dual exhaust and 8 lug wheel questions

[c10/c20]

Hey everybody,
I have a 69 c20 with a 283. I was wondering what the easiest and cheapest way to do a dual exhaust would be. I am also looking for suggestions of a decent-looking but cheap 8 lug wheel. By the way, does anybody have a horsepower figure for a 283 with edelbrock performer intake and a rochester four barrel carb with dual exhaust? Thanks

[c10/c20]

thanks for all the feedback guys... appreciate it =P

[vectorit]

Welcome to the board!

I think you may get better results in your quest for information, if you focus on one systems question at a time.

Exhaust configurations are wide ranging, and most often your local muffler shop can set you up with something to suit your needs along with being kind to your pocket book.

There are lot's of opinions about mufflers, with one side of the fence being quiet and the other loud. You can spend a lot of money on mufflers alone, and in my experience it has been that a no name 40 dollar muffler is sufficient most of the time.

Your engine question is pretty vague, and not much for anyone to comment on. Information such as compression ratio, combustion chamber size, cylinder head, ignition, cam shaft grind specifics, and carburetor specifics are a huge help in giving a round about guess as to what horse power your mill may produce. My guess would be that it is pretty close to what GM said it would produce in the year that 283 was produced, most likely a lot less since it's birthday from the General.

Again, welcome to the best resource for old Chevrolet/GMC trucks on the net.

[Longhorn Man]

what year is the engine... what did it come out of?

[c10/c20]

How bout just running cheap summit racing headers, straight pipes and cherry bombs? Even if taking it to the muffler shop sounds like a cheap endeavor im a kid and im pretty much broke... and I sincerely doubt that I'm making stock horsepower due to the fact that the engine is clean with only 59k miles... dont tell me that that intake and carb dont help... srry if im snapping but please dont get technical here.. im building this on a shoestring budget and just want it to get me to work and school and look good while doing it

[c10/c20]

in answer to longhorn man... its the stock 283 for 69 but I believe they call it a 307 b/c it had a 327 cam in it

[GASoline71]

A cam will not change the displacement. If you want good answers... then snapping won't get them very quick.

A muffler shop can probably run a 2.5" dual exhasut with cheap turbo mufflers for around 200 to 300 bucks. That's even using the stock ramhorn manifolds.

Sorry but the intake and Q-jet aren't helping that little 283 with much of anything. I'm gonna throw a ballbark out there at around 160hp. That's being generous.

Gary

[special-K]

If it's the stock motor it will be a 307. That's the only thing they call them. The last truck 283 was '67. It's things like this you will learn once being on this site for a while. You'll find answers to any question without needing to ask,once you've read enough threads. If you want answers without asking,which requires dealing with people in a friendly comradic way,you can use the search feature. If you read the number on the block in front of the head you can go to www.nastyz28.com and find out exactly what your stock horsepower was. The 307s were 2bbls,so adding a 4bbl will up some and so will opening up the exhaust. Realistically about 10hp is my guess. Upping compression and changing cam dynamics is the best way to gain horsepower.
The best way to run duals? I go to exhaust shops and have the pros do it.I ask them to keep it tucked up in the frame and where I want it to exit. I think the cheapest way for a complete exhaust is to buy a system. I've never done this but others will chime in. Staying with the stock exhaust manifolds is the cheapest way to go,obviously. If you are set on headers I'd go with Headmans. They are cheap AND good. Cheap no-name headers will result in headaches,IMO. I think if cheap matters the most,I'd run duals from the manifolds and take the cost of headers out of the equation. Cheap comes from compromise. You can always put headers on later and hook the pipes up.

[mrein3]

For dual exhaust I did the "dual exhaust kit" out of LMC's catalog.
It is drop shipped from the manufactuer Heartthrob Exhaust.
http://www.heartthrobexhaust.com/.
When I bought the kit the only thing missing was a hanger for the side that didn't have a factory hanger. If your truck was a factory dual exhaust you wouldn't need to buy a thing.

[powerdriver 1958]

c10/c20

I would ask that you take a step back and Not "snap" on people while here . Look at the post counts of the people that answered . That alone will tell you that you are being answered by Years of experience .

Also details of what your plans for the truck makes a difference on the what you need , Such is it a daily driver? , Do you plan plan to pull a trailer?

That may make a difference in carb and manifold choice . None of the questions are meant to do anything but help you .

I did have an old impala that had a 307 2 barrel carb on it and swapped intake and carb so I could run a Q jet . Gained just a bit . Not enough to justify the cost but with an open face air filter it sure did sound cool .

Think the mileage might have been better with the 4 barrel but I spent too much time listening to the four barrel moan to find out .

I do agree with K on the muffler shop . Probably the cheapest way out and you have a warranty of sorts to fall back on . Broken exhaust studs are real common . If you haven't had to replace a broken stud its best to let the shop deal with it .

[mr48chev]

My son's 70 Longbed had a 307 With early power pack heads, a mid 80's Z28 cam, performer intake and 650 Holley spread bore. With a compound 4 speed and 3.70 gears it surprised a lot of "fast' cars in short stoplight grand prix and got 17/18 running on the highway on a road trip to Texas. The 307 is treated like a poor stepchild in the sbc realm of things but with a bit of tweaking it will stand up and be counted.

Dual exhaust, I'd find out which muffler shop in the area does good work on duals and gives a good price. I have 2-1/4 pipes with no name turbos on my 350 in my 71 with set of Headers from O'Reilly's that I paid 99 bucks for. Good sound and good performance. When I put the exhaust Pipes on my son's 70 I worked at a local parts house that I could buy parts at warehouse price at and it still cost me as much to do the exhaust that way as it would have to have the local muffler shop do the whole thing.

[c10/c20]

Alright guys thanks for the advice. Just to make it real clear i did not mean to snap at anybody. The truck is and will be a daily as it gets me to school and work but i want some power too... So its sounds like the best bet is just swapping a 350. In terms of the duals i replaced the entire exhaust on my dads 83 straight six with pipes i found at the farm store....i think i might end up doing this due to my finamced... Im really looking to not spend much money here and im not concerned about fanciness
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[RenoKeene]

Welcome from Cenral Florida...as you already know there are a lot of very smart people here willing to help, especially help you younger guys. You have come to the right place to learn everything there is to know about these trucks, believe me.
Now...lets see a picture of your truck.

[WAAF]

you're a kid in school.. I'm guess'n it has a single exhaust thats in good working order..
if thats the case.. get an el cheapo turbo style muffler or glasspack and just replace the muffler on it..
cost 20-25 for the muffler and if you install it.. a few clamps..
true duals are not gonna sound any "kooler" than the single with loud muffler. on a low compression 307.. save your money..
8 lug wheels.. craigslist is your best bet for cheap.. that and junk yards..
should be tons around. iirc ford 8 lugs fit.. others will chime in on that..

[flyingtim01]

If you're looking for cheap on the wheels, just about any 8 lug wheel will work, as long as you have the 9/16" studs. I don't recall when the changeover was made from 1/2" to 9/16", but the pattern is the same. I got rid of the old split rims on my K20 in favor of 16" steelies from a late model Ford 1 ton van. The only problem I've found is that there aren't any dimples on the rim for a hubcap, (those Ford vans used a plastic full wheel cover) so the $15 I spent on a set of caps at the swap meet was all for naught!

Anyway, I feel like you can find those rims in any yard in any city, so they should be cheap. And I like the steel look myself, you'll probably never catch me with slotted mags or anything on a work truck like mine.

[flyingtim01]

And I put a Heartbeat dual exhaust on my truck. It was cheap, fit well, and didn't require my truck to be laid up at an exhaust shop for a week. You can choose for the quieter turbo mufflers or step up to the glasspacks if you don't like your neighbors. Shop around though, LMC isn't the only vendor that sells it. Get the right PN off the Heartbeat site and google it. I think I found mine at a place online that sold more cold air intakes for Civics than anything, but they were offering free shipping. Done and done, as far as I'm concerned.

[Stocker]

If you decide to convert to duals with minimal cost, just dump behind the mufflers ahead of the rear axle..... not only saves the expense of going over the axle, but also eliminates the pipe that rusts out first.

[c10/c20]

hey thanks guys... i think i'll just run my single pipe with an "obnoxious" muffler for now. As for the wheels I think i'll go to the yard. Pictures later tonight.