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Old 12-07-2012, 08:11 AM   #37
Tx Firefighter
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Azle, Texas
Posts: 14,162
Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build

I had mentioned the exhaust part of this truck had been painful. What I meant was that it took a larger chunk of money than I'd hoped for.

I knew right up front that the exhaust was beat and would need replacing. It had giant sections rusted out, a crappy muffler and one of those old restrictive catalytic converters.

The cat



Rusted out round canister type of muffler



The rest





So I cut all of that junk off obviously to start with. I figured I'd go ahead and pull the manifolds off and do some work on them too so I'd have a nice system front to back. The truck previously had smog pump fittings on the left manifold which had been cut off short and welded closed. I knew I wanted to fix that more proper and also replace all of the studs.



Here is where it gets painful.

Previously welded ears on the passenger side manifold.



Driver's side manifold had previously cracked basically in half and been welded by someone. The welds were cracked right through again already.



So, off to Rock Auto. I ordered new Dorman manifolds. It pains me to say, they are made in China. But, they fit real well and are significantly thicker in a lot of areas than the original GM ones were.







The factory Y pipe was in plenty good enough shape so I just cleaned it up and reused it. These big block Y pipes are much nicer than small block ones are. They have a decent transition like a "Y" and not a "T" like so many factory ones were.

Now, here's the rub about where I live. I don't have to pass an emissions test for my yearly inspection, but I have to pass a visual test for the equipment being in place (regardless of how well it does or doesn't work). So, I need a catalytic converter to use in my new exhaust.

So, since I like improved fuel mileage and performance, I found a place on the internets that sells a real "hi flow" converter and they're cheap too, so I ordered one in 3 inch size.



It looks like a catalytic converter...



But inside it's a bit different than most converters...



Also got a nice big Magnaflow in 3 inch size from Summit, a stick of 3 inch tubing and a band clamp.



Magnaflow is still doing it right.





I only tack welded that rear piece of pipe in place as you can see. I figure in the future if I ever go to a muffler shop to have tail pipe(s) hung under this truck, they can just knock that tack weld off and have a good place to slide the new pipe into the rear of the muffler to work with.



I got a couple of clamps and hangers from the parts store and the final product is super strong and hung nicely.





So, all said and done I have new manifolds into a refurbished factory Y pipe then into a single 3 inch system. Damn it sounds good too. The catalytic converter shaped device obviously doesn't change the sound any so I got the true 3 inch Magnflow sound. Very raspy and not a drone like Flowmasters or other chambered mufflers.

Last edited by Tx Firefighter; 12-07-2012 at 08:21 AM.
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