The exhaust system is often one of the most overlooked aspects of a classic truck but let’s face it, when the key turns and the engine is fired, it’s time to separate the men from the boys. You could have the hottest looking shortbed Fleety on the block, but if it’s wheezing through a sad, single muffler, you might be laughed right out of the local drive-in. It’s as if you worked out on your upper body only, leaving two little, skinny bean pole legs to poke out from your awesome Muscle Beach stretchy tank top. It’s not cool, it’s not right, and it’s just plain sad.
So what do you do when you just bought a classic pickup with the aforementioned bean pole exhaust? You do what our buddy Danny Valenzuela did; you call up your buddy who works for a magazine and ask him to hook you up for free! Well, that’s not exactly what you’d do or what he did. What you’d do is bust out the latest issue of everybody’s favorite hot rod truck magazine, Custom Classic Trucks, and flip through and find an advertiser who sells exhaust products. Then you call them up and tell them what you need! Well, in a perfect world anyways!
But that’s what we did in a nutshell. I had a pair of Hushpower mufflers for a future project that wouldn’t need them anytime soon, so I donated it to the project as well as a U-Fit kit from Flowmaster, which I had borrowed a few pieces from over the years that also needed a good home. We called up Doug’s Headers for a set of bolt-in pipes to fit the 360ci Ford engine and they asked if we wanted to include their stainless steel electric cutout kit. Scare unwitting women and children? Uh, yeah!
We tore into the build on a Tuesday morning and save for a few unrelated snags along the way, were huffing and puffing out on the road by Wednesday evening. So to say that you could do the exhaust job in a weekend is to say the least. Next time you pick up a project that suffers from the wheezes, give the job a shot yourself; you’ll probably find it easier than you thought and you might even save some dough! Who wouldn’t appreciate that? CCT
The original exhaust in the...
The original exhaust in the Ford was pretty sad to say the least. The notoriously restrictive stock exhaust manifolds coupled with the single exhaust just didn’t let the 360 breathe properly.
To cure this asthmatic problem,...
To cure this asthmatic problem, we turned to Doug’s Headers for a pair of their full-length, tuned, Metallic Ceramic Thermal Barrier coated headers. Doug’s ships their header complete with gaskets, hardware, and collectors.
But what’s a new exhaust system...
But what’s a new exhaust system without a nice, throaty tone? Enter Hushpower HP-2 Series mufflers. Built of stainless steel for a lasting finish, the HP-2s feature an innovative “Cool Shell” casing, a key feature in contributing to the muffler’s sound and heat control design.
And if it’s that wide open...
And if it’s that wide open sound we’re looking for, a quick flick of the switch and our exhaust will be truly free-flowing thanks to a Doug’s cutout kit.
And if it’s that wide open...
And if it’s that wide open sound we’re looking for, a quick flick of the switch and our exhaust will be truly free-flowing thanks to a Doug’s cutout kit.
You need tubing to mate all...
You need tubing to mate all these components together and Flowmaster’s U-Fit kits are perfect for the do-it-yourselfer. All that’s required is a welder, something to cut the tubing, and a free weekend.
We laid out the components...
We laid out the components on the shop floor before we started to get an idea where everything was going to fit, and then it was time to get to getting!