Picked up a pair a while back but never put 'em on anything. Do they actually work? There the cast iron ones that J.C. WHitney sells. If anyone ever saw "Red Line 7000" (1965) there is a GT350 with a pair that has the cable runing up through the cig lighter. Will they leak when closed or bind up? Thanks, -Dean
I can't believe they even still sell them. They were crap when JCW sold them 50 years ago, and they still suck!
What everybody else says about them not working. But a better alternative that was just as cheap, didn't leak, and could be uncapped quickly (assuming you had a heavy rag to keep from burning your hands) were simple black iron pipe caps on the end of a short piece of threaded iron pipe welded to the exhaust pipe so they were easily accessible from under the front fender. Still dirt cheap and available at every hardware store. P.S. Have also seen radiator caps or fuel filler caps used for even quicker uncapping. However, they cost more and you have to do more fabrication to get the appropriate filler neck to fit. Also, more prone to leaking and wearing out quicker.
I have a new in the box 50s era Cal Custom Cable operated cut-out. Comes with a nice big sheet of woven ASBESTOS cloth to help seal the connections to the tailpipe.
I agree with the above... I have sold a few of the cable kits through Mr. Gasket and customers called back saying they are junk. They have a new electric solenoid style that I've heard is leakproof... but pricey... like $200 each!!
I've heard of them too. I couldn't see that kind of money for that though. Goober is onto something. A friend of mine had them on his '47 Ford. Made from scraps of pipe from his dad's business or something, don't really remember where he got it from. I remember he welded a piece of rebar onto the screw off caps, so it had a T handle to make it easier to get off by hand. I think never-sieze would be a must.
Old picture, but you can kinda see how I how mine like Goober said. The red cap just threads off and on. I just keep an old towel in the trunk. I can get a better picture tonight, if you need it.
Harlan if any of you remember him used pipe capes on his headers. They work perfect and goobers right watchout when you take them off it can be hot.
Thats what I figured. I put a set on my '59 where you crawl under the car to open 'em, (and they work quite well) but I thought it would be cool to do ones like in that movie on my fastback. Makes you wonder what is keeping them selling such a crappy product for 50 years. Thanks, -Dean
Yes...just like th others. The cheap cast iron ones work, but not well and only for a couple of months, they will leak from day one. After a couple of months, the cable will seize up and they really, really wont seal. And yes, very fun too!
along the lines of the pipe caps why doesnt any one --this could be used on header caps or cut outs-- thread the inside of the pipe- on cone headers you could insert a threaded peice into the cone- and then have a threaded plug go in. make it easy to get out and have it have a BIG allen head type hole cut DEEP into it. then you just take your 'wrench' -a long L shaped peice of hex stick in deep and twist it out. then you dont get your hands burn, you dont have a plug sticking out were every one can see it, and with the big deep hole your not going to gall or strip the hex hole trying to get it out like you do with those types of button head screws, or even philips screw heads. just always wonderd why you never see this........ok well you wouldnt realy be able to see it but i wonder why it isnt realy talked about just some ideas, doesnt realy help you on your cabin operated ones though. though i would asume with the massive market for remote control crafts and trick little servos and ect for everything youd think if you found a catalog you could find something in it that you could make work. might have to make a burly heat sheild but it couldnt be all that difficult and shouldnt cost you 200 bux a peice just some thoughts tim
Captain's Call boat exhaust uses a solenoid-operated exhaust 'diverter' made of stainless that allows you to switch the exhaust between thru-hull (loud) or thru the outdrive (quiet). They are pricey new, but there might be some available in marine salvage piles.
From the Hunnert Car Pileup, here are a couple more nice examples using the radiator/gas filler type of cap for quick exhaust opening.
Very common in the 60s, most had a big nut welded on to tighten or loosen, they were called dumps back then. I plan to make a set from vacuum operated EFE butterflys. Yes they will leak but so what. Or spend the bucks and get the electric ones.
The guy who did the build of my 40 Ford (with home made headers on a 394 Old engine) in about 1959, used threaded pipe caps on the end of the dumps at the bottom rear of the front fenders. He welded a couple of old, short 1/2 inch drive sockets on them. The drill was, he and a partner could stop the running car at a light, get out with ratchets, and have the caps off in about 20 seconds. Supposedly worked well, but you had to remove them regularly or they would get stuck from rust buildup. When I got the car it had been in storage for a few years and those caps did NOT want to come off.
There's a V8 Ford Ranger around here with cut-outs powered by an air compressor. No leak and they do work flawless, even after many years. The rumour is that the previous owner of the truck, who designed the system, had it patented and sold the patent to a US based company. I never saw anything like it advertised anywhere though.
Some of the new super cars are running exhausts that have adjustable exit apertures controlled by computer for max performance through the whole power band. I wanna say Porsche is doing it, and I think the new Z06. Or I could have dreamt this last night.
That's what I used on the coupe with screw motors from a power seat to open and close em. I used a power window switch to reverse the polarity and they work great.
For the electric ones: RaceReady 1 866 722 3732 P.O.Box 340 Boyd, Texas 76023 Jon Ireland www.BeRaceReady.com
I always thought a LP gas grade ball valve would work good under a car... it'd be easy to make one into a Y, it'd never leak, and it wouldnt be hard to hook it up to a cable...
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