'74 Nova - Exhaust

[tac]

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What I learned from the Nova (350 automatic)

The Nova came with a glass-pack muffler, and my mother didn't like it. So I offered to change it out.

I love JC Whitney. They had Black-Jack mufflers and a pair of turbo mufflers. I figured it would be a bit quieter, and have more power. Hmmm. Exhaust turned out to be harder that just lining up some pipes.

The old exhaust manifolds came off pretty easy. I learned about penetrating fluid and patience. Ok, more penetrating fluid than patience...

The new headers went on pretty easily - both sides from the top, no need to remove anything but a few accessory brackets. The gaskets even fit well - so far so good.

Now for the lessons: If you're going to use clamps, get the exact right size. While you're at it, make sure that you get the right size exhaust piping so that ends fit snugly. You just CAN'T tighten a U-clamp to close a 1/4" gap. You also can't shove exhaust repair putty in the gap. You also can't wrap it with a muffler bandage. But I learned alot about where you CAN use these kinds of patches. Now the car was louder than when it had the glass packs on. Mom was not pleased. It didn't feel any faster either....

I also learned that you really need to use muffler hangers - especially if the exhaust pipes aren't quite the right size. Nothing more embarrassing than being out on a date and having a muffler fall off - and having to go back to retrieve it and put it in the trunk (I wasn't going to leave a perfectly good $30 muffler in the middle of the road!)

Note to all who encounter a similar situation - Mufflers are HOT. Use gloves. Needless to say, I kept my hands to myself that night...

TAC