 500k had duals as an option. They had some crazy factory tips that I should find pictures of. Some were cut straight, others at 45 degrees, others where "fish tails" where they were flattened.
Yeah, I had forgotten that some of the many-cylindered classics had 'em. I brought this up mainly to focus on the visual impact of "pipes", but the sound is an even bigger part of their appeal. The burble of a flathead, the rumble of an Olds, or the bomber-like rap of an I6 with duals are definitely a major part of the hot rod experience.
I love the sound of duals with a nice v8. Not a better sound in the world. Don't have a radio cause I have the nice sound of the exhaust.
In 1968 when I was 16, I went to my local Speed Shop, O.A.Corbett's in Sioux Falls and bought everything I needed for duals for my 1951 Ford, pre-bent pipes and glass packs. I took them to my local Weeg's Standard Station where the installed them for me, because I knew they were cool because they had a neat old '40 Ford service/push truck! Even if my old '51 Ford wasn't fast, it sure made my flathead sound good!
Ok, I agree with all the comments, and I need an idea....I plan to update (turn back the clock) on my olds, and I want to run duals out the rear exiting threw a tail pan. Any idea of chrome trim that I can use to go around the tail pipes? THanks.
Check with a boat shop, They should have some chrome trim lock. As long as you dont get it too close to the pipes it should hold up fine. Past that look at some of the old muscle cars, a lot of them had chrome trim that the factory dual went through. Mustangs had them, as did the 63-67 vette, I am sure that there were others as well, those are just the first 2 that popped into my feeble mind.
Dual's has always been one of the first things I usually do just to give the car a more personal feel or touch. Gives the car a more personal feeling, an indication that I am the owner, the caretaker. On my latest project, its was one of the more expensive ventures just to turn a single exhaust into true duals. That is on my '53 Buick special, 263ci straight 8. Single exhaust manifold stock. Was able to commandeer a set up '41-42 dual intake/exhaust setup. Had to flip my motor mount upside just to get enough room to be able to run duals. Well worth the time and money. Nothing sounds like a straight 8 running through true dual exhaust into Smitty mufflers.
I believe it, but I've never heard one. I'd love to hear it! Are the exhausts split 4/4, or is there some weird Siamesed arrangement?
My 06 Mustang's got factory duals, and boy does it sound nice. (and the dual tailpipe thing is crap, half of them are just 2 pipes exiting a muffler with one pipe going in.)
FittyFraud, The '41-42' Buick stock dual exaust was split 1-4, 5-8, no Siamesed arrangment. I'll have to post pics of it for you. Running a dual Edmunds intake with Holley 94's. Sounds like a straight 6 had sex with a 283/327 chevy v8 Fryguy
My Dad bought a '53 Chrysler New Yorker that had been owned by a travelin' salesman and it had dual exhaust and had holes cut in the bumper with chrome tips welded in and hollywoods on it. You think I didn't think that was the coolest damn thing at 15?
Yeah dual exhaust was usually the first thing I ever put on all of the V8 cars or trucks I've ever had. I think the "stereo" sound of dual pipes sounds like music. Roll down all the windows and listen to it go "a piggida poggeda piggida poggeda" back and forth. On the new cars where they have a single cat feeding to two tailpipes, it just doesn't sound the same. Standing at the back of a V8 car with true dual exhausts and loud mufflers is like music to my ears. I remember lots of times when I was younger cruising along at about 90 mph in my old Impala on the highway late at night with all the windows rolled down and just listening to the cool sound of my exhaust echoing off the freeway divider. You can't beat that sound. Yeah, dual exhaust is definitely cool!
How about true duals with no mufflers? When I was 15, I saved up my pin striping money to put duals on my '55 Desoto. The exhaust guy looked at me funny when I said that I didn't want any mufflers. I later added functional dump tubes behind the front wheels and it sounds good. For me, there is no better sound when cruising on the interstate late at night with the pipes open listening to the Hemi echo off the walls and under the underpasses. Two years ago, I also fixed up a 1964 Caddy and had dual pipes ran without mufflers... the 429 never sounded so good.
I've got a 53 Desoto Firedome with a 276 baby Hemi, with just a single exhaust manifold. Were true duals ever created for that engine? I'm just going to use a Y-pipe, but I'm curious.
funny, I was just thinking about this today. I have a 65 chev truck with the stock 283 2bbl and stock single exhaust... would duals be a benefit besides the obvious better sound? (gas mileage, power?) Also I read about a restored 426 hemi (dart?) mopar in a muscle car mag, they had done a 100 point restoration, including the factory small single exhaust. they talked about how they could barley get the thing to run while the single exhaust was hooked up. I think it also had some sort of factory headers with cutouts, the single exhaust was just so the dealer could get the factory race car off the lot.
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