I'm just off the phone with Ground Up Restoration and they no longer carry Aluminized Exhaust systems. I checked all of my catalogs with no luck
finding a new source. Does anyone know of a source for aluminized systems?

Wayne

Any decent muffler shop can custom bend an aluminumized pipe system.
Cheaper, too (no shipping costs)! graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Wayne, if not aluminized then what are they carrying, stainless? I know they wanted a ton of dough for their systems that were aluminized (very nice), so I can only imagine what they want now if they're only offering stainless.

Mike

I paid 250.00 at a local shop aluminized stock mufflers

Flowmaster makes an excellent fitting,mandrel bent aluminized system for $200 w/o mufflers.

Anybody have any experience with Summit's kits? They have a 2.25" kit (SUM-680120) that I'm considering. I want smaller pipes than 2.5 (it's a 283 driver) and this kit is only $130 including mufflers! They say it's Mandrel-bent and aluminized.

Reid

Ground UP does not offer any type of exhaust parts
for now. They hope to have a vendor by late summer.

Wayne

Gardner Exhaust has some fine products.

http://www.gardnerexhaust.com/

Originally posted by mr 4 speed:
Flowmaster makes an excellent fitting,mandrel bent aluminized system for $200 w/o mufflers. Ditto. Mine fits great. For the money, you can't beat it.

Thanks to everyone for the help

Wayne
66 SS 396

I had bought the Summit #680120 header-back exhaust kit a while ago, but I'm just now getting around to installing it.

I'm having a little difficulty getting the over-the-axle bent pipes to fit in a manner that will allow the tailpipes to clear the tires.

But I must say, all in all, a VERY complete kit.

All the bends are smooth, no dings in the pipes or flatened out pipe openings (I hate that...). All the clamps, hangers, nuts & bolts and gaskets are there.

I'm satisfied with the quality of the kit. At 130 US, It's pretty cheap for the amount of stuff included.

I would very much appreciate a few pics of an installed system, taken from under the rear of the car if anyone has them. It may just save me from having to modify these new pipes to fit.

Don,if you do a search in the performance forum,you'll find some pics of an installed system..maybe about 2 months ago..

Originally posted by 19_Chevelle_69:
I had bought the Summit #680120 header-back exhaust kit [...] I'm having a little difficulty getting the over-the-axle bent pipes to fit in a manner that will allow the tailpipes to clear the tires.[...] But I must say, all in all, a VERY complete kit.[...] I'm satisfied with the quality of the kit. At 130 US, It's pretty cheap for the amount of stuff included.
I've got one of those on its way to me right now, so this is *very* ncouraging news, thanks! Did you find anything about the country of origin (*gulp* not China I hope) on or in the packaging?

I'm planning to hang Thrush glasspacks (also bought from Summit, for a whopping $16 each!) under the trunk as tailpipe mufflers, with a piece of chrome pipe in the end for finish. Since I plan to paint the car purple eventually, I'll probably change the bright red of the Thrushes. smile.gif

I also got a set of Dynomax Ceramic coated headers for $230. All-in, a whole new dual exhaust including headers for $417 to my door. I love this country!

Reid

do a search in the performance forum,you'll find some pics of an installed system..maybe about 2 months ago..Thanks for the tip, I'll look there. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Did you find anything about the country of origin (*gulp* not China I hope) Sorry, the system was picked up at the Summit store in Ohio. My wife was down there anyway, so she stopped by and got it for me. Saved me a PILE of $$, not having to get it shipped to Canada. They picked it up in a Chevy Tracker, so the pipes had to be removed from the boxes to fit in the car with 4 adults... :D

The muffler boxes say High Output Turbo mufflers....IMCO mfg, Made in the U.S.A. on them.

From what I've heard, the tailpipes are extra long, and will stick out quite a bit under the bumper. This allows you to trim them as you wish. (shorter, longer stickout, flat cut, or angled.)

After it's all on and working, I'll probably cut of 18-20" and install a chrome or polished stainless pipe to the rear.

I searched back 100 days with no pics found. Holy smokes there's a pile of exhaust threads!

My request for pics still stands, any help would be appreciated.

T.I.A.

My Summit exhaust arrived. It's the 680120 kit. I haven't yet tried to fit anything to the car, but I've assmebled it and laid it out in the driveway with the new headers and it looks great. :D

As I said, I haven't tried to fit anything to the car yet, but the overall quality seems good and the mufflers and pipe both say "made in the USA" on them. I'm impressed that Summit can sell a kit like this for $130. We'll see if I still like it after I try to install it, but I'm encouraged.

