those exhaust cutouts where at the pull of a cable the exhaust can exit either direction...to make up a butterfly that works inside some tube shouldnt be too hard?...is it worth the hassle?.........Bert
Heh... brings back memories of the JC Whitney cutoffs I had when I was 16. They leaked like crazy but it was still fun. If you really wanted them to stop "whispering" you had to hose clamp a damn can on them. We did have our fun with it, but later on, I wised up and built some fenderwell headers with caps.
There are some high-dollar ones out there made of fancy billet and electrically controlled for about $300 each. I have used the JC Whitney ones and of course they are crap. I've looked at used some throttle body that I could maybe actuate by a vacuum switch. They are machined tight and have a built in spring to help keep them closed. I don't know how long a spring could do its job with the heat though. SOme of them have rubber/plastic seals that could melt too. I saw in a junk yard a throttle body on an older (early 80's?) MB with a straight 5 or 6 cylinder that had a thin (1 1/2" thick) TB with just a simple butterfly that looked like a good candidate.
I've been thinking about this lately too - why not a big gate valve? A 2" or 3" valve is all metal so nothing will melt, it should seal, and is relatively cheap if you can find a used one. I have a 2" gate valve with a big lever handle that I'm guessing came off some sort of fuel tank - might be kinda cool if it was placed with the lever in the right place. I'll see if I can find it and take a picture.
You could extend the handle through the floorboard, you'd want a ball valve, though. 1/4 turn with a lever, instead of turning and turning a round handwheel.
Sounds like an exhaust leak waiting to happen. I hate it when header gaskets leak. Just think of this racket.
I'm a pipe designer, I am working as we speak on a 600# flare gas system, it won't leak. There should be no problem with leaks.
Not sure what this biggun' was intended for, but the lever is kinda cool and only swings a few degrees between open and shut. Unfortunately its bit bulky and heavy, so you couldn't mount it just anywhere. -Jeff
I would think a ball valve would carbon up and stick. Any reason why it wouldn't? I'm also thinking about using throttle bodys for cutouts.
I ran the cast ones for about 3 years on my 48. Never rusted up but they did rattle untill I installed a spring on em to keep them tight. Plus they were almost always open.
Bert, A friend of mine used electric window raisers to open and close his cutouts with a window switch. Be Cool Cruiser 49 .
On a thread a few weeks ago somone was talking about just using a gas filler neck and cap welded to your exhaust. Granted, you would have to get out of the car and use pliers so you wouldnt burn yoself, but it would be hella cheap. Normally we just uncap em for the weekend runs anyway. Craig
cheers......great ideas here, I thank all for your input..throttle body sounds great, fairly light too...how about an old diesel throttle body..might have to have a sniff at the local truck wreckers....and the ball valve should work too, if it was used often enough to "wipe" the smooth ball inside and keep it clean.........never thought of these ....good idea too with the electric window motors..., Id like to see a tech article if ya got some pics/words to spare zibo? or rdaugird?....................Bert
like hotrodhon said,back in march i posted an idea, what about using a couple of gas tank fill tubes, and just take off the gas cap when needed...
thats a good idea also, but I want the luxury of opening/closing cable operated and 2 small levers, 1 for each side, poppin up through this WW2 aircraft throttle plate.......Bert
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