1963 Exhaust System Sources

[Frederick H.]

Trying to get my March '63 Coupe ready for regional judging at Frisco and have discovered holes in both mufflers and the rear portion of the exhaust pipes - great. I have seen Gardner Exhaust Systems advertise in the Driveline but no longer see Allen's. Does anyone have any other suggestions for a source(s)?

Thanks in advance,
Fred

[Bill M.]

I used Gardner for my 67 under car and my 65 side pipe car both fit like a glove. Never judged. Very close to me so I save a fortune on shipping.

[Frederick H.]

Okay - thanks Bill.

[Harry S.]

Fred, regardless of supplier you have decisions to make.

Do you want carbon steel? If yes, then accept the fact that it will surface rust quickly and not look all that nice.

The other options are stainless steel or Aluminum. Both will probably take a point hit on the originality side of judging sheet.

There is the N11 decision also, I put these on my July 63 300hp car. Sounds nice, but I did not need them.

The pipes from Gardner need to be welded to the muffle by you or your installer, easy enough.

I suggest you add the blackout before you install them, this avoids the overspray on the underside of the body.

Good luck!

[Frederick H.]

Thanks Harry. Yes, I am weighing whether to go aluminum/stainless or carbon steel as well as the N11 option. I only plan to judge the car once (if it gets a second flight and requires only minor fixes to get it to a first, then I might judge it again) and then drive it so longevity of the system is certainly a consideration. I will review the point deductions for the items mentioned and go from there.

Thanks,
Fred

[Don H.]

The whole system (less clamps, shields) is worth 10 pts / 10 pts. So, if you had no system at all you would lose only 20 points.
SS is 50% Orig deduction and Aluminized is 25% Orig deduction.. So, you can see that whichever you choose won't amount to much point loss at all.. Good luck.

[Gary B.]

Fred,

Regarding Harry’s post, with the Gardner system it is not essential that you have the pipes welded to the muffler inlets. You can choose to weld them, or you can use the exhaust clamps that Gardner provides. A welded connection is how GM did it, so that should garner a slightly smaller points deduction.

Gary

[Frederick H.]

Yep - I plan to have the pipes welded at the muffler as originally done but will probably do the aluminized. It's the old cost/benefit and pain threshhold for judging points.

Thanks,
Fred

[John F.]

Corvette Central.

[Frederick H.]

Now that John mentions Corvette Central, does anyone know the difference(s) between the exhaust systems from Corvette Central vs Zip vs Gardner? Gardner is proud of their systems but come well referred. Ideally, I would just like to order the muflers and have a local shop replace the rear portions an weld them at the mufflers.

Thanks,
Fred

[Patrick H.]

There is a very high probability that a system purchased through Zip will come from Corvette Central.
They are both owned by the same company, and CC has been supplying other vendors for years.

Gardner will only sell complete systems, not parts or pieces. Not even clamps.

If you buy a Gardner, and it's aluminized, the standard deduction will result in a points loss that is not much different than a CC system at half the price. It's an expensive 1-2 point difference.

If you only want new mufflers, I'd order them from a vendor based on price (they all use the same muffler), and have them welded on.
I would not clamp them on several inches in front of the muffler, as that gets you a deduction too.

[Joseph S.]

Fred, My shop has used Corvette Central exhaust systems exclusively for the past 20 Years. In that time I have had 1 issue with fitment and they were very accommodating with a replacement pipe. I will add, most of my restoration work is on 63-67 Corvettes, with the bulk being 63-64.

[Frederick H.]

Thanks all. Good info about Corvette Central - will give them a shout tomorrow.

[Chuck G.]

FWIW, I replaced the exhaust system on my 63 earlier this year with an aluminized Corvette Central 2.5" system. I got the offroad style.

Fit was perfect. I had a few friends over, and we had it installed in 2-3 hours. I do have a 4 post lift, which made things easier.

exhaustfinal.jpg

[Frederick H.]

Looks really nice Chuck. Would love to have a lift, but with jack stands and a floor jack, I'll probably outsource to a local shop. Did you have to remove the rear exhaust panel? If I recall, the factory used a very unique process to align the exhaust outlets prior to the panel install.