Exhaust Kit or Pay a Pro

[mgm1986]

Fellow DIY members, what would you do if you needed new exhaust and mufflers?

Trying to decide if I should get a kit and give it a go or if I should take it somewhere. I've never done it. I do have access to a friend with a lift and a welder.

Thanks!

If it helps, 1968 300 with 440 and Hedman mid-length headers.

 

[Toolmanmike]

Fellow DIY members, what would you do if you needed new exhaust and mufflers?

Trying to decide if I should get a kit and give it a go or if I should take it somewhere. I've never done it. I do have access to a friend with a lift and a welder.

Thanks!

If it helps, 1968 300 with 440 and Hedman mid-length headers.

If you buy a kit, you will probably need someone to hook those headers to it unless Headman has a kit for your application. (like TTI does for their headers)

 

[CBODY67]

When I was younger and such, I always went to Walker Exhaust for OEM-type exhaust pipes and mufflers. Everything the local muffler shops could do, even if they had a good bender and cards to do it with, was of pipe that was "pipe", rather than the OEM-level pipes I desired. The part they always did not do well with was the "over the axle" pipe just back of the muffler. They always hit, rattled, and made noise. The Walker items fit as they were supposed to. On another car, I had good luck with similar Maremont pipes and mufflers.

As I liked to do things I could do in the driveway (flat and concrete) on sturdy jack stands, welding was not a part of that. I preferred OEM-type pipe clamps. Yes, there are some cheaper ones the muffler shops had in stock! That way, if something needed to be tweaked, I could do it. For that reason, no welding required.

At this point in time, all Walker sells for the earlier cars is the mufflers.

At this point in time, Waldron's is probably the best place to get OEM-fit muffler/exhaust items.

TTI has been the long-time Mopar-related vendor for C-body exhaust kits. One kit to fit all wheelbases of C-bodies, so some tweaking might be needed in the floorpan areas, I suspect. But they might also supply a "head pipe" that could attach to your headers. Then you'd just have to worry about that particular area as to getting it connected. AND, their pipe sizes are probably more toward 2.5" pipes than a stock kit would be.

CBODY67

 

[66/440]

Typically no welding needed: Welcome to Accurate Exhaust Products, Ltd

Supplier to Graveyard Cars (if that means anything) Bought a couple of their kits and a bunch of their mufflers, no disappointments.
Kits replicate original tubes with all the correct bends and attachment points. They might be willing to provide longer primary pipes with collectors, that way you could possibly shorten that primary pipe and still bolt together. Obviously you would need to provide some measurements i.e. collector termination at a given point on the chassis. Could require a trip to a muffler shop to expand the end once cut. On the other hand if the second connection has an expanded end then all you would have to do is cut to length and slide together. Never know if you don't ask.

 

[66/440]

Just looked at their C Body Kit and connections are Ball & Socket....

 

[413]

I doubt anyone will make a kit to connect up to headers without fabrication.

Yes accurate exhaust is great for stock manifolds, you can put it on at home no problem. Done several, very nice fit.

 

[Boydsdodge]

TTI is my go to for flow and fit. I try never to go back to an exhaust shop. Waldron's exhaust and accurate for original type exhaust. With your headers I would have a look at TTI.

65-73 C-body Exhaust Systems

 

[66/440]

I've never had any problem finding a muffler shop that would modify a head/collector pipe. The ball and socket connection makes rotational alignment easy. Ball and Socket header collectors are readily available.
BTW TTI's thick two bolt flanges are a great way to run larger Dia. pipes directly from cast iron manifolds. The flanges have the correct bolt spacing and the ID of the flange is larger to accommodate large dia. pipe.

 

[66/440]

This is how I remember the sound from back in the day



There is also a quieter muffler choice



Looks like they will be discontinuing "C" body kits soon.

 

[66/440]

OR, now that I have waved the flag for Accurate, A really good muffler shop that is used to doing performance work can build a really nice system, bring your own mufflers If you have a preference. I have had experience with both methods and the only disappointments have been with shops that don't really specialize in performance exhaust.

 

[Luke Pokrajac]

OR, now that I have waved the flag for Accurate, A really good muffler shop that is used to doing performance work can build a really nice system, bring your own mufflers If you have a preference. I have had experience with both methods and the only disappointments have been with shops that don't really specialize in performance exhaust.

