Piecing together a stock-ish exhaust.

[Jimal]

Okay, I'm fed up with my exhaust system. Right now I have 2.5" duals that start with stock 2' rams horns and end at a set of fabricated Thrush mufflers I installed last summer. Its loud, it smells, it leaks, it doesn't fit quite right, and unless I invest in headers or Corvette manifolds isn't going to breathe all that well. And besides my basically stock, low-compression 400 doesn't need the breathing that headers and duals provide.

So now I've set out to put together a stock-ish exhaust system. My truck very obviously isn't a restoration project, so I'm not concerned with it looking original. To that end I'm starting with the Walker Exhaust catalog.



Based on what part numbers are listed, only some pieces are still made. While the muffler, tailpipe (if I go that route), gaskets and hangers seem to be generally available, the midpipe doesn't seem to be made anymore, and the y-pipe isn't currently in stock anywhere...

Then I found a place that claims to have four of the y-pipes in stock.

https://autoplicity.com/188558-walke...dividual-bends

I took a flyer and ordered one, but I'm expecting it to either not actually be in stock, or be something unexpected. What I did find interesting is that they use the same y-pipe on full-size sedans of the era. The Walker P/N 42087, crosses over to a '63 Impala sedan with the 283.

If a y-pipe shows up in a few days, I'll start ordering the other components, get everything installed (or at least mocked up) and bring it to a local muffler shop to have a midpipe bent up. Unless someone can point me toward a source for that component.

[Palf70Step]

Your exhaust problems drive me crazy too, but couple of things to see first maybe.

The loud, could be mellowed by full tailpipes. I am assuming you are just dumping down after the muffler. This also can attribute to the smell.

Also where are your mufflers? Under the cab or back by the axle?

Do you know where it is leaking at? You might just have a bad doughnut or maybe a bad seal on the exhaust manifold to the head.

You may just need to tweak what you have a bit, rather than going with the entire redo.

[61K10]

I did the same for mine. (had to mod the y-pipe because of my pto drive shaft) got the muffler from summit. copy of the org and much cheaper.

[Jimal]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Your exhaust problems drive me crazy too, but couple of things to see first maybe.

The loud, could be mellowed by full tailpipes. I am assuming you are just dumping down after the muffler. This also can attribute to the smell.

Also where are your mufflers? Under the cab or back by the axle?

Do you know where it is leaking at? You might just have a bad doughnut or maybe a bad seal on the exhaust manifold to the head.

You may just need to tweak what you have a bit, rather than going with the entire redo.

I've come to this after troubleshooting and tinkering and banging my head against things under the truck while trying to make what I have work.



I'm not sure where the PO sourced the exhaust system, but the headpipes are a compromise with the smaller rams horn manifolds. They are also clamped together mid-stream, and since the whole thing was poorly planned, those joints move and leak. I welded one of the joints together, but due to poor alignment on my part, the mufflers now point in slightly different directions. The mufflers in the picture had turn downs that helped a bit, but I tried a different set of mufflers in order to make the outlets symmetrical. Finally, I've priced out having tailpipes bent up for the existing system, and I can do this entire new system - that is designed for the truck - for a fraction of the cost, even including having a headpipe made up if I can't source one somewhere.

[Jimal]

QUICK UPDATE

As I suspected, Autoplicity was too good to be true. Despite their claims of having four y-pipes in inventory, I received an email saying, "Unfortunately, we found out today that the item you ordered has an estimated back order time period of 4-6 weeks, but please note that this is only an estimate and, as such, it is subject to change."

So, that leaves me with two somewhat separate options. I already ordered a pair of turn downs from Jeg's that I will install on the existing mufflers when they arrive today. Longer term, I'm going to save up my nickels and purchase a complete system from Waldron in the spring. Their listings are a bit murky, but I from what I can tell right now, what they have will work.

[shp4man]

My truck's a six cylinder, but I just finished replacing the exhaust system with Walker parts. They have a header pipe, a selection of mufflers and a tailpipe, but there's no intermediate pipe to go from the back of the muffler to the tailpipe. Had to make that one.
The tailpipe fit nicely and looks stock with the pipe coming out just behind the left rear tire.
I like the sound of it, too. went with a SoundFX muffler, sounds like the trucks I remember as a kid.
A total of about $150 into it. No labor.

[Jimal]

Originally Posted by shp4man

My truck's a six cylinder, but I just finished replacing the exhaust system with Walker parts. They have a header pipe, a selection of mufflers and a tailpipe, but there's no intermediate pipe to go from the back of the muffler to the tailpipe. Had to make that one.
The tailpipe fit nicely and looks stock with the pipe coming out just behind the left rear tire.
I like the sound of it, too. went with a SoundFX muffler, sounds like the trucks I remember as a kid.
A total of about $150 into it. No labor.

All Walker offers (or at least currently carries) for V8 models is the muffler, flanges, gaskets, and hardware.

[Jimal]

While I'm waiting for the warmer weather (and to pay off the holidays) before I invest in a new exhaust system, I've been tinkering with my existing exhaust. I added turndowns, and replaced one of the exhaust hangers to try and get the mufflers to line up better.





Better than it was, but I bought the wrong type of exhaust hanger for my needs. If I can get these looking a bit more symmetrical, I might just stick with what I have and add tailpipes.

Work continues.