Exhaust Advice Needed 57 Retractable

[Gene F]

Exhaust Advice Needed

I have a hole about the size of a quarter in one of the mufflers on my Skyliner. I went to an out of town auction a few weeks ago, in Marietta, OH, and of course the ride home was getting a little louder as I got nearer to home. This car has the exhaust that runs through the x-frame. Waldorn has a nice system, and they have optional muffler tones. Waldron wants $120 to send it to me from Michigan to Ohio, so the system already is kinda pricey, and in my mind, that puts it over the top.

Classic Exhaust (Geneva, OH) has a comparable system that comes to my door $145 less.

My local independent exhaust dealer can't bend a system up for me, they "don't have a card" for the older cars for their mandrel tubing bender. They said they can make up something custom, but admit that the kit is the way to go. They said they would be happy to receive my drop-shipment, and then install my system. Did you catch that "my system"... They want at least 3 hours at $90 hr (or more like 4 hours) to install it. I have already spun the nuts on the exhaust manifold studs off, (and they know this). $270 - $360 plus tax seems like a lot just to let the thing fall in the floor... I'm not trying to be cheap, but geeze the thing isn't an all morning job. It could be for me, but not in a muffler shop. (3 hr minimum)

So, does anyone have experience with these kits? Do they slip together neatly, or am I going to have to "adjust" stuff, and / or drive it (hammer) together? How hard is it to get the correct pipe through that hole in the x-frame on a Fairlane, if I put that pipe in first? Oh, and I really just want to let the rear-end hang, not remove it.

I'm pretty handy, have a cutoff tool that will go that deep, all the clamps are loosened up, and the hangers are good. I'd like to hear about every one's experiences. I'm smart enough to know that if I only wanted to replace one piece, I'd be taking it to the shop - no question.

FYI: I have some vehicles that have stainless, and since this system lasted about 15 or 20 years, I'm not inclined to spend the extra cash on stainless. You can't even see it, so it'd be more inclined to spend the difference on something that has a cool-factor. Something like a tri-power, or LED tail lights.

Speedway admitted to me that their house brand chambered mufflers are pretty loud. Besides, I hear they fit pretty loose. I always appreciate Speedway’s' honesty when I deal with them. They are first class.

[paul2748]

I bought a Waldron system for my 64 Fairlane, and it fit correctly.

[5851a]

Retractable exhaust is pretty tricky with that X. Last time I bought any I bought the 2 exhaust pipes and mufflers direct from Ford and no one had anything else. They mufflers were oval type with corner on end bent in from Ford to clear the X. Never knew anything about dropping the rear end. Wouldn't want to do it again more than once.

[fordrodsteven]

I never did an exhaust through the holes in the frame but I always found that the design (of those other cars I worked on) was such that if the rear wasn't hanging (as in up on jack stands with the wheels off the ground) I couldn't maneuver the pipes into place. A lift was even easier because I could move the pipes around without contacting the ground. I have never seen any requirement to drop a rear end out of a car to replace an exhaust.

[Gene F]

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Thanks for the responses. Keem em' coming.