Reid

Good to hear! graemlins/thumbsup.gif

I haven't even had the time to fiddle around with mine yet. I've been too busy getting driveshaft measurements and hooking up the ProMatic shifter, along with a multitude of little stuff that keeps nagging at me :D .

Please keep me posted on your progress...

Originally posted by Rabbit:
My Summit exhaust arrived. It's the 680120 kit. I haven't yet tried to fit anything to the car, but I've assmebled it and laid it out in the driveway with the new headers and it looks great. :D

As I said, I haven't tried to fit anything to the car yet, but the overall quality seems good and the mufflers and pipe both say "made in the USA" on them. I'm impressed that Summit can sell a kit like this for $130. We'll see if I still like it after I try to install it, but I'm encouraged.

Reid Reid,
Keep us updated on the progress!!

Would it be possible to get some pics of the install to post on here?

Joe

I've already hit one little snag. I've mentioned before that I'm putting Thrush glasspacks on the tailpipes. In fact, the Thrushes pretty much are the tailpipes, which is fine, but the mufflers in the box aren't what they label says they are. It's supposed to have a 2.25" ID inlet and outlet, to match the pipes. Instead, it has a 2"! This isn't Summit's fault, it looks like a goof at the Thrush factory, but Summit said they'll remimburse me for shipping them back. So these have to go back, but I can continue with the rest of the system. Next up is the X-pipe, which is not so common in 2.25", it seems. I can get a Dr. Gas for about $90, but considering that 2.5" Flowtech units can be had for about $30, I'm reluctant to give up and pay that kind of money yet.

Reid


The headers look pretty good. I got the Dynomax

Well, it's time for an update. I'm halfway done.

I've got a wild-ass exhaust system on the car at the moment. On the right (passenger's) side, I've got Dynomax headers (1-5/8 x 3) into one half of a dual 2-1/4 all-mandrel-bent exhaust system, courtesy of Summit Racing... mostly. Just to remind you all, this is Summit's 680120 kit. I'll get to that in a bit.

On the driver's side, well... I've got the old manifold, pipes and muffler all the way back. I cut the passenger's side headpipe off of the Y connector, and capped it with... wait for it... "Muffler Mender" sealant and a 2" Copper pipe cap hammered on. (Gack!) But it works great until I can finish the job correctly (I don't have the alternator brackets that I need to use with the driver's-side headers). I even was careful to prep the copper and the old steel for best adhesion of the sealant :D

Here's a funny one: If you want to see what the tailpipes on this system look like installed, go here and watch the Flowmaster installation video for the Chevelle (http://www.flowmastermufflers.com/web10/vids2.html) . The "old" system being removed has the same rear pipe routing as this Summit system! Let me hasten to add that the Summit system has fully mandrel-bent 2.25" tubing throughout, and is therefore better quality than the 2" crunch-bent pipe in the video!

The old pipes removed at the beginning of this video unfortunately give a better idea of what to aim for than anything provided by Summit. There is one not-very-accurate drawing provided, and it takes some head-scratching to figure out just which pipes do what. Since I hadn't seen this video before I started, it took some time for me to figure out that the over-the-axle-pipes swing up inboard, close to the differential, then down, then straight outboard, then toward the back under the rear frame. Now you all know.

I put the front of the car up on Rhino Ramps (no arcade jokes!) I pulled the old system off the passenger's side, cut the pipe near the Y with a Sawzall, and capped as described above. I had to pull the plugs, starter, and engine mount bolt, and jack the engine an inch or two, as well as cut the last 1/8" or so off the tip of the rear upper control arm bolt. I had to bend the trans cooler lines away from the header, but not too much. Then the header installed from underneath without too much trouble. smile.gif The starter went back in (a full size rebuilt Delco from Kragen, not a mini!). I also got a set of Accel 8197 shorty (header) plugs. I only had to buy one new wrench to get the plugs in (a stubby 13/16 combo).

