Chevy Caprice Dual Exhaust

So I got headers and dual exhaust installed this passed weekend, and has completely changed the sound of the car, but for the good! It sounds so much more aggressive than the stock exhaust. Had to notch the crossmember, but it was totally worth it. I used Flowtech 11100FLT headers, had them sand blasted, then painted with Eastwoods Internal Exhaust Coating, both inside and outside of the headers. There were no fitment problems on the drivers side, but the passenger side was a little harder to install. As it is now, the passenger side header hits the starter block which connects it to the motor, it i want to change the starter, the header would have to be removed, or at least loosened (hopefully the starter dont go out any time soon, fingers crossed!) There was also this metal tube that encases the starter wires from the heat, that had to be moved, that part caused alot of problems because we couldnt see it during the install and couldnt figure what the header was hitting, and wouldnt go into place, so we bent some of the tubes because they were hitting the frame, but after we moved that tube for the starter wires, it was all good, and ended up not even needing to have bent the tubes in the first place. Its ran using 2 1/2 piping, siamesed in the middle, and some offbrand flowmaster original super 40 series mufflers. Sounds good with the stock GM Goodwrench 350 crate motor.
Heres a youtube video of the sound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caEBbaBiJ48

Very nice setup! Looks great! Gives me good ideas for my next setup when I find the right car.

Hey man nice work
On the crossmember notch did u weld new metal in there??...
I was thinking of getting a flex coupler and shove it between the crossmember and floor plan ..lol
Will that work too or will it cause too much restriction..
Thanks8) 

Thanks man, my step dad did this, he had a huge piece of steel, I think it was half inch thick that he welded in there, completely retarded thick, but its solid and aint moving! Im not sure if id trust a flex coupler in something like that, i would definitely weld in a piece of steel or fab a new crossmember for that.

Well I was gonna try to shove it between the gap of the top of the cross member and the bottom of the floor pan ..so I don't have to cut and weld the cross member

I like the engine compartment maybe u could do a how to on the AN lines

ohhh ok i get what you mean now, i still wouldnt do it, it would be to close to the floor pan and im sure it will burn all the undercoating off, and the carpet inside might get really hot too. There is actually another option, you can heat the crossmember to the point where you can bend it, i asked my step dad to do it, and he said its possible but it be alot of work. And there are only two AN lines i have, thats from the fuel pump to the regulator and then to the carb. I said screw it after that, those things are too hard, i just installed braided sleeving on the radiator hoses, and other random hose lines, this is the website i bought it from http://www.cabletiesandmore.com/american/catalog/expandable-sleeving-c-69_70.php

Last year, May 2012, we lost my grandfather. On the night he passed away, my grandmother gave me my grandfather's 1977 Chevrolet Caprice Classic 4-Door Sedan. My dad has been helping clean it up and we have been identifying things that need to be repaired (i.e. headliner and center rear bumper filler). While we have been cleaning the car, I told my dad that normally I am not a "stock kind of guy," but I really wanted to keep the car stock like my grandfather had since he bought it in 1977. However, over time, my dad has got me thinking about putting a dual exhaust on the car, and we both agreed that would like to see it drop down at the very back of the car; as done in the pictures above. I want to thank you for the pics and the effort you took in making this happen...and you have definitely given me some ideas

Im very sorry for your loss, I know what it feels like, I too lost my grandfather and a cousin last year. When I bought my caprice over 2 years ago, I had intentions of keeping it completely stock like it was. I had finally got the car all ready, new brakes, new exhaust (before the duals) and a few other parts. One day on my way to my first car show with it, the motor spins a rod bearing, and the motor is done. Since that happened, i have decided to forget about stock and just go all out on it, so I have plans that id love to do it, once the funds become available. You know its funny because my dad also got me thinking about doing the true duals, and in fact hes the one that did it, and it turned out awesome, thats why I posted all I could so others could see how to do it, and im glad I could help you out. Ill keep the exhaust this way until I get a real motor in it, then ill have the entire thing redone. If you do, do it please post pics on here if you can, and share your experience, and keep me updated!

I am sorry for your loss too. It is cool that both of your dad's have that much influence on us. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I can understand your feelings about going all out on your ride now because of the engine too. I am sorry that after you did all that work, that the original engine blew on you. Sounds like my luck. What engine are you planning to swap in, if I may ask? I showed my dad the pics you posted of the dual exhaust on your Caprice. Since we do not have access to a pipe bender and neither one of us can weld that well, my dad has suggest to me to take my Caprice to a local exhaust shop. Personally, I would like to have the experience of of fabricating the exhaust, but I do see my dad's point that we have our limitations.

Expect to pay a pretty penny at a local shop! For the most part you wont have to modify the crossmember like i did, you can have the pipe run right under it if you use headers, but youll see the pip hanging down. Yeah I didnt have the greatest luck with the car the first year haha, when the original motor blew, i got a replacement motor at my local junkyard, a week after i got my car back that motor also spun a rod bearing, so i had just wasted a 1,000 bucks on that and i was stranded again, so at that point, i let the car sit for 4 months and saved up for a new gm crate motor, and it was the best decision i have made, this was over a year and a half ago. 4 new tires, 1 new motor, brakes, exhaust, radiator, carburetor, and many other parts later, we're still running strong!! I would like to drop in a 700 hp 434 sbc, with a th400, maybe a 9inch rear or gm 12 bolt. Id like to do a full body off frame restore at some point. Some wide tires all the way around, disc brakes all the way around, poly bushings, tubular control arms, lower the car an inch or so overall, and just spend ridiculous amounts of money on it haha. I didnt help my dad with the exhaust, all i did was put the headers on and he did the rest, but ofcourse i watched the whole time. Since he works at a shop, he was able to use the pipe bender, welder, etc, I just paid for the parts, the tubing, mufflers, and clamps. This is definitely something you really cant do at home, if you do take your car, take the pics of my car with you and show them, if they dont already know how to do it. I guarantee you they will charge you $500+ not including parts, you might get out under $1,000, best of luck to you bro! ask any questions!

HeavyChevy77 wrote:Hey man nice work
On the crossmember notch did u weld new metal in there??...
I was thinking of getting a flex coupler and shove it between the crossmember and floor plan ..lol
Will that work too or will it cause too much restriction..
Thanks8) 

In installed the 94-96 cross member in  my mothers   91  LTZ  by welding an "L' shaped bit of steel the the frame so the passenger side of the cross member could be bolted on as in the 94-96 cars, its much stronger and makes room for  dual pipes, so now my mom at 85 says  she drives a  Hybrid    " it burns both gas  and  rubber" stay safe. Mike

Nice work ... what type of headers fit a 77-79 caprice i ask because i also
like to change my stock exaust ( do camaro 2 gen headers fit ???)
thanks for help

Hooker also makes a set of headers that fit these cars. Same fitment issues as the OP said. I also had to take off a brace on the passenger side I believe. I ended up changing to a GM Performance parts mini starter for clearance but I still had to grind the corner off of the block where it mounts to the engine. I have 2.5" duals out the back behind the rear tires with Flowmaster 40's. I however did not notch the crossmember.

I tried looking up the part number on Summit Racing they don't carry them anymore. I think I got mine from PAW warehouse which is out of business now. I did find all these on Summit though.

http://www.summitracing.com/search/year/1979/make/chevrolet/model/caprice/department/exhaust/part-type/headers?N=4294950308%2B4294951398%2B4294950044%2B4294948820%2B4294924068&SortBy=Default&SortOrder=Ascending

Only pic I have right now of my exhaust. I will take a better one next time I am out where it is stored.

DSCN4916 by bjohnson388, on Flickr

Bret