I just got done bolting my American Thunder kit on a '71 Malibu. I found that a pipe expander was helpful to get the tail pipes in the mufflers easier, and help to rotate them for clearance. The expander I got from the AutoZone loan-a-tool program (free). I used band clamps to seal the joints. They worked fine except for the position at the hangers, where there is not quite enough room to fit the u bracket from the hanger and the band clamp. I made it fit anyway, and there are no leaks.
I also found that the tail pipes (the turn downs) extended beyond the rear bumper pretty far compared to most exhausts I've seem, maybe 2-3 inches. I might trim them some day. Tom Tomlinson '71 Malibu 350 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Matthew Wooliever Sent: Monday, June 02, 2003 10:45 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [Chevelle-List] Flowmaster kit install FYI, here is a pretty good article on installation of the American Thunder kit on a '65 GM A-body (LeMans): http://www.carcraft.com/howto/85918/ I am glad that you mentioned the reversed diagrams too. When mine came, I thought I was crazy. Any other tips? I am going to crawl under my '66 on Wednesday. Thanks, Matt -----Original Message----- From: John Nasta [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2003 11:12 PM To: Olds Mailing List; Chevelle List Subject: [Chevelle-List] Flowmaster kit install The good news is that the installation of my Flowmaster American Thunder kit was very straightforward and easy. The system lines up extremely well to the stock hanger points. the one thing that took up more time than anything else was figuring out that everywhere the instructions said "right" it meant "left" and vive versa. There is onr diagram that says "left side from center looking outward" accompanied by an arrow pointing to the left labeled "front of car". Well, here in the northeast, when you are at the center looking out toward the left side of the car, the front is to your right. So, there's one caveat, plus the fact that if your car has never had duals the mount holes on the left side may have never been tapped, and you may need to buy 2 bolts for that side. My system is not quite finished because I need a pipe cutter that can handle 2.5" pipe in order to trim the front pipe to size. In other words, about another half hour's work tops. John Nasta ----------------------------------------------------- To Unsubscribe please visit www.chevelles.net/list.html To start a new topic, send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----------------------------------------------------- To Unsubscribe please visit www.chevelles.net/list.html To start a new topic, send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----------------------------------------------------- To Unsubscribe please visit www.chevelles.net/list.html To start a new topic, send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
