Just one more driver side obstacle to clear... if you got a late ("59 & up) 261 under the hood of a pre '55 chevy, you got to contend with them two dad gum big ol' full flow oil filter lines (235s, earlier 261, and the Gimmie boys didn't have that additional problem, you literally got to "grow" a dual side pipe up to the dual side exhaust manifold outlet. The setup in my ol' '54 had about eight welds in the dual side pipe from the flange down to about the oil pan level just to zig an' zag around all the junk. All these obstacles caused a few fellows to make their dual side outlets on their split manifolds to the front of the original stock opening. Seeing how much easier that was (generator/motormount was about the only things to dodge on a '49/'54 body) caused me to use that idea on my Chevy ll. It was pretty easy project, but did wind up with a longer pipe from a_ _ _ _ _ _ to appetite.
The longer the tail pipes the sharper, or more shrill, the exhaust note, when you back off in high gear they will "snap, crackle, and pop" a lot; if you have your mufflers further toward the back with short tailpipes-the exhaust note will be more dull or "thuddier" with not much popping when you back off the gas pedal. The "RAAAPP" becomes more of a "ROOOMP", but still loud with traditional glas or steel packed mufflers. I ran a set of Headman Headders with 2-1/2 pipes to a pair of Flowmasters with short tail pipes exiting at the front of the rear tires on my '67 250 std. shift Chevy pickup--They had a great "bark" when you blipped the throttle, but there was some definate throbbing inside the cab. Never changed the tail pipe location so couldn't totally blame the Flowmasters for the throbbing or drumming inside the cab.
All my cars were stick shifts and had their duals with a pipe on each side of the car like God intended (no furrin" Austin-Healey look for me!) Now I did have a friend who's 350 V8 260 Z Datsun had both of its exhaust on the stock side (the 5-liter Blue oval boys learned the hard way that it wasn't just some spec'l headders onna sporty car-- they were Hookers onna Chevy!!)
