[vidguy]

Are these:
http://www.lmperformance.com/26685/h...e-hangers.html

The mate that hangs from these?

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...10&postcount=9

[Held for Ransom]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=201121786313

I would use 2 of these.

[vidguy]

Thanks Bud.. I was also looking at these.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hanger-Pypes...UAAOSwLnBX6276

But I like yours better. Is that what you used? If so how does the muffler hang?

[Held for Ransom]

They pretty much hang in the same spot. I don't have a picture of it installed. But using the 2-1/2" units, I elongated the lower hole in the bracket to get the nut to sit flush while tightening (one may not have to, but I did anyways).

[vidguy]

I installed these replacing the generic rubber strip hangers the Pypes system came with :-/

I had to twist the driver side hanger to really align it with the twist angle of the upper Drivers tube going into the Pypes transverse muffler. I'll take a picture or two.

All in all they hang the muffler nicely and I like the setup much better. Thanks for the help on this. I hope the rubber holds up as it does pull down on it quite a bit...

The U=bolts went around the 2 1/2" pipe ok. I had to squeeze' em a tad to get them into the bracket, and the nuts started fine. The U-bolts are not as thick as the generic U-bolt clamps I have on the Pipe joints. 3/8 not 5/16 I think.

FYI
I also could not get the supplied 20 threads per inch bolts into the factory threaded holes and the Hex head short factory type screws I had in there were too short to reuse through the bracket / mount that mounts to the floor.. Clearly they were not the same thread pitch as the originals. I dont know what those originals were.
I had to tap the holes. that was a little tricky with the pipes in there but not hard. Also the holes in the metal of the mount were a pinch too close to make starting the bolts easy. I had to file one hole a bit on each mount..

[vidguy]

Well these didnt last. I had them on for 2 days came back to work on the car some more and they are broken. I ended up flipping them over and reinstalling them using generic hanger parts as the new hangers pulled the pipes up much to close to the floorboard. They hanger insulators show in the product photos installed with the rubber opening facing down. They came in the package assembled that way... But I dont think that is the best way to use them. there is no way they would last in normal driving...

As an aside I noticed while under there that my other PYPES tailpipe extension hangers, which have a similar rubber mount only it sits on top of the metal bracket, which are mounted to the very rearmost framerail sides, were also broken. Not deteriorated, not rusty. just broken rubber at the same seam. And those do have the muffler hanger strap resting down on the slot which is facing up.. so really not any downward force exerted on those at all.. Just broken from the tailpipe moving ever so slightly..
This is poor quality rubber..

[pontiacstogo]

Isn't the rubber portion and mount upside down?

[goatless]

Shouldn't the steel reinforcement be under the rubber?

[Held for Ransom]

They should have been installed together like this (and rubber against the body of car). You may be right about the screws being wrong for the vehicle too.

[vidguy]

Now that is how they should go. That is not quite what I ended up doing..I left the metal up top and just flipped the rubber over... Dang if they came assembled differently. And I fell for it..

Only I could find 2 ways to use these stupid things..and both wrong.

I'll go back out and look at this again and see how my pipes fit assembled as in HFR's last pic..Although I do have the pipes in a good place now...

And they fit right into the shape of the mount on the floorboard when you bolt them with the metal on top.
Yes the screws were totally wrong, but you can tap the holes..

[Held for Ransom]

The original rubbers are a different shape (I don't have a picture of them).
Here is a picture from the Assembly Manual.

[vidguy]

Ahhh... Thanks again

[vidguy]

Thanks for the help.

I installed the hangers correctly. Still had to be creative to get the pipes where I wanted them. I twisted the hanger that I used on the driver side. to pull the pipe down and in a bit..
The driver side pipe going into the muffler had rubbed a hole in my original fuel line. You can see where the new line runs above and near the driver pipe in the first photo. That's where I needed even more room now that I have a 1/2 line there..
I needed everything to shift to the passenger side to give me more room above the driver side top pipe and my fuel line.

Tweaking the driver hanger like I did and the using a generic type hanger on the passenger side while pulling on the muffler after tightening the driver side worked fine. I may be able to now use the same hanger on the passenger side, as I did on the driver side.
Driver side



Passenger side

[Formulajones]

That style hanger is actually designed in original applications to have a flat piece of steel slide through it.

I think over a period of time, that round bar you have in there is going to pinch through the rubber and create "metal-to-metal" contact vibration....eventually.

