C 3 Exhaust pipe

[Tom M.]

The 69 2" , I know its 2 piece to the tail pipe and Walker made the mufflers with the "W" on top, Did Walker make the rest of the exhaust
from the manifold to the mufflers ?

And is the rear section the same for BB and small block ?
I know the front section is not the same that bolts to the exhaust manifold for BB & SB

thanks tom

[Warren F.]

Re: C 3 Exhaust pipe

Tom,

Yes. Mufflers for 350 & 427 are part# 3960601 (LH) & 3960602 (RH) are the same.

Exhaust Pipes for 350 & 427 are part #3960603 (LH) rear & 3960604 (RH) rear are the same.

Tailpipes for the 350 & 427 are part # 3952742 are the same.

[Dave S.]

Re: C 3 Exhaust pipe

The 69 2" , I know its 2 piece to the tail pipe and Walker made the mufflers with the "W" on top, Did Walker make the rest of the exhaust
from the manifold to the mufflers ?

And is the rear section the same for BB and small block ?
I know the front section is not the same that bolts to the exhaust manifold for BB & SB

thanks tom

Tom,
Bear in mind that the original rear section was 1 piece and it was never sold that way in service. To the best of my knowledge Walker was the manufacturer in 1969 for the entire system.
The mufflers in service were the same for small and big block. Part nimbers 3960601(LH) and 3960602 (RH).
Header pipes for small blocks (assume 4 speed) were 334921 and 334922.
Rear pipes for small blocks (assume 4 speed) were 3960603 and 3960604.
Header pipes for big blocks (assume 4 speed) were 3952729 (LH) and 3952730 (RH).
Rear pipes for big blocks (assume 4 speed) were 3960603 (LH) and 3960604 (RH).
Cars whit THM used different right side pipes.
Long winded answer - but the answer to your question is "yes".
69 was the year that big block cars including L-88's got 2 " exhaust the same as small blocks.

[Dick W.]

Re: C 3 Exhaust pipe

The two piece service replacements can be made to appear as original, just takes patience and skill. Fit the system up, make witness marks on both pieces to aid in alignment. Remove the system, remove the swedged section of the pipe on the muffler section, align the witness marks, heliarc the pipes together, finish the weld with a belt sander, and allow to rust slightly. Very un-noticeable.

[Tom M.]

Re: C 3 Exhaust pipe

Thanks guys for the help, just wanted to make sure Walker made the complete exhaust system in 69,
I still can't understand why GM put 2" on 427 cars and even worse on L88's , I don't know how the 2" flows better then the N-14 side exhaust ?

[Tom D.]

Re: C 3 Exhaust pipe

Tom: Perhaps the 2" was considered a "throw away" system... to get the car from St. Louis to the race prep. shop...

[Bill C.]

Re: C 3 Exhaust pipe

I think I read somewhere that the restriction from the 2" system may have helped with the bottom end ?????

Seems counter intuitive -- but stranger things exist..

I am fairly sure that RPMs above 3500 will benefit from a larger free-flowing system, where the HIPO 427s start to come to life..

Just a guess here - maybe an expert will chime in.

[Edward J.]

Re: C 3 Exhaust pipe

Tom, If I had my say, GM needed to choke the L-88 motor for possiable ins. reasons, It had to much raw horsepower, it was badly underrated as were most high performance cars were in that time era,a 2" exhaust system surely helped keep an extra 20-30 horsepower of the already high rating.

[Tom M.]

Re: C 3 Exhaust pipe

Tom, If I had my say, GM needed to choke the L-88 motor for possiable ins. reasons, It had to much raw horsepower, it was badly underrated as were most high performance cars were in that time era,a 2" exhaust system surely helped keep an extra 20-30 horsepower of the already high rating.

Edward,
The 2" was just used in 69 for 427 cars,
I don't know why GM did this ? to save money $$

regards Tom ( last L88 convertible )

[Tom M.]

Re: C 3 Exhaust pipe

Tom,
Bear in mind that the original rear section was 1 piece and it was never sold that way in service. To the best of my knowledge Walker was the manufacturer in 1969 for the entire system.
The mufflers in service were the same for small and big block. Part nimbers 3960601(LH) and 3960602 (RH).
Header pipes for small blocks (assume 4 speed) were 334921 and 334922.
Rear pipes for small blocks (assume 4 speed) were 3960603 and 3960604.
Header pipes for big blocks (assume 4 speed) were 3952729 (LH) and 3952730 (RH).
Rear pipes for big blocks (assume 4 speed) were 3960603 (LH) and 3960604 (RH).
Cars whit THM used different right side pipes.
Long winded answer - but the answer to your question is "yes".
69 was the year that big block cars including L-88's got 2 " exhaust the same as small blocks.

I'm looking for the rear pipes, original new or used
Mine have pin holes in the top

[Edward J.]

Re: C 3 Exhaust pipe

Tom, Im am sure there are more than one reason for the smaller dia. exhaust, but I know that GM had to have there reasons, being around cars the better part of my life, 60 and 70s was a great time to be young and into fast cars, the first thing we did to make a car go faster was to install a performance exhaust system with less bends in the pipes and free flowing mufflers, back then glass packs where one, and of course the open air filter element,and slicks these were cheap up grades for the broke young kid then.THE L-88 WAS KING IN THE 60'S

One other reason could have been the reduction in noise, in the 70s there seem to be a big push on noise poluition.