[punisher7]

Now that I'm up and running I want to get my Catalina's exhaust taken care of. The guy that owned this Catalina must of had a blind guy with no arms weld this crap together. It is extremely low and when I pull in and out of my driveway I bottom out. I also bottom out when going over a bumpy road.

I have the car in to get the exhauat looked at and I'm told that 2 1/4 pipe wont fit over the crossmember and when they redo the exhaust it wont be much higher that what it is now.

Anybody ever have dual exhauat run on a 63 that wasnt dragging on the ground?

They want $350 to bend up the pipes. Any input would be appreciated.

[AROWHED]

Headers or manifolds?
Does Pypes or Ram Air Restorations have a system for 63 fullsize, ideally with a X crossover?

On my 65, I have RARE's long branches with their 3" head pipe and X crossover, then 2.5" intermediates, stainless Ultraflows and 2.5" Pypes tailpipes. I did have to ditch the factory trans crossmember for one taken from a 72 Bonneville, slightly modified for fit. It had more distance between the humps, gave more exhaust pipe clearance.

[Deadhead]

That is crazy stuff. I have only 2" duals on my '63 wagon run above the crossmember, but there is at least 1 1/2 - 2" between pipes, the cross member and the floor. Stock manifolds. Should be no problem for a competent shop to get them above the crossmember. My tranny would scrape before the pipes.

Here are a couple of Pics.

[63 Pontiac]

Shouldn't be a problem, I had 2.25" pipe running over the crossmember on both my 63's with slim-jims.

[mviker]

You might want to consider another shop. It's amazing how some places have no idea how to work on our cars. The first exhaust I had put on my car was so messed up, I had to go to another place and have it replaced entirely. They went so far as to alter my rear control arms because they couldn't bend the pipes right. I was ready to kill after I saw what they did. Second shop got it right.

[punisher7]

Well its good to hear that it can be done, just a matter of finding the right person for the job. I will shop around this week and see what I can come up with. Anybody know of a good shop in southestern WI that does good exhaust work?

[mkoser]

Originally Posted by punisher7

Well its good to hear that it can be done, just a matter of finding the right person for the job. I will shop around this week and see what I can come up with. Anybody know of a good shop in southestern WI that does good exhaust work?

I'd avoid any of the big chain muffler shops, and look for one of the "low-rider" style shops you might find in the lesser desirable part of town.

I had some work done, not on my Pontiac, but on a Bel-Air I used to have. It seems as if they liked the car, and wanted to do a good job on it, at an honest price.

I assume they would respond to your Pontiac the same way.

Good Luck,

MK

[punisher7]

Originally Posted by AROWHED

Headers or manifolds?
Does Pypes or Ram Air Restorations have a system for 63 fullsize, ideally with a X crossover?

On my 65, I have RARE's long branches with their 3" head pipe and X crossover, then 2.5" intermediates, stainless Ultraflows and 2.5" Pypes tailpipes. I did have to ditch the factory trans crossmember for one taken from a 72 Bonneville, slightly modified for fit. It had more distance between the humps, gave more exhaust pipe clearance.

I have manifolds on the car.

[BigAquaBonney]

Try Wisconsin Muffler on Janesville Road. Gene and another guy there can do it, I'd bet. It should fit.

[punisher7]

Originally Posted by BigAquaBonney

Try Wisconsin Muffler on Janesville Road. Gene and another guy there can do it, I'd bet. It should fit.

Thanks! I'll call them tomorrow.

[Engine-Ear]

One year I needed new duals for four of my cars...all of them got manifold to tailpipe systems added, and I supplied Walker 17747 (highly recommend these for your '63, BTW) and I took them to four different places to gauge their work / prices.

By far, the BEST work was from Mike's Automotive, he's at 102 North Chicago Avenue, South Milwaukee, WI 53172 (so he's even close-ish to you).

[BigAquaBonney]

I concur with Engine-Ear, Mike's does good work. Didn't know that he had the pipe bending capabilities, etc.

[punisher7]

Thanks for the info about Mikes. I will stop by there later this week.