Guys, i have a '64 nova with a basically bone stock 194-6 cyl in it, only modification was i removed the muffler completely and ran 17/8" (i think) pipe striahgt out the back to a 3" chrome tip.. sounds REAL good, pretty loud. but someone told me that running with a straight pipe will ruin my exhaust valves and seats becuase of temperature variations. is this true? should i install a glasspack? Jay B.

No, it is not true. This is just another old wives tale. The only problem it will cause is with the police. Joe

Jay-

That is an "old wives" tale but here's a truth that goes along with that tale.
Back in the 60's, myself and some of my friends used to drive around with open headers on our cars. There's nothing wrong other than being really loud and cool watching flames coming out when it got dark.
The small truth about wraping the valves is if when you had really short headers (like stock manifolds) and you hot rodded around with open manifolds in cold weather, the cold air could be a factor in taking some of the temper or wrap the low quality valves that the had back then. New quality components today and longer headers prevent any type of damage. Running straight pipes was the norm back then for a cool sound, very low back pressure and lots of extra power! Note: Some experts claim that motors do need some back pressure and mufflers for economy and definately for pollution devices.
They are definatly NOT hot rodders!

RapRap
1940 Chevy Coupe