I found out that Tuffy was running them back then. I have done a search and found very little. I know I can have a muffler shop bell some tubing for me but what did they sound like?
WHAT !! I have 4 of them on my caddy and have them on my hot rod, and mcphail had them on his 56, and were from kansas,. in fack koolrides right here in kansas is the ones who are having them repoped and the only place i know you can get them.
sorry not on the caddy on the el camino and dennis has them on his 60 ford as well, KANSAS boys have all the kool shit. it's just the rest of the world doesnt know it. and thats fine, we don't want this place to turn into california!
I had read that someone was repopping them. Do you have a video clip - I would like to hear them and are you running mufflers with them?? Thanks!
I had 'em on my 49 Olds coupe x-4, big rake, via cut coils and big little rubber, never could do those raised shackles. Sounded and looked cool, nightmare to keep from messing up on driveways etc. My buddy just put a dual exhaust kit on a 289 Mustang and the end pipes came about 4 foot long with one end belled and one end slash cut to give you an option, he used the bell tips and they look absolutely awesome. Yep, Cool Rides in Kansas has nice quality ones for sale. Cool! ~Sololobo~
Not "true" scavengers like we had in the 60's - I couldn't find any, but you can see what I'm running (Flowmaster Hushpower). I split the exhaust into 4 pipes after the mufflers.
Eric, That frame is so nice - it's a shame to cover it up! I have some questions. What paint did you use? What are the emergency brake cables from? And do you have a sound clip?
That trend was pretty big in my area of PA in the mid to late 60's...the whole "jacked-up" in back thing, reversed shackles & scavengers...especially evident with tri-five Chebbies & Fords of the mid 50's. I always wondered why I didn't see more of this on the rides I see here, since it was a prominent traditional trend. I always assumed that it wasn't such a big hit in other places like it was here.
West Coast, scavenger pipes were "de rigueur" for all hot rods (including street machines - post 48). Some guys didn't know how to properly keep their pipes off the asphalt, so I've always felt that this point is where shackles came into such prominent play. I think scavenger pipes died off after about five or six years as something different (¿quien sabe?) came along. dj
Hey, Kathy! I remember them well. Usually paired up with "bullet shaped" glasspacks when I was a kid - late '50s/early '60s. Installed beneath the rear axle, very prone to damage but looked sexy. Many cars were forward raked ("California rake") hard with cut coils and big 'n' littles so the pipes could be seen from the rear and from the side. As I recall they didn't amplify the sound as echo cans did. A guy at the last LaGrave swap meet had a case of NOS 4' scavengers. I came very close to buying a couple just to have 'em...but didn't. Sorry.
Had to look that word up. Now if I could only pronounce it! Eric, With all my Dallas buddies maybe we can find the guy again. If need be, I will have a muffler shop bell some tubing for now. I am leaning toward Porter's or Flowmasters. I can remember riding to school with my brother and his 454 with glasspacks! He would scream "They sound good, uh?" and I would scream "I don't know cause they make my head hurt!" Wow, that looks good. Kinda fills the void!
wasn't the sound from scavengers...it was the look....had them on a 52 Olds in late 80s behind glass packs...auto parts store still had them available at the time.
He would scream "They sound good, uh?" and I would scream "I don't know cause they make my head hurt!" Sounds perfect to me! But... Not Flowmasters on Tuffy. I have Flowmaster 50s on my daily El Camino and they are far too quiet for a hot rod, at least with a stockish 283 and full length pipes. I can easily carry on a conversation or listen to the stock AM radio while cruising on the freeway. I have Flowmaster 40s with full length pipes on my Plymouth coupe street rod with a very healthy 360 MoPar and they are very "muscle car"...kinda tinny and hollow...an appropriate sound for my car, but not for your coupe. 'Way too muscle car. In this car conversation is impossible at any speed. I'd recommend long Porters or Smitty's on Tuffy. Nothing but steel packed or glass packed mufflers would have the right sound...and I'm leaning towards the raspy sound of the Porter steel packs over the smoother sound of the glass packs. All of the above IMHO. Am very proud of your progress. Eric
Someone makes them, can't remember who. Sometimes you can find original ones on the auction site. I have two pair of original chrome 2"x4' scavenger pipes that bell out to about 3", got them from ebay for a song as they were listed as motorcycle pipes.
Agree, but in Northern Calif., they called them "weiners", "sausages", "scavengers", and "Cheater Pipes". (cheaters) I think the reason for the 'cheaters' name was from a magazine pic, which showed the aft end of a raked car with scavengers and 'Cheater Slicks', very popular at the time. Some scribe wrote, "Note use of cheaters for street use". Someone thought he was referring to the pipes. Lots of novices raised the rear of their cars because it was less than simple to drop the front, (without a torch!) and they HAD to have a California Rake! A goodly number of guys also flipped the shackles for 'scavenger clearance', as Propwash said. Regional (San Jose/Santa Clara) terms were sometimes comical. Johnny Perreira, a die-hard 4-Banger afficionado, added a tall Model A rear spring to his '32 sedan. We asked him if that was a "Dago Drop". Johnny, always the joker, replied, "No, it's a 'Portagee Dip'!" We called rakes 'Portagee Dips' for years...Most of the older rodders in Santa Clara were Portuguese-Americans, and embraced the term. Good days, those...
Kathy, Thanks for the kind words. The frame is painted with PPG base/clear. The brake cables are from Lokar. No sound clip but I can tell you they don't sound like "regular" flowmasters at all - don't like that sound for an early car. As much as I like the sound of mine I think "Tuffy" should have Smithy's, Porter's or the like. The Hushpowers just wouldn't look right. Let me know if you ever find anybody baking "real" scavengers. I might have to have some. - Eric
I always thought they looked neat on a hot rod, but not really practical. I also thought they were usually flared out at the ends??
What I was calling scavenger pipes back in the '60s was a 4' pipe with a 4" bell on the end. I ran mine hooked to "Hush Thrush" mufflers under the jacked-up rear end of my '52 Coupe back in the early '70s. I liked them so much that I saved the last 18" of them, pounded them back into shape (they tended to get pretty beat up), had them rechromed and used them on my dream car (no room for 4 footers under this one)! -Dave
It's on the build thread. The nephew of the lady in the car show picture contacted me. Said his uncle and Ron were good friends and his uncle had an article on his bulletin board for as long as he could remember. He was kind enough to copy it and email it to me. Wished I had had it a year ago - pretty cool! Concreteman - Did you have those made or are they originals? That's what I vision was on Tuffy.
Cool thread! Wish I had a pic of my buddys brothers 1952 Plymouth with split manifold and dual 2 3/4" (approx) electrical conduit scavenger pipes straight through from the motor to the rear axle! Car sounded like a P-51 Mustang taking off!! Too cool!!!
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