I recently purchased a flowmaster exhaust kit for my 70 chevelle. I fit everything up and followed the directions to a T. Everything looks very good except there is very, very little clearance between the H pipe and the driveshaft. Anyone else have this problem? What should the clearance be? What did you do to rectify the issue? Or will this never be an issue when driving?

how close is it? if there's more than 1/4" of clearance throughout the suspension travel, then don't worry about it.

It's close to the transmission end right? If the tail shaft end moves you have more problems than being too close!

My flowmaster h-pipe was really close to the d-shaft as well. After I bolted it all together, I took it to a shop to have it all welded up. I had t he guys there help me with the h-pipe too..... heated it up in the center and squeezed it a bit with a giant pair of channel locks to pick up a little more clearance. The pipe was harder to squish than I thought it would be, and didn't get as much additional clearance as I'd hoped.

That said, the d-shaft is still pretty close to the h-pipe..... but I've never had them touch. So I guess the clkearance is good enough!

You can chech it your self a bit at different suspension travel, if it doesn't touch, you probably won't have any issues. But if the engine/trans and pipes move around a little, there's a slight chance they'll rub. I'd chekc it with a jack, and let the suspension hang at full droop, and if it's clear, go with it. If it rubs later, fix it then. :)

Here's a couple pics.... . not great, but you can see it's close:
http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/Resized_IMG_0947.jpg
http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/Resized_IMG_0949.jpg

cross ur fingers and hope it is enough

I know what you're concern is. The one on my 67 is super close also, about 1/8" but it never hits. I'd know cuz my d-shaft is painted and it would show it. Guess it works fine that way.

/h

Thanks for the replies so far. I would say I have about 1/8 to 1/4 clearance. I haven't checked the full travel. Will try that over the weekend. IF anyone else has a reply, please continue to share your ideas or personal experience.

Mine is kind of close too but I had an exhaust shop move it out when they welded it up.

Izzat with the car on the ground or with the rear suspension hanging? You will probably gain a little on the ground. I had a new driveshaft built when I put in the Gear Vendors unit, with 1350 universals, which sat right over (and hit) the H pipe. Took a Ferd wrench (aka BMF hammer) and massaged it a little. It was pretty easy to get a 1/4 inch or so clearance if you need to do this.
John