glarior

I have looked at the corvette central dual exhaust kit HERE

Any other suggestions? Different kit? Maybe a cheaper way of doing it with mufflers, headers and pipe? I have read post about people going to a muffler shop but I can not find one local that is trustworthy.

Vette is a 80 with stock TH350 and 350 engine. One day I will build a stout 350 or 383 for the car and want dual exhaust that will handle the new engine setup. No point of buying exhaust parts twice...

Thanks!

bobs77vet

thats what i have with a home made H pipe in it and 5 years later i am still very happy with it.

MN80Vette

I have an '80 also but with a GM 350 HO 330 hp crate engine. Definitely go with a true dual exhaust NOW including full length headers. Modify your front cross member like I explained several threads including here:

Pics and explanation of my exhaust.

That was the second-best mod I've made to my '80. (The crate engine was the best.) IMO you will save $$ in the long term if you have a good performance exhaust shop bend your pipes to fit instead of adjusting an OTS setup. There has got to be one near you. Where do you live?

Let me know if you want to know more.

Grumpy 427

I just bought a set of Headman Elite ceramic coated headers. And a true dual crossmember off of a 1979 vette. It bolts into the factory spot with a bit of hole elongating. I bought a 2.5" Exhaust system from Bairs with mufflers for $288.00, it comes with stock style quiet mufflers. will pos pictures once i get going on the exhaust.

Bowerss2

I have that exact same set up. It sounds great, but the fit wasnt all that great, dont expect a "bolt up" i needed to fab a bracket for the cross member, shorten two of the pipes and have one tweaked by a local exhaust shop. It took some elbow grease but its good start and a fair price.

headers






its a good start, but dont expect to just bolt it up and call it good.

cheers,

steve

VRGSVET

Corvette Central sells another kit minus the headers for $325 http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb....Z5Z5Z50000050G

I have long tube headers and this kit worked great on my 80. I cut off the front bends and welded 3" to 2.5" reducers on. It lined up almost perfectly with the headers. It already has an H-pipe welded in and has metal tabs welded to the tubes that bolt right to the crossmember. I just had to drill two holes in the crossmember. The muffler elbows are welded on too. Everything fit great (not perfect) but great. I did this all in my garage with no special tools except my buddy's welder. You will also need two 2.5" to 2.5" adapters to weld the reducers to the front end of the pipes. This also gives you a couple inches of wiggle room so you don't have to cut the pipes the perfect length (since they overlap both ends).

Grumpy 427

Which headers did you use, and you wouldnt happen to have any pictures would you?

tonyponykay

I'm wanting to do same exact thing to my 80 and so I would really love to know what headers you used and if you had to modify them at all for that set up.. looks really good.

thanks

tony

VRGSVET

I have the Flowtech ceramic coated headers. I got them from JCWhitney. http://www.jcwhitney.com/performance...x?skuId=348214

They have 15% off orders over $125 right now. They sell these headers for $259, so minus 15% that's only $220 plus shipping. Can't beat that price for ceramic coated headers. They aren't as nice as some of the high end headers, but they sure look nice and are more than fine for what I wanted. The bolted right up to my ZZ4 crate motor. It's a little tricky to keep them from leaking since the ZZ4 heads have D-port exhaust and the Flowtechs are round port. The headers come with gaskets and reducers, but they aren't the best quality. I bought some good D-port gaskets and some Hedman reducers.

One piece of advice on mounting the headers: The right side was hard to get it in place. I had to unbolt the right engine mount and lift the engine a little bit, but otherwise they went right in. There's no clearance issues. But the ZZ4 has the smaller flex plate so I put the newer style starter on it. The starter nose piece is diffferent which angles the starter closer to the engine. Not sure if there would've been any clearance issues with the stock starter, but maybe some heat issues.

Sorry I don't have any pics right now. I just finished this project a couple weeks ago in my garage and didn't get any pics. Next time I get it on a lift I'll snap a couple pics and post them.

doctorgene

Yes Sir: I used Corvette Central Dual set up, I also used Stainless Lap bands, Lined the system all up on jack stands, and tighten all up. Now I don't have to go to the muffler shop, when something above needs service. The exhaust sounds great, with the Magnaflow mufflers. If you run an Auto, you can still drop the pan for service, without removal. I have had two of their systems on an 80 & 82. I have had to remove the mufflers one for fuel pump and one for Antenna. I'm using 2.5 G.M. Cast Iron center dumps. Have a great one. Gene

larryg3

I wish i had bought those. I bought a system from mid-america and magnaflows from a local source and i do not like the way they mounted. too many mods. required to go to a muffler shop.

glarior

Thanks for the info everyone!

I am getting lucky so far... I found a set of headers in my shed (forgot about them lol) which actually fit! Then, a friend gave me 2.5" exhaust kit that I can cut up and re-weld. I am going to chop up the old system and use some of the new system to make it work. Saves me a lot of money and plus its fun doing stuff like this.

The only hard choice is which mufflers do I want? Also, I should get some exhaust butterfly dumps... hehe.... vroom

Bo5co

Free shipping on those Flowtechs right now. That's $25 off or 237.98 shipped. I like that.