1980 Exhaust Kit?

[AmericanSavage]

Hi everyone,

I am back.  Been working on the Harley, and then some other small projects as well as getting the new land cleared.  

So I have been thinking:  one of these days I am going to remove the exhaust manifolds to get at the freeze plugs I have not replaced. I was going to buy a kit, and put on some deep exhaust, flowmasters or something and change to a dual exhaust.  Figured that would be the right time to do it…all at once.  

The only kit I see is this one:  https://www.summitracing.com/parts/wlk-89016

Advice any one?  I do not even know if this will fit, though they say it will.  

Yes, I can cut and weld (well I can weld, I did not say how well I can do that!).

Hope all is well. Looking forward to the move to another website here.

Cheers!

[85lebaront2]

I personally would find a good exhaust shop and let them do it for you. The only time I did my own was on a 1970 1/2 Falcon station wagon. It was a 302 2 barrel originally, I put a pair of 1965 289 4 barrel heads on it, 351W exhaust manifolds and ordered the H pipe for a 1969 Torino 351 4 barrel, remainder of the system including hangers, for a 1970 Torino with a 351C 4 barrel. Other than having to squeeze the H pipe in a bit to fit the narrower 302, it was a bolt on.

One item to consider, if you have the front gas tank, it is in the way of a left side pipe, rear tank only, no problem.

[mat in tn]

depending on the shop I agree with getting it done. but how do you know a good shop from a bad one?? I have paid 1200 for a so-so system that rusted out in five years, and I have had awesome systems built for under six hundred on trucks that demanded good fit and clean welds. even the shop that I took everything to in mid Tenn changed with the staff. then I started doing my own and have for years now. but it is not for everyone and welds matter.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I'm embarrassed by the boogers and spatter under my truck, but at least I own it.
I'm not about to pay a shop for work like that.
But, they didn't want to do what I wanted, so I guess it turned out okay!  

[mat in tn]

usually, I'm doing something that the shop would not want to do because they do it "their way". I had a great shop in Tenn. the owner made all of his bends with a stiff wire and handed it to his assistant to bend the pipe on the mandrel bender then move on to the next piece. he was a craftsman, and his welds were show quality. I went nowhere else till he got too busy to do each and his staff was good but not as good. I was able to stand at the door and say if I liked it or not and he got me every time. now it takes me three days to do as good as he did in 45 minutes. but I do like saying I did it.

[viven44]

I did the exhaust on my 78 bronco fully custom. I didn't care about appearance. I bought all the exhaust tubing at O'Reilly. I had ordered a whole bunch of 20 degree/45 degree/90 degree bends online for store pickup and pieced it together. I installed a cup/flange disconnect (combination of Walker Exhaust 41723/41726) in the middle so it can be easily removed and installed. Walker 41726 also tied into my 460 manifold with small modifications.

If you don't care about appearance and can lay down a nice weld without gaps or burning though, you can do it. I have this welder which has served me well....

https://www.harborfreight.com/easy-flux-125-amp-welder-56355.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Flex_Engage&utm_campaign=Store_Order_Confirmation

Doing it myself, I was able to position the exhaust tubing such that oil pan removal was easy, away from trans pan, oil pan, etc etc... but the downsides are it took me a very long time to put it all together and I went through a couple of rounds to optimize the tail pipe clearance between differential/body. Without a tubing bender, all you are left to do is cutting and welding... It will look like it was pieced together

[mat in tn]

nothing wrong with pieced together if pieced well

[85lebaront2]

Auto Muffler King in Newport News VA, now in the 4th generation of the same family, they have done almost all of my exhaust work for mine and customer's cars. Unless I ask for something not legal (which I wouldn't) they will build it for me. Best one was a dual 2.5" system on a 1958 Country Squire with an ex-Nascar .030 over 430 MEL engine and a single coupling Hydra-Matic.

Car was being built to run the Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea memorial trophy dash. 2.69:1 rear, Michelin 235/75R15 tires, 1973 LTD front disc brakes, and we were working on extra fuel tanks. I had installed a Lincoln Continental hydraulic wiper motor. I was working a torque mount for the engine as it would pop the oil filler cap off the fill tube against the battery.

[mat in tn]

that sounds like a very interesting build

[ArdWrknTrk]

I own one of those little green lunchbox welders.  
I bought it to weld a guard rail from the basket of a 65' boom lift. (Can't use my MIG up there in the wind and the stick welder draws too much for the receptacle in the basket)

It's a handy little thing!  

[AmericanSavage]

On welding, I had one of those flux welders, and got so tired of it, I splurged for a Lincoln Mig/tig/rod welder so I could use gas for mig instead of flux, and man does the gas make a HUGE difference.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Yep.
No spatter. No soot/flux to brush off of tacks or between passes.
The only problem is working outside where the slightest breeze will blow away your shielding.

[viven44]

Yes that capability would be nice. I did burn through a couple of times on the muffler with thin metal and had this big hole I had to try to fill up. I got everything filled up though. No exhaust leaks anywhere. It is functional, and definitely not as ugly as the first ones I did a few years ago on a 2007 Toyota Solara for a friend. Those V6s had this downpipe with a flex section that rotted 100% of the time even down south here and would sound like an angry bumble bee.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I understand exactly.

My brother's V-6 Altima, I've done twice.
Told him there will not be a third time, because there's nothing left to weld to.

[85lebaront2]

Mat, unfortunately, when my father sold the shop out from under me, I had to move the car. I had found a "friend" who owned a shop in Hampton (city adjacent to Newport News) who had a fenced storage lot. I went down a month later to check the antifreeze strength, he, the storage lot and the car were gone.

I never found it, although someone later told me he saw a 1958 Country Squire in a junkyard outside Langley AFB's West gate, he said it appeared to have some interior modifications and had several rolls of the replacement wood grain inside. By the time I heard this, the yard had been closed to allow LAFB's runway to be extended.

It would have been a fun ride, playing around in our parking lot, I found it would go about 1 car length and then light up the rear tires. Normal late 50s 430 idle speed was 450 rpm, that engine would stumble on throttle opening below 650 rpm. Bucket lifters for reduced weight, used FE adjustable rockers on the MEL shafts, ported and polished 1958 heads (largest valves), pop-up pistons for probably 11:1 compression. Oil pan had a pair of side extensions with trap door baffles. When I got the engine it came with headers that must have been for a 58 or 59 T-bird and an Algon injection system.