On the Pypes transverse systems I've installed I usually make my own piece out of flat stock to slide into that hanger, bend it as needed, and then weld it onto the pipes to eliminate the clamps as much as possible, especially on the tailpipe sections where the pipes tend to get close to the tires back there.

[pontiacstogo]

My 74 T/A is in storage and I don't think I have any photos of the stock hanger setup with the Flowmaster crossflow muffler. I am pretty sure though that the hangers line up cleaner than your setup and if I recall correctly, the hangers are mounted to their own set of exhaust clamps that are separate from the ones that mount the tailpipes to the muffler.

Found a picture after all (not a very good one sorry);

[vidguy]

Thanks guys.
I may use the flat stock idea. I too was looking at the stress there. The passenger side seemed ok. and I probably could have turned it around and used it on the pipe as you did, but it worked like that.

I just took the muffler out as I am trail fitting the new Tanks Inc. Tank. Removing the muffler is making measuring and aligning the new PTFE hoses to the new 1/2" line and figuring out the new return line much easier.

When I put it back together. I will get it lined up again, and reassess the hangers.

[pontiacstogo]

While these are not the same as the factory setup, they are a similar concept;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1970-81-Cama...BTtXMr&vxp=mtr

[vidguy]

I actually tried those first and have them here. The issue in my case was they pulled everything up to close to the floor causing the pipe vs. fuel line problem.... No adjustability.... I did like the design better. Now I did not see the old Diagram when I bought mine or I would have seen the error in my ways! I may give these another shot.

[Tom Hand]

James,
I recently had the opportunity to install the SGF70 system on a 74 Ventura and I want to share some details about it. I had not got to play with one of these since April 2005 so it was quite exciting,.

You had asked about hanging it and I'd like to show you what we did to make it work. Not sure Firebirds are the same but since the 74 GTO shares the same muffler as the 74 Firebird, size-wise, I am betting the hanging locations are quite similar.

I'll share the "bias plates" we used as well as the "bias plates" we should have mades (after we got it all on and took some more measurements.

Here are some photos that will help explain the methods and hardware we used to hang it in the original locations.

The first image shows the easy way to make the hangers so the muffler ends up in exactly the right height. Walker sells the insulator that can bolt under the floor (in place of the ones I am showing in the photos) and it is part number 35183. The bracket you need, which is drilled for a 2.00 to 2.25" diameter pipe bushing is part number 35358 need. They are cheap from Rock Auto and Pypes may even have them, not checked today. Take the bracket and fit it under the nut on the Pypes-supplied saddle clamp. We welded ours.

The second image shows the driver's side "bias plate" installed under the Ventura. I miscalculated the first time so my nice water jet cut 3/16" thick 304 st. st. plate is 1/2" too short. The plates will bias the muffler to the passenger side so the tailpipes fit correctly.

The third image shows the correctly sized "bias plate" mock up for the driver's side. It moves the original hanger location 3.5" inches towards the passenger side.

The fourth image shows the correctly sized "bias plate" for the passenger side and it biases the mounting locating 1/2" towards the driver's side. The plates are what we used because I want the clamps to end up in the center of the relief cuts of the muffler so they clamp the pipes adequately. The original muffler had the hangers separated about 28" width, based on the measurements under the body on this Ventura whereas the Pypes muffler will need them around 23 to 24" wide. This is why we moved the hanger locations to get this right.

The fifth image shows the hanger mock up inside the insulator mockup so you can see how it all fits together.

[Tom Hand]

Continued from previous post:

An issue is that the driver's side tail pipe has a limited depth it should be inserted. Once it is in maybe 1.5" to 2.00" inches, you lose the ability to clamp it correctly. With it in place, the passenger side tailpipe has to be inserted the correct amount so it ends up in the correct location. Some shortening of the pipe likely needs to be done. If you need to move the tailpipe around on the passenger side you get into the over-the-axle pipe so they need to be adjusted together. And, you need the over-the-axle pipes to end up at a certain width in front of the rear axle so the X-pipe tubes slide right in, which they will when it is all set properly.

The first image shows the "bias plate" mockup for the passenger side with the hanger mockup inserted.

The second image shows another angle.

The third image is tough to see but it shows the pipes going form the X junction into the Hooker headers.

The forth shows the muffler under the car and if you could see the tailpipes, you would note the driver's side needs moved over 1/2" more to the passenger side which is why we need to remake our bias plates once again and reinstall them. We plan to also extend the tailpipe outlets maybe 2" to be sure the exhaust does not swirl around under the car. Sorry for the snow flakes muddying up the image.

As soon as the weather clears, we will get this car on a good lift to show all the details much clearrr.