Barry and all others re sidepipes vs chambered exhaust

[ZRGator]

Barry,
We will have a long discussion ay Carlisle re your exhaust manifold treatment and the battle I'm having with my inner-child on side pipes vs under the car chambered exhaust. As you may remember, my car has ss under the car but a previous owner welded all the connectrions together. Tony says it'll be a bear when I need to drop the rear out for a rebuild, so I'm debating the side pipe thing again. If I go side pipes, I'll need the correct fiberglass rear valence and a good painter to match whatever the heck it is I have on my car. Chambered exhaust would keep me more stock and original looking and I hope to find either set on sale at Carlisle.

 

[BarryK]

Dennis

two questions come to mind.
1. are you going to have the car judged thru NCRS?
2. what type system do YOU want on the car?

my car is not factory installed sidepipes as far as I know - I believe they were added by a PO but I love sidepipes on midyears and would have added them even if the car came without (same as I will be adding KO's when I have the extra cash).
Since I don't go thru NCRS judging with my car it's more important to me to have the car the way I enjoy it but if you wantto do NCRS the sidepipes will kill a lot of points for you. I think you will lose 100% in that catagory.
I don't think getting a replacememt rear valaence should be difficult if you decide to change the system although matching older paint may not be the most fun.
Your name is on the car's title so I'd say go with whatever system you prefer.
oh.....one last point. The sound from sidepipes tend s to get very loud, especially in the coupes. On my car I also have 4:11 rear gears so during highway driving the revs are pretty high (around 4000 rpm if I remember) at 60mph and my ears start ringing after about 1 1/2 hours driving time so that may be another factor for you to consider.

just my $.02

the manifold treatment I used was from Paul79. It was a Dry Graphite Lubricant in an aerosol can that I sprays a little in a cup than painted it on with a small brush. It has a lot of propane, isobutane, acetone, butanol, and isoproanol in it along with the actual lubricant. This allows it to dry VERY quickly after you brush it on - less than a minute.
It goes on almost black but than dries down the dark gray you see. It's a lot darker than a stock cast manifold but as mentioned, it looks better than rust.
It took all of about 20 minutes to do both manifolds.
The can of Dry Graphite I used is from NAPA and is called NAPA dgf 123.

 

[sagnoff]

Barry-

my car came with factory sidepipes and I have replaced them with stainless from Allen. My wife really hates how loud the car is and I am thinking about welding in a small muffler. Has anyone come up with a better solution? (without dumping the wife)

 

[BarryK]

Barry-

my car came with factory sidepipes and I have replaced them with stainless from Allen. My wife really hates how loud the car is and I am thinking about welding in a small muffler. Has anyone come up with a better solution? (without dumping the wife)

I STILL can't believe this, but my wife can actually SLEEP in the car when i'm driving. Last year she feel asleep both while driving to Carlisle and also on the drive back home. By the time we made it home (and NOT at 60mph either - I was racing a huge storm so I could get home before it hit us as the car leaks like a sieve) my ears were ringing but I had to wake her up after we pulled into the garage and she said "what a relaxing ride home" :eyerole
The sound doesn't bother her very much at all - her only complaint is the gas fumes she gets all over her clothing when in the car.

here is a pic of one of my sidepeipes without the cover on. I don't know if they are true original type pipes or aftermarket units.

 

[Grizzly]

I think the rear gears have a lot to do with being able to stand side pipes. My 67 coupe has 3.08's so it is a good cruiser and doesn't make a lot of noise until you stand on it.

I'm with some others, if the coupe wouldn't have had them on when I bought it, by the end of the first week they would have been on. They are part of the mid year mystique. Under the car chambered just don't cut it.

What'd you say...........................................?

 

[BarryK]

What'd you say...........................................?

huh? what? sorry, I can't hear you over my sidepipes.

actually, having the loud sidepipes made life slightly easier on me so far. Since the radio is absolutely useless when the car is running I'm in no rush to get it fixed so i'm saving money.

 

[Lucy64]

I went with the under car chambered system from Mid America about 6 months ago. My wife and I love it, but it is very loud. They advertise this system as the same sound as the side pipes, but this system is MUCH louder. I love the look of the side pipes bu I didn't want to have to replace and paint the rear exits. I am very happy with my decision...it still has a stock look with a much more radical sound.

 

[tigernut]

I also went with the Mid-America chambered exhaust system and ceramic coated headers for my new 383.

I also think it similar in decibels to a stock side exhaust, having heard several over the years.

I love the system and would install it again. It is pretty darn loud when you open up the secondaries, but running 1-2k rpm it is not real bad at all.

Grizzly is right in that rear end gearing has an effect, as lower gears raise the rpm level and hence the noise.

I have 3.36 gears in mine so it is no big deal.

I especially like to go under the highway overpass near the house in second gear and nail it.

Doug

 

[youwish2bme]

Just a FYI... If you don't like loud... Don't get the Allen's SS side pipes.. Now I like loud and they are just fine by me... However my dad road with me up to DC for a 3 hr ride... I have 3:70's and a 5 spd and he still thought they were to loud... This comming from a man that too owns a 327 4 spd side pipe vette... His are GM pipes from about 15 years ago though.. MUCH more mello.... I've been told the Allen's aluminized are a little more mello than the SS.... Just a FYI.... Dave..

 

[midyear]

I had the allens aluminized on my 67 coupe and GM on my 67 convert, no comparison. I could not stand to ride in my coupe for more then short around town type driving. (Realize that I have put over 100K miles on my roadster with GM pipes) I finaly broke down and put GM pipes on my coupe. less power but much better drivability. Just put chambered undercar on a 77 with a 383 and headers...very nice inside, very LOUD outside. just my .02...

 

[Mikey1]

Think on that if you are driving a roadster with the chambered it will be much louder than the pipes as the wind drives the noise away whilst driving but the sound of the tailpipes will be blown into the car whilst driving.

My 64 is equipped with NOS GM pipes since some 15 years and I love the sound.