Hey folks. I was going to buy a stock style dual 2" non-mandrel bent exhaust for my '59 LeSabre, but then thought that maybe I'll be choking it up a bit HP wise. Here is my setup: 364 .030 over with stock style cast pistons. Fresh 401 heads 1.6:1 rockers TA-112 cam - degreed to 2 degrees advanced for more low end torque '58 Buick 364 4bbl intake manifold Probably a Edelbrock 750 cfm carb port matched exhaust manifolds electronic ignition electric fans going to stock 2 speed dynaflow and 3.23 rear end. I'm thinking that maybe this is good for 300hp and in that case a stock style 2" exhaust would probably be a little restrictive. Thoughts?
Think it's enough.. Saw a test between 2,25" and 3" on a low buck sbc, and it was first at 5600rpm the 3" started to pick up, otherwise the smaller pipe had more hp and torque.. I would have no problem putting 2" on, preferably with a H..
If you haven't purchased it yet then I'd be thinking about dual 2.25" and expecting it to cost the same. Too big will likely hurt things. I do well with matching up induction systems on engine builds and exhaust. There are no hard rules to printed tests, to their credibility or any advertising agendas. There are cases in which every rule or theory might be proven or broken, and easily concealed to the unsuspecting viewer.
I've also seen that dual 2.25" is about right for 250-300hp. There are no kits like that available for my car. Maybe I get a universal kit and make my own. I have a lift, so it wouldn't be all that bad.
Some straight pipe from a farm fleet supply and a box of misc bends on Ebay will do you wonders. The mandrel bends are much easier to deal with when welding up and have the obvious benefits.
Cool. I'm going to go this route. It should be fun. I can tack it all in, pull it off, and either finish it up myself or let my fabricator buddy tig them up if I want to make it pretty.
The Evilbay kits must have caught on the last few years, looks like a million of them now and they will bend you over if they can. No pun intended. I used to get a few boxes of 'mistakes' at a time that weren't bad on price, for headers and such. Otherwise, J bends have a lot of usable turns in them (180* plus a tweak on the long leg). If you mock up a system you might see that there aren't that many bends in it (until you try to get around the axle).
For exhaust and tail pipe work straights and 45* pieces are the most useful. Combinations of 45* will alway get you back to parallel.
While not responsive to your original question - why not have a custom exhaust shop bend you up a nice stainless system? That's what I did on the Buchev. It wasn't that expensive, and they did it while I waited. I got exactly what I wanted, and haven't touched the exhaust system in 10 years.
The OP has concerns about performance and the issue of non-mandrel bent tubing (crush bent) has been brought up. The OP is capable of hand crafting a set up that could blow away performance-wise a system that might have almost zero thought towards other than a guess at pipe size, and have a great sense of accomplishment at the same time. (If the hp needs were much greater)
