[nogo22]

Hello, I am new to the board and pretty new to the world of hot rodding. What I was wondering is what is a good kind of exhaust to run in my '74 nova. It's a pretty stock 350 in it, minor work such as edelbrock performer carb and intake manifold. I have some Holley headers to put on it as well. Can anyone help me out?

[chevyhotrod]

I would go for an 2,5 inch stainless steel exhaust system, Not one that is bend but one that is welded with separate elbows. That way you wont get an narrower bend and have an nice and smooth system.

[nogo22]

Originally Posted by chevyhotrod

I would go for an 2,5 inch stainless steel exhaust system, Not one that is bend but one that is welded with separate elbows. That way you wont get an narrower bend and have an nice and smooth system.

Well I was asking as to what brand is best for this. i do want to go 2.5 inch, thats for sure. But what's the best brand for this type of thing?

[Fast Orange]

Check Jeg's and Summit-many good kits by several manufacturers.Mandrel bent pipes flow the best,and of course,stainless steel will last longer and look the best.
Many local muffler shops are doing custom work,with pricing comparable to the aftermarket kits.One advantage to dealing with a local shop is that they may have a car there that you'll be able to look at thier work and hear what a system simular to what yours will sound like.
I put a Flowmaster kit on my d/d pickup recently,and while the pipes and muffler looked and sound great,the hangers supplied with the kit weren't up to snuff.
Welcome to the best car site on the 'net,and good luck with your Nova.

George

[rbfpezcore]

Straight pipes. No need for mufflers.

[Drugs]

yea right, kid.

2.5 and cheap turbo's. its a great combination. put a h in there somewhere.

[nogo22]

Originally Posted by Drugs

yea right, kid.

2.5 and cheap turbo's. its a great combination. put a h in there somewhere.

Whats the difference in performance between h and straight pipes?

[Jzarczyn]

Get the quietest mufflers you can find.
And then run exhaust cut-outs after the headers.
This way you can have the best of both worlds, loud when you want it to be and quiet when you get sick of that.
An h refers to an h-pipe, a pipe that conects the exhaust pipes of each bank of cylinders. usually placed just behind the collector.

[Henry Highrise]

Flowmasters are good abd flow good, but to me the old fashioned Smithies have the best sound.

[Siggy_Freud]

Flowmasters flow OKAY. Among its leading competitors, flowmaster was ranked near the bottom of the list. Borla, Magnaflow, Edelbrock, and Dynomax all outflowed them.

If you are going to get a crossover pipe, go with an X. Its much easier for air to make a 45 degree turn than a 90 degree. In fact, at anything over idle, only a tiny fraction of air is even going to use the crossover pipe.

Look on summit or jegs. Preferebly get a kit that is mandrel bent. Mandrel bending is where there is no inside area of the pipe lost when bends are made.

Id go with at least 2.5 inch exhaust. You'd be suprised at how little low end you lose by going bigger. Chevy High Performance did a test a few months back and didn't lose a thing powerwise (however this was on a fairly beefy 350 if I remember right).

Unless your made of money forget about a fully stainless system. No need unless its a show car.

Try and put your mufflers as far back in the system as you can. This will allow the exhaust to maintain velocity before it hits the mufflers. You'll notice that most performance cars (and many non-performance) put their mufflers right at the exhaust exit with the tips on the mufflers themselves.