I figured out how to hang the tailpipes and muffler (Summit included a cool plastic hanger bushing that presumably isolates vibration, but they didn't give ANY pictures or instructions for it). I did drill new holes for the hangers. The muffler hanger included with the kit (a drilled L-bracket with the grommet thing) didn't really work in the stock location in any position that I could come up with (Flowmaster includes the cool OEM-style suspension-bridge type of hanger, but not Summit), so I moved it outboard near the upper control arm pivot point. I drilled another new hole for the rear hanger bolt in the outboard side of the frame extention under the trunk, at the end nearest the back seat. Again, the stock hanger location (in the underside of the frame just behind the rear axle) didn't seem to work with the pipes and hangers provided. Given these new holes, the new muffler and tailpipe fit up great, and seemed to be centered and square and even... but the headpipes were off. It looked as if it would have fit with center/offset mufflers, but they shipped offset/offset mufflers, so the headpipes ended up cocked at an angle. At this point I stepped back and reminded myself that I only paid $130 for this system (plus $230 for the headers), and asked what I might do differently. I realized that if I replaced the double-45 bend with a straight piece of tube, it would all line up! So I went off to the local muffler shop and bought 6' of 14 ga (!!) 2-1/4 tube for (gulp) $32. Oh well, it's top quality and I wasn't in a mood to shop around. After I cut a 32" piece and finished the installation with it, I had a full new exhaust on the passenger's side, and the old one on the driver's side with only half the load to bear. It sounds great but louder than I want. I don't seem to have much more power, but that may need to wait until I do the other side, AND replace the stock 2-bbl carb and intake with the 4-bbl Holley/Edelbrock combo. Right now it's probably running lean, and the timing seems to have drifted toward retardation. I'll investigate.

One thing that didn't work out is the Thrush glasspacks. They are just too long for these tailpipes. I'm going to exchange them for 18" Summit brand glasspacks. This will take the edge off the sound. Eventually I'll decide if I want a crossover of some sort.

My summary on the Summit kit is this: you get a lot for your money, but they either need to rethink their mounting or provide better directions about exactly how to use what they send. You need to be creative and be OK with figuring out a lot on your own. What I did may not have been necessary, but given what Summit sent, it seemed the simplest approach and it's working.

One question for the exhaust mavens... given that the straight pipe seems to fit up so well... why do most pipes have another double-45 bend before the muffler? Is it for clearance? Mine seems fine! Does it help reduce noise? I would think that straighter is better for exhaust performance.

I'll get some pics when I can. Talk to you all later.

Reid

Great update...Thanks!

After we had emailed privately, I went out to the garage and got to it. No real snags, but like you said, the ends of the tail pipes seem to point inwards. A little tweak here and there got them to straighted out for me. I'm using Holley Flow-Tech headers on mine, it turns out the left side header is longer than the other, so I just pushed the pipes together a little further on that side. All in all, a decent price for what you get. The illustrations provided suck, but a little thinking gets the job done.

You mentioned the sound...you say it sounds great, but louder than you want..... mine with the supplied mufflers doesn't seen loud enough for me... ;) My car isn't road ready yet, so I can't say anything about cruising resonance or acceleration noise at this point but it does sound OK when revving it up in the garage.

Thanks again for the update, can't wait to hear what you think when your whole system is installed.

Mandrel bend 2.25" header back exhaust for $130...you can't go wrong with that.

The true test will be to see how long the mufflers last up here with all the road salt used in the winter.

Originally posted by 19_Chevelle_69:

You mentioned the sound...you say it sounds great, but louder than you want..... mine with the supplied mufflers doesn't seen loud enough for me...

Well, I'm 43, I have three kids and an opinionated wife, the car is a driver and I live in a fairly quiet little neighborhood, so... it can rumble a little, and bark a bit when whacked, but I can't have neighbors glaring at me every time I leave the driveway. (Thank God the man who lives right next door is nearly deaf - he never complains about loud cars or power tools.)

The true test will be to see how long the mufflers last up here with all the road salt used in the winter.

I'd suggest painting them.

Originally posted by 19_Chevelle_69:
like you said, the ends of the tail pipes seem to point inwards
Just to be clear, I meant the over-the-axle end near the muffler, not the tail end. The tails should point straight back and somewhat up. The loops that go over the axle tilt in toward the diff.

Reid

Yep, I got you on both posts.

I've got the pipes mounted straight, they should look fine...they run directly under the rear frame rails, straight out the back. I think I'll trim them a little shorter and weld on some chrome oval tips to finish it off.

I'm 30, the wife and both my kids (3 & 5) love the sound of loud stuff, my car, my Harley...3 of my neighbours are mechanics with toys so noise isn't as much of an issue around my neighborhood. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

I have already wiped the mufflers down with alcohol and painted them with high heat paint. :cool: That's one of the first things I did with them.

just bought a flowmaster Exhaust kit for my 68SS. The problem I have run into is that the kits are designed for cars with headers. I would like to keep my stock manifolds on the car but I need a piece from the stock manifold to the new exhaust. does any body make that piece or am I going to have to have it made ?

Originally posted by gearhead_68SS:
just bought a flowmaster Exhaust kit for my 68SS. The Flowmaster kit has always gotten great reviews in this forum. I went with Summit because I wanted smaller tubing for my smaller engine.

