Exhaust HELP!

[sapple89]

I am in the finishing stages of my 52 3100!!!!!!!!!! wahooo Almost time to get in the driver seat.

For those of you who may not know, my truck is a 1952 Body, with a 454 (.30 over), air ride suspension, power windows, power/heated seats + a few other bells and whistles. (built to be a daily driver)

Questions:

What kind of exhaust/muffler do you recommend?

How difficult is it to fabricate?
What will I need to fabricate it? (2.5" tube and a pipe bender?)

How much SHOULD it cost if I just hand it off to a muffler shop?

[63 & 64 Bowties]

I just noticed today that you had posted this in the Pre-47 forum. I moved it for ya, and here's a free bump.

[_Ogre]

imo the pre-47 forum should be combine over here. poor guys don't get much traffic over there

for your exhaust; a muffler shop will crush bend exhaust tubing
you'd be better off buying bends from summit or a local supply house and fabricating your own mandrel bent exhaust.

crush bent on the left vs mandrel bent on the right



straight cut your tubing with a cut off wheel in a grinder or a sawzall and butt weld the joints.
our shop has a mandrel bender and the one off custom exhaust systems are done this way.

this is a set of headers tacked up ready to weld; dynacorn 69 mustang with coyote motor
our bender only has 2.5'' and 3'' bending dies so we bought these bends

[BlueJeep]

I agree with ogre, you probably care more about what it looks like than someone at a normal exhaust shop anyway. I'm doing my own with U-bends from summit and tubing.

[Speedbumpauto]

Same as above. I made mine out of 90 and 180 degree mandrel bends and straight tubing. did it all with a band saw, disc sander, sharpie, masking tape, mig welder and a grinder. A shop will want upwards of $500 for a decent job and not many of them are decent. The hot rod shop in my town stocks the bends but Summit has them and they're pretty cheap on E bay. I have a big block and used 2 1/2" for the over the axle muffled pipe and 3 1/2 for the cutout side. I had the coating done afterwards. You might amaze yourself with a little cuttin and hackin and grindin.

[mr48chev]

I've tried it both ways and found that trying to do it myself with all new pieces cost pretty close to the same as having it done.

At one time I worked in a Midas muffler shop for the best guy at doing exhaust work I have ever seen. His ho hum jobs equaled most guys show jobs and I never got close to what he could do on my best days.

Usually there is a go to guy in most regions who does superb custom exhaust work for the hot rod and custom rig guys in the area. You might have to pay a bit more but you get what you pay for and don't end up with a pieced together exhaust system with 50 welded seams in it.

Scope down this listing http://www.summitracing.com/search/p...rel%20Bendsand start figuring out how many bends you need at 20 bucks a bend on the average and how long it is going to take to cut and fit all of those bends together.

[BlueJeep]

Here's what I spent on mine:

2 - 2.5" U bends $18.97 x 2 http://www.summitracing.com/parts/wlk-42322/overview/

2 - 3" U bends $27.97 x 2 http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-622004/overview/

2.5" exhaust tubing (bought 2 but only used 1) $13.97 http://www.summitracing.com/parts/su...25-1/overview/

3" exhaust tubing (again bought 2 used 1) $16.97 http://www.summitracing.com/parts/su...30-1/overview/

Y pipe $30.89 http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mpe-10778/overview/

I also picked up a used muffler off a 2012 Silverado on craigslist for $25. I did use one clamp at $6.97. That leaves me with a grand total for my exhaust of $187.68. I used exhaust hangars off an s10 because that's what my frame is, and I didn't include what I paid for exhaust manifolds because everybody will have their own preference there.

[Speedbumpauto]

If you've found that guy, Mr48, you're lucky. I've seen way too much plumbers tape and sheetmetal screws in the floorboards, let alone pipes that aren't parallel, and I don't care if they are under the car and no one will see them + things like tips that aren't even level and square where you CAN see them. I too don't like the weld joints but I do like the mandrel bends. I'll do the coating to minimize the corrosion and for looks, even under the car where no body will see but as I get older, I, too, would like to find THAT guy.

[59stepside]

Speed bump, you have a build thread? Your work looks great. I to will be building my own exhaust when that time comes. I found if you have any kind of skill set it's usually always better to build it yourself and have it done the way you want. Other than that your paying someone to do what they want to your truck.

And how are you going to control your cutouts? Are they electric or manual underneath, or ?

[vht]

Ck first and see if you can find someone good, that takes pride in his work and won't rob you. I found a guy to do my chevelle, 3 in. that done an amazing job for $240 and I furnished the mufflers. We've got some other people trying to do exh around here that I wouldn't let put a muffler on my old work car.

[Angryman117]

C5 manifolds and front exhaust (slightly modified) to flow masters, the back is the old dual exhaust from my 96 Chevy also (slightly modified).

[Stepside Jim]

Just one more variation to look at.

[59stepside]

That is not just exhaust, that is art! Fantastic job.

[Speedbumpauto]

Gotta say, Jim, that idea didn't show up in my brain when planning my cutouts. Neat idea. My electronic cutouts open side exit at scalloped running boards like yours but the quiet side goes to the rear. Jim, I don't have a build thread, but most of what I did is what everybody else in the pro mod/street category did, some of it a little bit more over the top. Thx for the kind words.

[Stepside Jim]

Originally Posted by 59stepside

That is not just exhaust, that is art! Fantastic job.

I thank you, and I have to agree with what Speedbumpauto mentioned about just working with simple hand tools.

I also worked with a cut off wheels, 4 1/2" flap discs, mig welder, ect, oh and one other thing....patience.

One key thing is to cut short when cutting pipe, you can always remove more later. I took a picture of much of the scraps I had when done.


Good luck with yours 59stepside, I figure this is the time to be as creative as I can, the project is taking longer than I wanted, but, I am much more pleased with the outcome.

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by Stepside Jim

One key thing is to cut short when cutting pipe, you can always remove more later.

i have a welder; i can also add more...
measure once, cut twice?

[59stepside]

What type of coating are you guys using?

[Speedbumpauto]

If it's in the budget, get ceramic. It comes in a few colors and is applied like powder coat. Has to be cured at about 800 degrees so it takes a powerful oven that has enough space to hold the parts. The shiney stuff like I used is tumble polished and the company can only machine polish a 5 foot piece. Longer or wider stuff has to be hand polished and they charge more for that. To give you an idea of cost, my system cost about $470 to be done. The flat colors that don't need polish are cheaper, but not a lot. It's very durable and holds in heat, so it helps when you have to route pipes close to master cylinders or fuel tanks.

[_Ogre]

or go balls out and make it out of 304 stainless

[59stepside]

Ok, I will start saving now for the material and a stainless welder!

I think I will just use a coating