They've got a hell of a deal on a 3" kit for my 81 Camaro, but site reviews are few and mixed. My experience with their parts has been pretty good. To memory, the only bad part I've gotten from them is a flexplate for this same car, all the other stuff has been good for the money. Being as how this is a little more complex with all the pipe bending and whatnot, I'm a little on the fence. Anybody have any experience here?
On cheaper tub ,or any brand Pay attention to the gauge of material Thickness Tub elbows connectors @ big box auto parts stores cheap thin , Even NAPA Quality down unless it's namebrand Walker even kits on Ebay / Amazon alway look @ ga if you are wanting Quality I think cheep .040 -.060 Good is .080 plus , heavier but will last longer, & better welds if chose
That's good advice. The ad says 16 gauge stainless, so that's what, .060? Thin piped exhaust tends to sound tinny in my experience, but this kit comes with their deep toned mufflers which I do like. At least in my case this will be going on a car that might see 1000 miles a year.
I bought one for a 69 camaro from Summit. Fit pretty good, the length was off a bit. It was an original looking exhaust with the transverse muffler behind the axle, the rear end cover hit the muffler on a good bump in the road. I ended up cutting the pipes and lengthening them. In the end it would have been easier to just buy mandrel bends and weld one up myself.
Well I have the benefit of a friend with a lift who likes installing exhausts and has a bunch of scrap pipe lying around. I think I'll take a shot on it. This is their true dual setup with the X pipe built in, and I think these cars came with a dual inlet/outlet muffler setup, so I'm expecting it to not fit 100% like factory.
I've hung a lot of pipes under 1st and 2nd Gen F-bodies. Not a lot of room under there for X pipes. And dual inlet/outlet mufflers basically are X pipes, anyway the ones I used were open inside. So you kind of duplicate your efforts adding the X pipe. Something to consider.
What I have under it now is a true dual setup in 2.5", but it's butchered. It looks a lot like the kit Jeg's sells, minus the crossover. I've already replaced the headers in the pic with some mid lengths because the longtubes were cooking the starter. Apart from the 1/2" size difference, it SHOULD fit OK. I may or may not run tailpipes depending on clearance. My buddy has a 69 and cannot get 3" tailpipes to fit. Here's what's on it: Here's the Jeg's kit: https://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/30584/10002/-1
Unless you are racing and pushing 500+ HP through it, 3" pipes aren't going to be worth the effort IMO. Those cars are tight underneath and low to the ground, not a lot of room. Magnaflow makes a nice transverse 2 into 2 muffler to fit between the tank and rear end, make a nice noise. 2.5" pipe over the axle, dump a couple of chrome or SS pipes out the quarter panels. Pypes makes probably the best fitting system I have used on F bodies. Might be a bit more money.
Racing? No. 500hp? Maybe. It’s a 408 with a mild cam, worked over early 400 production heads, and EFI. It’s healthy, but it’s just a cruiser. Definitely a torquey build over peak HP. I could probably do 2.5”, save a few bucks, and not have it cost any usable HP, but 3” does sound better. I like the Pypes stuff, I put their street pro kit on my 55 some years back and it fit like a glove.
They fit and they look good. I used pypes on my 442, they even had the Olds flared tips that go in the bumper recesses for 2.5" pipes, the originals are small and don't flare without splitting. On my Olds I ran 3" form the collectors to the mufflers, then 2.5" over the rear and out along the tank. I never added an X pipe. Maybe should have. I don't have one on anything at the moment come to think of it. No reason why, just don't.
They say the X adds a little power, but in a street cruiser, is it enough to matter? I look at it as a "as long as you're under there doing everything else" sort of thing. What I really liked, and noticed in the seat of the pants, is the old MAC Prochamber. Instead of an X or H, it was an actual chamber and it really improved torque. It is kinda nice to see if you have a problem cylinder, you can easily tell which side it's on with no crossover.
Every vehicle I ever had an z pipe on always cracked in the middle of the X. No more, I’m done with them.
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