rjtjr1
New Member
Would a 1970 Road Runner original exhaust from the Van Nuys, Los Angeles factory have been welded or clamped together. Mine is welded and I'm trying to determine if it's original.
Factory exhaust systems, welded or clamped?
- Thread starter rjtjr1
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moparnation74
Well-Known Member
Clamps only.....
However, does not mean that someone back in the day welded it up and threw the clamps away....Do you see clamp markings? Are the mufflers original with pn and penstar?
However, does not mean that someone back in the day welded it up and threw the clamps away....Do you see clamp markings? Are the mufflers original with pn and penstar?
lewtot184
Well-Known Member
my '68 road runner had the mufflers welded to the exhaust pipe and the tail pipes clamped to the muffler.
moparnation74
Well-Known Member
Are you saying this was done at the factory....I have never seen a survivor/original exhaust welded....The original units that did get welded was when a replacement muffler was replaced or a portion/full exhaust. Are you sure the mufflers are original to the car? Mufflers are stamped with a date and a logo...
Did both of your mufflers have a stamp and a logo facing the ground?
lewtot184
Well-Known Member
this was factory. I remember laying on my back having to hack saw the mufflers off when they had rotted out. I bought the car new in 1968. I have a '69 r/t, hp440, and the original h-pipe did slip inside the muffler and was clamped front and back; still have the h-pipe. 383's were different. they had a 2 1/4" muffler with the 2 1/4 head pipe welded to it. the 440 had a 2 3/8" muffler with the h-pipe swaged down to fit inside the muffler and the 2 1/4" tail pipe swaged up to fit inside the muffler; still have the tail pipes too.
moparnation74
Well-Known Member
That's interesting....I have had survivors tat did not have a single weld....maybe they had a line fix on some, it's ma.mopar they did crazy things...
lewtot184
Well-Known Member
what I encountered was absolutely factory, and it makes sense. all those exhaust systems were contracted out and to have the muffler all ready attached would reduce assembly line time. there may have been 10 times as many 383's vs 440's or hemis; so it wouldn't take the bean counters long to figure this out. we never paid attention to numbers on mufflers back then. I do remember buying a set of Maremont replacement mufflers and was dismayed to see that I couldn't bolt them up. I had no resource to weld the new mufflers up so I just swapped in a set of 440 mufflers. the inlet slipped over the head pipe fine but I had to scrunch the outlet down to fit the smaller 383 tail pipe. I went thru this over on mocrap.com and was dismayed at the idiots who told me I didn't have or did what I did. it is possible with regional assembly points and different sub-contractors that may have led to some differences, but i'm skeptical at that.
moparnation74
Well-Known Member
All I can say I had two survivors that had Zero welds....yours is probably correct and could have been a plant/line fix....
That's all...but I can't read your whole post btw...
That's all...but I can't read your whole post btw...
oldbee
Well-Known Member
I'm going to have to agree with 'lewtot' , I seem to remember mine being welded at front of muffler as well. Hacksaw off right in front of weld & new mufflers slid right on. Of course, I could be wrong( who,me?!!).
moparnation74
Well-Known Member
I don't disagree with you guys at this point... remember not all plants did the same thing.....the 2 survivors I had were chargers from hamtramck....they had zero welds....
Also, charger had tie down brackets with different tips/tip hanger...
Would be a good topic to see if there were truly plant variations.....or my two snuck out without it.....
I have asked others and they say no welds...I wish I saved some pictures but that was in a day before it became important....
Anyone have pics?
moparnation74
Well-Known Member
That's right, who really knows you can only go off the car at that point....
You know me these areas are my interest and plants did do different things....so relating to a LR car. If proven they welded the mufflers then that relates to.my X....a 440
Do you know that the some hose stampings are different between plants? (Mainly upper and lower rad hose) So a repro hose on any Mopar is incorrect, ohh and also the repro's are not dated.....an nos may be right as an otc replacement but the one off the line is different....
This is why OE stuff can drive you nuts when building one...it's not cut and dry
You know me these areas are my interest and plants did do different things....so relating to a LR car. If proven they welded the mufflers then that relates to.my X....a 440
Do you know that the some hose stampings are different between plants? (Mainly upper and lower rad hose) So a repro hose on any Mopar is incorrect, ohh and also the repro's are not dated.....an nos may be right as an otc replacement but the one off the line is different....
This is why OE stuff can drive you nuts when building one...it's not cut and dry
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oldbee
Well-Known Member
And if I remember, the hoses all had a white stripe running horizontally with the hose. That was actually a ground strap to tie the engine to the radiator/heater core for grounding purposes. Actually tested it one time,test lite poked very gently into hose with other end connected to positive on battery; it lit up the light.
moparnation74
Well-Known Member
White stripes were dodge, LR had no stripes....
Different plants and this is where OE gets tricky to do right...
lewtot184
Well-Known Member
not trying to pick on anyone, but i wonder how many people who say "this is correct factory or this is not" actually worked on these cars in the '60's and '70's ? there's a guy in my area who's the "numbers/correct guru" who never worked on nor had one of these cars in the '60's. in fact i don't think this guy can put air in a tire but will tell you whats right and whats wrong. if your not in your late '60's or early '70s in age, then you never worked on, raced. or cruised these muscle cars back in the day. there's another guy in my area who's probably late '40's-early '50's who just got into these cars 3-4 years ago and bingo he's an expert. there's a lot of misinformation out there. when these cars were a couple of years old the batteries, tires, shocks, and brakes were wore out. exhaust sytems didn't last much longer.
moparnation74
Well-Known Member
I have seen a lot of original owners that proclaim to be "experts" and they clearly are not and I have seen some that remember a lot and are correct.....As far as age goes, buying these cars new, working on them or racing them does not make one an expert.....I have seen many of those "chip on the shoulder" owners....Those I completely ignore because of their biases.....Ones like these people I ask them, "So where is your OE example?" I tell them your over here quizzing my car, wheres yours? I get the ole well it's in process, I had one, comparing the one I had new, I do not have pictures, my trailer needs new tires etc....lol
In know way am I referring to the local show junkies, heck they know everything...I am referring to a whole different class that most will never meet or get to know....
btw I have confirmation from two "Real Experts" that actually fit your categories above that completely debunk the "welding theory".....So at this stage thanks for sharing your information but I have to side with my historians....Please don't take offense....
oldbee
Well-Known Member
Justine I can totally agree with what you say. When I was working on mine it was "change this/better that" we never knew about restoration/collectibility. Heck, I can remember spray painting right over the QC stamps,etc just to get to one overall color. Didn't know any better and never thought I'd still have the car 49yrs later!
moparnation74
Well-Known Member
absolutely agree.....it is kinda good and bad.....the good aspect is it creates the desire and need for more knowledge and investigating....the bad that is obvious and some things are just lost....
So we strive for perfection but it was only perfect once, they day it left the plant....Everything else is close or closer to what it once was...
Made a little correction above, lol....
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