I burned the snot out of myself on my rad hose like yours. It leaked as well. So I tossed it. I have pics around here of my exhaust in mock up. I was considering hanging the muffs from the seat belt bolts because I dont want to add any holes. You know as well as I do how easy they rust up here. Mine is a Magnaflow 2.5 x pipe kit.

 

I was thinking about the same thing with the seat/belt holes for hangers. I've already used longer bolts for the seats for that very reason. I'd still like to see some pics of how others have done their exhaust though. Not sure if that's going to happen however, almost 100 views since I posted last night but no shared pics. Not a big deal, I'm still going to try and get some more done today on mine.

 

I don't have pics, but most people put the X right at the first U joint of the driveline, so it wont be in the way of the trans, and not so far back as to hinder driveline removal.
Anything close to the crossmember or other fixed metal will rattle, no matter how ridged it's strapped. Need at least 3/8" clearance, and 1/2" is better. If it's the collector hitting, it can be ground a bit to get more clearance. If it's after the collector, then a little massaging of the pipes will easily clear most obstructions.

 

That's where I've got the X pipe now Vall, I just wanted to be able to run the pipes out differently than they will have to be now. If I would've used a 10 series muffler or something smaller, it could've worked the way I originally wanted. Not buying different mufflers now, especially something that would be as loud (almost) as straight pipe. The collector ends just before the cross member but the top of it is lined up in a way that the adapter piece for the x pipe just about rests against the cross member. I know what I'll need to do, not excited about having to do that though. Already burned the paint off the cross member from running the car with the exhaust just slid over it for mock up. Not much I can do about that. Just need to figure out the hanger situation and decide whether to run the pipes out the back now or just use turn downs and get it all hung up. Really just want it done at this point.

 

Burned up the 700 in the Ram because the exhaust was dumped right next to the servo. Lesson learned there, nothing is safe. I started at the rear and worked forward with the exhaust on mine. I looked for pics but there are deep in my PB account, I did find pics of it on the floor all put together. I can dig them out if you like. Basically the x is as close to the tail shaft as possible. The x is wider at the front than the rear. If that makes any sense.

 

I'm using only s.s. band clamps so it'll be easier to take back apart and make changes later on. Already know I'll want different mufflers as these Flowmaster 40's are not staying on my Camaro. We had this discussion quite a while ago now but I want mine to sound different than literally everyone else's. Nothing against the Flowmasters, just so sick of them. Have them on my truck and that's enough. I'm thinking that it would actually be easier to run this out the back, that way I could take advantage of the existing hanger locations. However, the narrowed ends of this X pipe line up great with the rear seal belt bolts and would work great for hangers right off the end of the muffler. Hoping to get at least part of it actually hung today. Pipes cut to length for the mufflers, just need to get the X pipe up in there and clamped. Oh yeah, and smashed in up by the collector. Just waiting for the temp to get above 45 and I'll head out and get busy.

 

Replacing the Flowmaster 40's is on my winter list for the Falcon too! I hate the way they sound when you get into the throttle and over 2,000 rpm.
I also do as Damon mentioned when building an exhaust system, and work from the rear forward. It's important to get the tailpipes sitting exactly where you want to look good. It's also important to ensure the pipes clear everything when they go over the axle. So starting at the rear, and getting those things first will make it much easier.
I weld all my exhaust up, as it takes way too many clamps to make up a system that fits perfectly. The exhaust on my Falcon is 6 pieces per side, not counting the muffler, so that would be too many clamps for me. I could have done it with less pieces, but would have to compromise the way it was routed, or make tighter bends. I wanted it to flow well, and not be near anything.
I also used my seat mounting bolts to hang my tailpipe hangers. Just put longer bolts in, and then added another nut and washer to attach the hangers. I ran the Falcon's exhaust all the way out the rear, as I know how throaty a BBC can be, and didn't want the constant rumble under the car, and hearing it inside too! I turned the Austin's exhaust down after the muffler, but mostly because I didn't want to see the tips coming out the back, or side. Since I have electric cutouts on the headers, I often switch them open, and don't like tailpipes and open header combo. I'd like to have electric cutouts on the Falcon too, but the headers have 3.5" collectors, and they don't make electrics in that size that are fully adjustable mounts. Without being able to clock the motors into the right location, they'd be too visible, and look ugly. So I just unbolt the caps when I get to the drag strip instead.

 

I haven't made a concrete decision on replacement mufflers yet, but I'm leaning toward Spintech's. Still would love to run some Trapp's again and with the situation the way it is now, if I want the exhaust ran out in front of the rear tires, those would solve my issue easily. Another one of those "cross that bridge when I get to it" situations. I got everything installed and sitting on jack stands until I can get a couple longer bolts for the hangers off the rear seat belts. Any one know what size those bolts are by chance? I can pull one and figure it out when I go to get them tomorrow but figured I'd ask anyway. Not running it out the back, decision is made. Even though I've got pre bent pipes that would work, it's the exact opposite of what I always envisioned for the exhaust on this Camaro and I'm not going to do it now. Turn downs/outs it is, at least for now. I agree that it would've made more sense to go back - front if using tail pipes but that was never the plan. I'm lucky in the fact that I only need a total of 8 clamps for this setup, otherwise I would have wanted it welded also. I will need, and just ordered 2 more band clamps for the turn downs and will either save or sell the stainless U-bolt clamps along with all this extra exhaust that I've got here. Still have the complete single into dual system that I took off the Camaro with a (you guessed it) Flowmaster crossflow muffler and brand new tail pipes to get rid of also. I have a set of the old style Mr. Gasket manual cutouts with the push/pull cable but decided not to use those as they are smaller than what I'm using pipe-wise. It will sure be nice to have this all done so I can get back to getting this thing running properly. Would've been interesting trying to start it the last couple days with the temps we had!

 

I wish in hindsight that I had turned the short turn downs to point out on my Austin now. Every time I go across a dusty surface the exhaust blows towards the ground and makes a dust cloud that covers my car, and every car I drive past!
My only issue with Super Traps when I ran them was the 360 degree outlets. They blow carbon dust in every direction, and I had to make up a shield to keep them from turning my bumper black where the exhaust came out. I think ST might sell a shield now to install on their mufflers and do this.

 

That was exactly my logic on the turn down/outs, not looking to add another way of making the car dirty. It was like that on my Nova back in High School, every time I drove out of the driveway and over the small patch of dirt/gravel the entire back of the car was covered in dust! Heck, I'd rather leave 'em straight out than turn 'em down.


I remember having the conversation about how others had issues with the carbon from Trapps, but I never did. I had them on a couple different Mustangs back in the 90's and on one of them (White 91 GT) they were ran right through holes cut in the rear ground effects. I'm sure I wiped a little carbon off of there before, but it was never worse than wiping dust off of it. I know the stainless Trapps had kind of a lip on the top of them and the black ones I had on another Stang didn't have the lip. Anyway, wiping a little carbon off the rocker of the Camaro if I decide to run them won't bother me a bit, it'll be kept meticulously clean once the body work is done. Actually think I'm more drawn to the Spintech's still but I'd dig having some Trapp's again too. That sound! That tunable sound! I could go on all night with stories about the crazy questions and comments from people driving down the road looking at exhaust that had A CAP on the end of it! Especially that old man that flagged me down, had me pull over because he thought my car was gonna blow any second because my exhaust was plugged!