Exhaust ??'s

[MASTERBrian]

Working on a 1960 Suburban with a SBC 350. The engine has a 270/280 ISKY Cam, bored 60over with flat top pistons, some head work and other misc items, 4 barrel Eddy Carb and performer mani. Machinist said expect about 330hp from the setup. Down the road I'm considering adding some vortec heads, but it's not a rush thing, if that matters in this at all. That swap will really depend upon finding a good deal on the heads/manifold because right now she's running pretty good for what I want, but of course more power is always more fun.

Now I need to build an exhaust for her. At this point, I am planning on finding some 2-1/2 Ram Horn Manifolds, then going back from there. I like the Flowmaster's, but trying to decide what is best for this setup. I was considering something like the series 40 (at least I believe those are the ones), but when going through their site it seems they seem to recommend the HP2's for hot rods, etc... It appears the HP2's are somewhat insulated from heat, which might be good with the plywood bed in the burbs.

Right now I have a 2" ramhorn on the passenger side and a truck mani on the driver side. Everything going back is 2" pipe and it's true dual exhaust. I'm thinking I'd install an H pipe as well. All the exhaust is in decent shape except the muffler's and obviously need to do something about the mis-match manifolds.

Am I correct that I'd want to go 2-1/2" pipe all the way back? Are these all pipes that need to be custom bent or is there somewhere that sells pipes for these trucks that is pre-bent, so i can just order and install on my own, then maybe pay a shop to weld together.

[MASTERBrian]

One more question, is there a big difference on the Ram Horn Manifolds? I was told once they are only about $100-150 at Summit, but I see they list them from about $130-$300+ and one guy online was trying to sell a set for $350, I think I saw some on craigslist as well, but they were $50-$100 and a state away. I also believe most are center dump, but I think I've seem some that dump more towards the firewall.

[Bigdav160]

2WD trucks and a lot of Chevrolet passenger cars had ram horn manifolds that tilted toward the rear. Corvette engines sit back off the crossmember and used center dump. The 2 1/2" were only used on the high performance Corvette engines.

I thought Dorman was making inexpensive replacements. I would check RockAuto

I went with these aftermarket Ramhorns but my Suburban is 4x4 so the crossmember is different and center dumps work. Even then I had to a small amount of grinding on the crossmember to clear.

[MASTERBrian]

Originally Posted by Bigdav160

2WD trucks and a lot of Chevrolet passenger cars had ram horn manifolds that tilted toward the rear. Corvette engines sit back off the crossmember and used center dump. The 2 1/2" were only used on the high performance Corvette engines.

I thought Dorman was making inexpensive replacements. I would check RockAuto

I went with these aftermarket Ramhorns but my Suburban is 4x4 so the crossmember is different and center dumps work. Even then I had to a small amount of grinding on the crossmember to clear.

The 2" on my passenger side is a center dump and it clears just fine. The truck one on the driver tilts toward the rear. I'll have to look to see if they did this due to a clearance issue....maybe someone has a better answer than me guessing though. Dorman does have them for about $50, but the reviews are one star less than the Summit version for $30 more.

[Captainfab]

The '63-'66 trucks came from the factory with straight center dump rams horn manifolds. I'm not sure about the '60-'62's but I would assume they did as well. Of course this is assuming the engine is in the factory location. With a '60-'62 you will definitely have to have an exhaust system custom made.