[gto70]

Has anyone installed Torque Technologies 3" h-pipe, and how did it fit/perform? I have a 70' GTO with old style 3-tube headers and a 2 1/2" full exhaust system. The car runs low 12's with this set up, and I just recently installed Doug's Headers and am planning to upgrade to a 3" h-pipe back to my 2 1/2" tailpipes. The price for their h-pipe sounds a little high-$208. Anyone know of a cheaper kit?

[gto70]

Has anyone installed Torque Technologies 3" h-pipe, and how did it fit/perform? I have a 70' GTO with old style 3-tube headers and a 2 1/2" full exhaust system. The car runs low 12's with this set up, and I just recently installed Doug's Headers and am planning to upgrade to a 3" h-pipe back to my 2 1/2" tailpipes. The price for their h-pipe sounds a little high-$208. Anyone know of a cheaper kit?

[rickschabener]

I bought their H-pipe when I purchased their entire 3" system. I didn't use it as I ended up going with a Dr. Gas X-pipe. Their H-pipe is nothing more than 2 pieces of straight pipe, one end flared to accept the other pipe, and 1 stainless steel band clamp. Any muffler shop can do that for you. You may have to order the band clamp. However, I believe the kit is only $20 from Torque Tech (plus shipping).

Rick

[gto70]

Thanx Rick-when I said H-pipe-what I meant was their system from the headers back to the tailpipes. What kind of ET's do you run with your car. How do you like your X-pipe? How does your exhaust sound with the X-pipe, and what type of mufflers are you running? Some cars with X-pipes have a funky high pitched sound to them. Sorry for the multiple questions, but I want to get this exhaust system right the first time.

[rickschabener]

Well, like you, I wanted to get it right the first time too but, I'm still experimenting. I have a 68 Firebird, street car; however, I do like to take it to the track once or twice a year. It runs 12.68. I initially put on the torque tech system with no H or X-pipe. I'm running Ultra Flow mufflers (straight through, glass packs). The sound at idle was great. But, with almost any throttle it started to cackle. At WOT it was unbelievable. It was louder than open headers and cackled like a gagsters Tommy gun going off. I added the X-pipe and it made an amazing difference. It got rid of all the cackle and smoothed out the pulsing. Yeah, at WOT it does have a slight tinny sound to it and at cruising speed the drone is a bit louder inside the car than I want.

All first generation firebirds are limited to a 14" case length muffler which really limits my muffler choices. I believe you can use a longer muffler on the GTO. The longer the muffler, the quieter it will be.

After reading a lot of posts of this forum, I could probably go to 2.5" tailpipes without hurting performance. That would open up a whole new world of muffler choices for me and the 2.5" alone would reduce the sound level. But, I'm stubborn and want the aesthetics of 3" tailpipes. I am going to try a set of inserts to see if they might quiet it down just enough to make me happy. Dynatech makes a Vortex cone and Car Chemistry makes an insert. I will probably also try different mufflers this summer.

On the 68 Firebird, when the two 3" pipes turn to go down the tunnel, they are only 4" apart. That's almost as "close" together as using an X-pipe. If I did it again, I think I would go with the H-pipe. I think it would balance the two tubes just fine and maybe get rid of the WOT tinny sound. I may try that this summer also.

Let me know what you decide and how it turns out. By the way, the torque tech 3" tailpipes fit amazingly. I didn't have to cut or trim anything.

Rick

[This message was edited by rickschabener on April 11, 2003 at 04:15 PM.]

[gto70]

Yeah Rick, I see your situation. Because you're limited to a 14" muffler I don't think that your car is going to get much quieter with that 3" exhaust. Going to 2 1/2" tailpipes would be your best bet to quiet things down. Do you have the Ultra-Flow weldeds or Ultra-Flow turbos? The 2 1/2" weldeds were some of the quietest mufflers- according to Tom Hands' testing. All of the 3" to 2 1/2" were slightly louder.

I think that I might give the 3" X-pipe a shot. I think that it sounds better a idle ('cammier'). I'm still torn between muffler choices though. I still like the hollow sound of the Flowmasters, but they don't appear to flow nearly as well as some of the other mufflers.

Where did you get your X-pipe from and how much did you pay for it?

Thanx, Stan

[rickschabener]

Dr Gas. I bought the X-pipe kit. Came with the X and 4 mandrell bent pipes. $200 rings a bell. I believe the X by itself would have been $100.