I'll take a picture to show you the height of my cat and other exhaust elements, but as a general question do you notice that when straddling a basic speed bump or driving up a slope that you drag the muffler or especially the catalytitic converter on the ground?

I asked a friend of mine (a fellow NAM member that usually is pretty in the know) about it, and he said that it doesn't SEEM like it's hanging too low - the flange bolts between the header pipe and the cat seem nice and tight, but when I look under the car it seems like the cat and exhaust pipe is hanging BELOW the level of the bottom of the car and not up inside the actual channel in the undercarriage. I'm worried that I'll catch the exhaust flange on something when going over a speed bump or other ridge -- I drag across narrow speedbumps in my local strip mall no matter how slow I pass over them although wider speed "humps" are no prblem so far. I don't want to break the exhaust!

Also, my friend suggested that I might want to consider having a muffler place simply delete the cat and tweak the exhaust pipe to run straight back to the muffler assembly, raising it a bit to run up higher inside the center channel? In Ohio we don't need to do emissions testing... The way it is now, the front bend running off the engine block actually hangs down from the bottom a few inches, which seems a bit low given that there IS a center channel, but I'm not sure how it's supposed to be.

Last. just for looks, are there any options that people know about to slip a tip of some kind over the basic, rusted tail pipe? I don't care about a sound change or anything - just something to dress up the pipe a bit.

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: I just realized that you can see the front curve of the header pipe hanging down in this picture - is this normal height?

 

Yes mate, your pee-shooter is lower than normal. It should be snug against the body. Sometimes you will need to be creative with the mounts in order to get the exhaust snug against the body.

 

The only hanger I see is the one around the muffler unit - the center seems unsupported. Should there be a hanger closer to the cat (fore or aft)? If there's a mounting point close to the center channel, I can jack up the car and see about adding a new hanger somewhere in there - that might help...

 

do you have a header?

If you do, it should have the right turn at the right height.

there should be a bracket the holds that pipe on pic to the transmission.

another bracket can be added by drilling a hole on the tunnel(to avoid welding) or putting a longer bolt on one of the seat belt catches.

 

You are going to find it very hard to find a shop to remove the cat. Federal law will hit them with a huge fine if they get caught. Best remove the cat in your driveway.

 

You'll have to show me your secret, Chuck, on how to do that. I didn't know that there was a fine involved for removing the cat... Hmmm... Sounds like I need to look around for someone that has exhaust skillz and equipment that would do it on the side for me. OR I can just have it lifted at a shop and leave the cat alone. For now, I'll just avid speed bumps.

 

Mine will hurt curbs and even an uneven driveway. It is part of having a classic. In my current house, there is a lip when you pull into the garage and everytime I hear a "ding" from the exhaust hitting.

 

That header curve should not fit up too tight against the body, or it will hit when you shift gears and you'll get one hell of a vibration, which will scare the beejeebus out of you till you realize what it is........

Stil, it does seem a bit low to me too, but I doubt there's anything you can do about it. Check your motor mounts and make sure they're all there and OK, a broken motor mount can cause the engine to hang low in the body and the exhaust header with it.

Nice classic, BTW

 

The way my exhaust sits it will tap the underbody around hard turns. It is not an original exhaust, so it is just the way the hanger holds the pipe. My car is pre-cat days, so I can't help you any on that.

 

You need to think off road when you drive over those speed bumps. One wheel at a time over the obstacle.

There is a solution......