69 427 exhaust fitment issues...

[Greg L.]

Does anyone have any tips or tricks to make a new Corvette Central carbon steel under car exhaust fit properly?

It appears that the angles where the pipes join ahead of the crossmember are slightly off just enough to make it all fit not worth a cr@p. Back when I worked in a garage I would just break out the good ole torch and heat and bend as needed to make it fit but I don't really want to do this to these new pipes...there must be a less barbaric way.

Any advice or help here would really be appreciated.

[Robert C.]

Re: 69 427 exhaust fitment issues...

Take your car and pipes to the closest muffler shop ie; Middas,Minekeetc. Let them adjust them. They can heat them up, bend them , and all the other adjustments to make them fit perfectly.

[Mike M.]

Re: 69 427 exhaust fitment issues...

Does anyone have any tips or tricks to make a new Corvette Central carbon steel under car exhaust fit properly?

It appears that the angles where the pipes join ahead of the crossmember are slightly off just enough to make it all fit not worth a cr@p. Back when I worked in a garage I would just break out the good ole torch and heat and bend as needed to make it fit but I don't really want to do this to these new pipes...there must be a less barbaric way.

Any advice or help here would really be appreciated.

i too just spent a full day fitting corv central's aluminized system on the 57 i'm re-doing. job should have taken a few hours but the two rear tail pipes that snake thru the fiberglass tubes before exiting the rear quarters needed multiple trips to the local shop with a tubing bender. i wouldn't ehat your pipes or you'll say goodby to the aluminum coating. good luck,mike

[Greg L.]

Re: 69 427 exhaust fitment issues...

Well now I'm VERY glad that I opted for the carbon steel pipes! I was wondering what one would do if they had aluminized or stainless pipes that fit like these do...

I spent most of yesterday afternoon and evening getting one side to fit. I fired up the ole acetylene torch and with the pipe clamped in a vise with wood blocks to protect it I heated and bent the bend as needed. It was quite a bear to bend even with the bend being orange hot but after about four trial fits I managed to get one side to fit. Back in my garage days I would have been done now but that reworked bend looked nasty so now I had to "restore it" by removing all the scale and discoloration to make it look like the rest of the pipe so now one side looks AND fits really nice.

Now I'm off to the drivers side...

[Joe L.]

Re: 69 427 exhaust fitment issues...

Well now I'm VERY glad that I opted for the carbon steel pipes! I was wondering what one would do if they had aluminized or stainless pipes that fit like these do...

I spent most of yesterday afternoon and evening getting one side to fit. I fired up the ole acetylene torch and with the pipe clamped in a vise with wood blocks to protect it I heated and bent the bend as needed. It was quite a bear to bend even with the bend being orange hot but after about four trial fits I managed to get one side to fit. Back in my garage days I would have been done now but that reworked bend looked nasty so now I had to "restore it" by removing all the scale and discoloration to make it look like the rest of the pipe so now one side looks AND fits really nice.

Now I'm off to the drivers side...

Greg-----


What is the SPECIFIC problem you're having? In other words, how does the "angularity" problem manifest itself as an issue?

[Greg L.]

Re: 69 427 exhaust fitment issues...

Joe my car is an auto and the angle of the aft R/H pipe where it connects to the front pipe at the transmission support was too "straight" If the front pipe was installed you could not attach the flanged end to the manifold with out without putting A LOT of outward force to move it away from the engine and then the pipe was almost touching the crossmember and no where near close enough to attach the pipe to the transmission support.

The drivers side is better but the issue there is with the front pipe. The very last bend where it attaches to the aft L/H pipe has too much of a bend in it so with the pipe attached you had to use a lot of force to push the flanged end towards the engine and then again the pipe is far to close to the crossmember and will not align with the transmission support. Actually I think it even touches the shift cable bracket as well.

The first pic is of the "straightened" R/H aft pipe and it now fits properly. In the pic it looks to be really close to the transmission but it's not.

The second a third pics show where I'm at now and what I mean by too much of a bend. I would guess that it's off by about 1 degree.

[Joe L.]

Re: 69 427 exhaust fitment issues...

[quote=Greg Linton (45455);346146]Joe my car is an auto and the angle of the aft R/H pipe where it connects to the front pipe at the transmission support was too "straight" If the front pipe was installed you could not attach the flanged end to the manifold with out without putting A LOT of outward force to move it away from the engine and then the pipe was almost touching the crossmember and no where near close enough to attach the pipe to the transmission support.

The drivers side is better but the issue there is with the front pipe. The very last bend where it attaches to the aft L/H pipe has too much of a bend in it so with the pipe attached you had to use a lot of force to push the flanged end towards the engine and then again the pipe is far to close to the crossmember and will not align with the transmission support. Actually I think it even touches the shift cable bracket as well.




Greg-----


My interest is based on a struggle I've been having with the pipes on the "ZL-1". My problem is that last bend on the the forward pipe (where the rear pipe slip-fits) "angles down" by just a very small amount. However, this causes the rear pipe to hang a bit too low at the lowest point. What sort of clearance do you have between the rear pipe and the REAR edge of the strut rod bracket after your installation is complete with mufflers installed?

The first pic is of the "straightened" R/H aft pipe and it now fits properly. In the pic it looks to be really close to the transmission but it's not.

The second a third pics show where I'm at now and what I mean by too much of a bend. I would guess that it's off by about 1 degree.

[Bill C.]

Re: 69 427 exhaust fitment issues...

Greg,

I would look into a set of NOS pipes if they are around. They fit 100% all the time.

I think that JT Piper has a set of 69 NOS 427 pipes. I'm pretty sure that the driver (L) side is the same for stick/auto, the pass (R) is different.

he may also have the mid/rear pipes too - ebay (CorvettePartsKing)


There is also a company reproducing exact copies of the Walker NOS GM pipes. I forget the company name, but Stan Felenski knows them. He can be reached on here or thru the Corvette Forum (Rowdyrat).

[Joe L.]

Re: 69 427 exhaust fitment issues...

Greg,

I would look into a set of NOS pipes if they are around. They fit 100% all the time.

I think that JT Piper has a set of 69 NOS 427 pipes. I'm pretty sure that the driver (L) side is the same for stick/auto, the pass (R) is different.

he may also have the mid/rear pipes too - ebay (CorvettePartsKing)


There is also a company reproducing exact copies of the Walker NOS GM pipes. I forget the company name, but Stan Felenski knows them. He can be reached on here or thru the Corvette Forum (Rowdyrat).

Bill-----


I have most of the pipes NOS [none for sale]. However, I'm using stainless steel pipes (except for the mufflers). I HATE rust on exhaust pipes.

[Greg L.]

Re: 69 427 exhaust fitment issues...

Come to think of it Joe I would probably have had the same problem as you are having if I had connected the pipes first and then hung the mufflers. I did it "backwards" though and hung the mufflers first. Before that I taped a piece of 3/8" or so thick base board to the top of each pipe where they go under the strut rod bracket and lifted them into place with a floor jack. I just figured that the rear pipe was the issue because it was "more off" that the front one in relation to the transmission support.

Just a thought but since you have some NOS pipes why not take a pipe down along with your suspect stainless one to a muffler shop and see if they can't re-work it to match your NOS one?

Bill I know who you are talking about but I can't think of their name either right now. Getting a set of NOS pipes probably isn't a bad idea though.