My new H-Pipe

[OrangeCrush1970]

Just wanted to pass along my observations as I installed an H-pipe on my truck this weekend... What I have bolted to my Mildly built 4-bolt 350 in the breathing department: 4bbl Rochester Q-Jet on an Edlebrock intake, long hookers w/ 2 ½” collectors to 29 ½” L / 2 1/2” in / out Cherry Bomb glass packs that turn down in front of my rear axle. (I have a long bed w/ the coil spring set-up).

SO, obviously this was a relatively loud system. One of my neighbors loved it, the rest were nice about it, but I could tell that it was a bit too much in the mornings. Aside from my expected performance gains, I wanted to quiet things up a bit. Personally, I love the sound of headers and straight pipes, you can’t beat it, but I can’t risk being ‘that guy’ in the neighborhood.

I went to summit and picked up one of their $32 h-pipes. When it arrived in the mail, it looked like my 3 yr old nephew had welded it together. I highly suggest spending a few more $$ and go w/ a name brand, hooker, headman, etc. From the research that I carried out I found that I needed to install the H-pipe as close to the collectors as possible. It ended up finding it’s home about 12” back from the collectors, or about 2.5” behind the front cross member just behind the slip yoke on my tranny. I will post pics later-

The Pros: It is certainly mild. There is better throttle response, better low end torque as well as a last push that wasn’t there at about 4800 rpm’s( I probably need to re-tune the Q-Jet a bit), and overall my engine is running a bit smoother / more balanced.
The Con: I lost my cam loop, or at least I cannot hear it anymore. The sound that I loved so much is gone. It had been compared to my uncle’s ’67 Chris Craft w/ a Chrysler 340…I KNOW, Im not a Chrysler fan either, but the sound of that boat on the water is heaven.

To sum things up Im happy with the performance gains, nice and smooth, but it changed the aggressive chop / loop that I enjoyed so much.

As for anyone else who has also run this set up, can you give me some suggestions for mufflers that will compliment the H-pipe? I just feel that the packs have lost their effect.

Im sure that I’ll get antsy and end up taking it off in a few weeks!

Thanks-