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Sidepipes
I have a few questions about the sidepipe installation.
What is the general distance from the body to the sidepipe? Do the sidepipes install all the way to the header spring retainer clips? Has anyone had to shorten the sidepipes to get closer to the body so as to not be held back by the header spring clips? How is the bracket attached to the frame to support the discharge end of the sidepipe. Drill & tap or thru-bolt. How much clearance should there be around the pipes as they exit the body cutout. Thanks guys. |
I have a midstates and my sidepipes are about 1.5 inches from body.Car is 10 years old and paint in that area still looks new.
The exhaust end is attached by drilling and tapping the hole. It does't vibrate. I didn't have to cut the pipes at all. They should be the right length if they are for your car.My pipes clear the exit hole in the body by about .5 to .75 inches. Good luck!! |
If your pipes slide all the way to the spring retainer clips you have way to loose of fit. Get the header pipes expanded to take up the slop or you will have an exhaust leak. Look at your frame, you will see a place where a piece of flat bar has been overlayed on the frame. Support your side pipe after connecting to headers and determine where the brackets holes need to be drilled. Drill and tap the holes, you will drill through the overlayed flat bar and frame. I made some 3/8" spacer to go between the bracket and frame so the pipe set level. It is obvious once you get into it.
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Jeffko,
Ditto on what BDRCobra suggested on mounting and expanding. I used a different way to space my pipes from the frame than BDRCobra did. I heated and flattened the bend on the sidepipe mount and drilled a hole in the end of that and the frame bracket. I cut the rubber insulator strap from a universal exhaust pipe hanger for my spacers. Grade 8 bolts with crown lock nuts for mounting hardware. Drill & Tap frame. You may have to have someone help you pull the side pipes away from the body and use vice grips to clamp the assembly in place for measurement before drilling. Like BDRCobra said it is obvious once you get into it. I have attached a pic of the parts laid out that I used. The round insulator on the left is what BDR supplied, did not use. I ended up using 2 rubber insulators per side to level my pipes. There are some other close-up shots of my pipes before and after install in my gallery. Hope this helps. |
Congratulations on your win car show Secret Squirrell. How did you modify your licence plate to lay flat? Mine lays on top of the trunk handle. I am sure in Texas the licence plates are the same size as CA.
Thanks for any suggestions. |
BDRCobra,
Thanks on the congrats. Re: License Plate Modification I removed the light and bracket from the trunk and elongated the 2 holes in the fiberglass, so the whole assembly mounts higher. I bent the bracket a little more and re-drilled the plate holes, so it would make the plate set higher too. I also used a smaller license plate frame that hugs the bottom edge of the license plate itself. There is a larger plate frame that sets well below the lip of the plate, If you have one, you will know what I mean, it won't work. I then used a dremel tool to grind away some frame material to form an arch shape to rest on the trunk handle bezel. I didn't have to grind the license plate itself, just the frame. If you don't use a plate frame, the plate will fit as is. I used a stainless steel security license plate bolt kit from the autoparts store and mounted them from behind, cut them down a bit and put the nylock nuts on the outside. You will notice that there is very little clearance between the bolt heads and trunk surface, mount the plate before attaching the whole assembly to trunk. Very close clearance between handle and plate, so watch your fingers when opening and closing your trunk. |
Mounting the side pipes is probably the one thing that will drive you crazy until you get into it. You may want to trim the headers or sidepipes to get them to slide in far enough. Don't do it until you see how the header tubes line up. I trimmed both the headers and the pipes, and boy am I sorry. I have leaks that I can't get rid of. There are two major problems that need to be addressed to get a great fit. (1) the header tubes need to be expanded some, and (2) the header tubes are rarely parallel to the side pipes, so you may want to cut the headers into two pieces for each side. This will give you more flexability in inserting the headers, especially after they are expanded some. My mistake was thinking the headers and sidepipes were both too long, and that's why they wouldn't slip far enough. The real reason was that one tube from each side of the header was not parallel to the sidepipe openings. That prevented them from inserting the proper amount. Don't be afraid to trim the header some if needed, just don't get carried away like I did, or you won't have enough overlap.