Exactly what I did on my 68 Sport Fury. I had a good local shop that custom bent an aluminized steel 2 1/2 system with Borla XP mufflers that I purchased. They did a fantastic job. About $400 out the door in Rock Hill, SC which is just south of Charlotte, NC.

 

[mgm1986]

OR, now that I have waved the flag for Accurate, A really good muffler shop that is used to doing performance work can build a really nice system, bring your own mufflers If you have a preference. I have had experience with both methods and the only disappointments have been with shops that don't really specialize in performance exhaust.

I am leaning this direction as it seems like a better value based on some of those prices for the kits.

All really helpful feedback, thank you everyone. I'm going to continue to research and see how this poll plays out.

 

[lemondana]

TTI gets my vote hands down, 1 system on my 71 Polara, 1 on my 69 Coronet R/T, and 1 more on my 67 Coronet 440 4 speed car. I'm pretty sure they have header hookups for the most popular headers. And you can get 3 inch if you want to.

 

[OKDart]

OR, now that I have waved the flag for Accurate, A really good muffler shop that is used to doing performance work can build a really nice system, bring your own mufflers If you have a preference. I have had experience with both methods and the only disappointments have been with shops that don't really specialize in performance exhaust.

Accurate says it's discontinuing C body exhausts on its website:

"Note: We are discontinuing "C" body components. Call if you do not see your application listed and we will check inventory for availabilty"

The complete system from Accurate is over $1600, but the tailpipes by themselves are $360 (for 2" pipe or + $36.00 for 2.25"). I would buy the tailpipes from Accurate since they're the most difficult part to get right, and take them to a muffler shop and have them do the rest. Your total will probably be less than the $1600 that Accurate wants for the whole system. Tailpipes:

C-Body Tailpipes (PAIR)-(see option box below)

 

[Big_John]

"Note: We are discontinuing "C" body components. Call if you do not see your application listed and we will check inventory for availabilty"

Again? Accurate Exhaust getting rid of C-Body Inventory for good.

 

[Big_John]

Fellow DIY members, what would you do if you needed new exhaust and mufflers?

Trying to decide if I should get a kit and give it a go or if I should take it somewhere. I've never done it. I do have access to a friend with a lift and a welder.

Thanks!

If it helps, 1968 300 with 440 and Hedman mid-length headers.

Since you are using headers, I think the recommendations of the stock reproduction Accurate pipes would be a limitation as their larger size is 2 1/4".

IMHO, that leaves you with TTI as a bolt on kit, although you'll have to talk to them if their kit will bolt up to those headers with a minimum amount of fuss. Another option, similar to what @OKDart mentioned, would be to buy their tail pipes and have the pipes from the headers to the tailpipes made.

I've said this before that I'm a little envious of guys that have exhaust shops that will do custom work. None exist in my area with only a couple of chain shops that won't do any of that work and from what I've seen, I don't know as I would want them to work on my cars anyway.

 

[66/440]

May be a Carrot and Stick thing. "Hurry up and buy before their gone". From your older post, I agree that once you have the pattern in a digital file you can bend pipe on demand. Their thinking is unclear, unless they aren't using digital equipment and dont want to maintain their patterns. I wonder how many that might be?

 

[mgm1986]

The price of the Accurate system seems a little high but the TTI kit looks promising. I do have a couple of shops local that bend exhaust, going to check them out to see what they offer.

 

[lemondana]

TTI kits are cheaper than Accurate and their pipes are mandrel bent. They fit up under the car very nicely. And they are 2 1/2 or 3 inch all the way back. The TTI's look so much nicer than Accurate's do also.

 

[volksworld]

only issues I had with TTI was some modification to the drivers side hanger (it's curved to fit the flange on the crossmember that the shocks bolt to, but the rod that the 2 rubber mounts slide onto goes straight across the curved cutout...so i cut, ground, reshaped and welded the rod to follow the contour of the bracket...if I hadn't the bracket would have mounted too high and the tops of the rubbers would be jammed against the floor...aside from that the kickovers were located far enough rearward that they hit my existing aftermarket swaybar...you would need one like Firm Feel's that mounts forward of the axle (no i haven' dropped $700 for one so I can't swear it fits either)