* * * F I N A L - U P D A T E * * *
Well, for the faithful that have been following this thread for the past few months, I now have the final results in (well, sort of!). Here's a quick pic of the driver's side installed, with the passenger side still in the wraps from the ceramic coater:
First of all, these pipes came off a whole lot easier than they went on! Of course, doing this as a one man job required some dexterity and ingenuity (blocks of wood to prop up the other end), but it all went together as nuts and bolts should. You will also notice that the new stainless mufflers have two ridges going around the pipe (each about three inches from the ends). These are where the inner core is welded to the outer shell. It's part of the design that went into these things, creating a chamber fore and aft to prevent too much expansion and splitting. It's not as "clean" as the factory SPF pipe that had no ridges from end to end, but keep reading and you'll then know why it's not a big deal to me.
OH MY GOSH!!!! THE SOUND!!!!! I think the best way to describe it is "all business." Night and day versus the factory SPF mufflers. If you are running a small block like me, you want this set-up. It will make your car sound considerably closer to a BB. Much more crisp sounding at idle and a great gurgle off idle. Get past 2,500 rpm and they really start to sing! If you want quiet, this is not the route for you.
But let me tell you, they are not excessively loud. Louder than stock SPF 2" cores? Definitely yes. As loud as straight pipes? Definitely not even close to straight pipes. Just a gutsy "I can hear you from two blocks away, race car-like roar." Like I said, they will know you are "all business" as you approach.
I put about 10 miles on them, then re-tightened all of the bolts. I will need to jet-up a few notches, as it's undoubtedly running a tad leaner now. I also plan to take the pipes (on the car) back to Alex Mikkelson at American Roadster and he's going to add some stainless steel gussets to the side brackets. I should have had him do this when he did the the fabricating, but I neglected to do it and I'm already experiencing a slight crack in the passenger side (it happened during the re-install, not after I fired it up). We are going to use 3/4" stainless steel strap and he's going to mount it in such a way that the only people to notice will be the ones with their noses to the ground. Oh yes, he can definitely do this with the pipes on the car, so I don't have to yank everything apart.
Last comment. I don't want to lay blame on anyone else that has handled these things, but they did come back from the coaters with a couple tiny dents (smaller than a dime) on the passenger side pipe. They are noticable and I'll just have to live with them. I did not have the coater sign any kind of waiver prior to dropping them off, so I can't prove that their people put them there (although I'm 99% sure they did). When you consider the multiple steps they put piece of metal through just to ceramic coat them, it's no surprise when you see stuff like that.
In closing, this has been a very long project and has cost me close to $1,000 end to end. One with welding skills or access to friends that have the right equipment can cut into that cost significantly.
For only having driven 10 miles, I'm a very happy camper with my re-born sidepipes. 