As for the hangers on the frame, if you know anyone that can weld, it is easier to weld the T bracket to the frame in my opinion. Good luck. |
Lots of great suggestions guys. I like the way SS mounted the side pipes by flattening the side pipe bracket. Seems like a nice positive attachment.
My specific problem is when the pipes are 1.5" from the spring loop on the headers I have 2.25 to the center of the frame for the frame bracket. It appears I need to cut .75" from my side pipes. I also want to keep the pipes about 1" to 1.5" from the car. I really do not want to cut the pipes, but it seems I must. I had good luck with getting the pipes on. I had a friend take a cheater bar and pull the header pipes into place while I used some 3/16" alan wrenches and a big hose clamp to square everything up. Once I get everything prefitted I will back the pipes off by 1" and use some stainless steel putty to seal with. This stuff is good for 2000 degrees and is kinda like jb-weld for extreme temps. I think I am going to do another prefit to measure for the SS method. I don't have my tags yet, but I also noticed I would have a problem there also. |
Anybody have closeup pictures of pipes exiting body and gap between body and pipes?
Thanks, Jeff |
Would like to know if anyone has run across this problem. Passenger side pipe runs perfectly parallel to the body all the way down the side. Drivers side however runs straight but actually flares out at the end. Distance at body exit hole is about 1.5", at the end its more like 2" - 2.5". Some have said to take it for a long drive on a hot day and then try to jack it back into place and leave it like this till it cools and it should stay that way.
Any suggestions? |
Hey SS,
Nice ride! Jeff, You going to be working on this tomorrow? I'm free all day. Call me. Sid |
You guys are not going to believe this but my so-called better half threw away the box that had my isolators for the sipe pipes. Are these an item that can be purchades at napa or any muffler shop?
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I think Pep Boys may stock them in the exhaust aisle. Take the picture above as a reference. Napa should have them if Pep Boys do not.
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Well here's the poop on the side pipe install. I had the shop cut 1" off off the sidepipes and moved the spring retainer loop back 1.5". Now the pipes are about 1" from the car. The passenger side was able to use the opposing hanger bracket to the side pipe bracket provided by BDR. Not true for the driverside, it is a little bit angled. That bracker needs to be about .5" longer. I called Reg last Monday and he was going to send me a new bracket on Tuesday.
I used the Centronics 2000 degree putty on the pipe to header gaps and so far so good. It has not blown out or deteriorated and ther are no leaks. I have read lots of guys using different methods without total success. This stuff seems to have done it. Also, I would suggest adding a bolt to the middle of the bracket that bolts to the frame. I used a 2" long .375" bolt with a piece of .375 ID hose to keep the side pipe from advancing towards the body of the car. It is just good insurance towards hitting a hard bump, heat flexing, vibration or whatever else would cause the pipe to rub the body. The little tabs that are welde to the side pipe bracket will work if the pipes try to move more than an 1" ot so, but that will never happen because odds are it will hits your car before that. Jeff |
Jeff,
That is an interesting approach. Do you have an photos of your changes? Thanks |
BTW we combined the stock setup with the excellent engineering on this forum to come up with this setup today:
http://www.vintage-motorsports.com/a.../aab.sized.jpg http://www.vintage-motorsports.com/a.../aaa.sized.jpg |
Assuming your lines slide the entire way to the spring retainer cuts you have an excessively free of a fit. Get the header pipes extended to take up the slop or you will have an exhaust spill. Check out your edge, you will see where a piece of the level bar has been overlayed on the edge.
Support your sideline subsequent to interfacing with headers and figure out where the openings of the sections should be penetrated. Drill and tap the openings, you will bore through the overlayed level bar and casing. I made approximately 3/8" spacer to go between the section and casing so the line set level. It is clear once you get into it. lag ja gale lyrics breathless lyrics |
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