Originally posted by gearhead_68SS:
I would like to keep my stock manifolds on the car but I need a piece from the stock manifold to the new exhaust. does any body make that piece or am I going to have to have it made ? That piece is called a headpipe. Any muffler shop can make a pair for you for not too much money. If you buy them prefab, you'll probably have to buy the whole pipe (all the way to the muffler), but shop around - there may be someone selling just the first couple of feet.

Reid

Well Reid, while I cannot add any guiding words for your installation, you certainly get an "A" for your writing ability - great recap.

What I will offer is this; if you do install an X pipe your system WILL quiet down. Frankly, at my age, I didn't want the car to be loud. Stock manifolds, 2.5 head pipes, X pipe, huge mufflers, 2.25 tail pipes. It's probably quieter now than it was stock.

Dan

Thanks for the compliment. Looks like all those drugs during English class didn't... uh, never mind.

I'm going to wait on the crossover pipe (H or X) until I've got the final exhaust system in place. That will include glasspacks (probably Dynomax Bullets) on the tails, so it will probably be quiet enough. I'm a little hesitant to lose the rumble and throb, which I understand happens to at least some degree any time you connect the two sides. As long as it's not too loud, I want it to sound like a big cat purring. smile.gif

Reid

I got the other side done this weekend. The driver's side header actually fits a little better than the passenger's side - I didn't have to cut anything (The tip of the rear upper control arm bolt was touching the #4 pipe on the other side). I pulled the alternator (had to, given that it was mounted on the manifold) and engine mount bolt and jacked the engine up a few inches. I also removed the oil filter (yech!) and the kickdown rod to clear the way. With the driver's side already up on jack stands, this gave just enough clearance to work the header up from underneath.

I of course needed a new alternator bracket, since the mount point on the old manifold was no longer available. I had recently read an article in CHP online (http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/93578) that mentioned Moore Automotive, a small business near my home. The owner, Tim Moore, sells a bracket of his own design for $30 that works great. He said he ended up making his own because the aftermarket ones never seemed to get the alternator AND the power steeering pump to line up right. This one certainly does; the only snag was that the header bolts supplied with my Dynomax headers were barely long enough, and with the extra thickness of this beefy bracket under them, they only engaged 2 or 3 threads in the heads, so I replaced them with generic grade 8 bolts that were slightly longer. (Any reason I should use "real" header bolts?). The rest of the exhaust went on smoothly, except that I didn't realize until I had it on that the driver's side collector is several inches closer to the front of the car (lesson: never assume that the collectors are even!), but I made it work.

So now I've got a dual exhaust system with headers and hi-po mufflers! I've ordered some Dynomax bullets to use as resonators, since I still want it quieter.

Although I now have a system that I'm happy with, I do wish that Summit had made their kit fit better out of the box (or, at least provided better illustrations).

Reid

Great to hear it's all installed, just needs to be "personalized" now. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

I just have to install the left tailpipe, and tighten all the clamps.

It's not really a difficult install, still worth every penny.

I ran my engine just with both front pipes and mufflers on...(no tailpipes)...too quiet for me. :D

Once the mufflers rot off, I'll drop some ProFlo, or FloPro (they are 2 different manufacturers) welded mufflers on, and keep the pipes exiting out under the bumper.

Did your kit come with offset/offset mufflers, and did everything line up?

Reid

Yep, the mufflers are offset/offset. I got the whole thing installed and tightened down tonight.

I've removed the Holley 4165 from the engine, (it's mechanical secondaries are just not the right way to go for my combo) so I can't run it to hear what it actually sounds like. I'll have to wait until I get my Q-Jet rebuilt and installed.

The exhaust looks pretty good, but the tail pipes dip really low below the axle tubes. I don't know if I like that idea...

The tailpipes are hanging about 1.5" below the bumper, and stick out about 8". I'll trim them down when I get my Sawzall home from work, then tack on some chrome oval tips.

I took pics of the install, but I have no idea when I'll get the film developed, I have 6 rolls of "The Chevelle project" now. :D

I traded my digital still camera for a snowblower a few years back, and I just remembered I can capture images from my video camera.

Here's a pic of the exhaust. (Just ignore the crusty looking floorpans, they're solid, they just need a scrub with a wire brush, and a layer of undercoating. ;)
http://mountaincable.net/~ddupuis/ddupuis/sfk16.jpg

My wife was down there anyway, so she stopped by and got it for me.
If you ever plan to leave your wife sooo.... She sounds like a keeper :-)

From what i hear Gardner Exhaust Systems will just fall onto the car. Perfect fit but expect to dig deep.

wow, thread dredge of the year :thumbsup: