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Exhaust Systems
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DonFromTexas
Posted 2020-02-06 1:43 PM (#593881)
Subject: Exhaust Systems



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Thought I would share.  I bought a "Carport Find" 1959 Imperial Crown Southampton that had been sitting for decades.  The ehaust was mostly there - laying on the floor where it had rusted off the car!  I found Classic Exhaust on Ebay had exactly what I needed in a complete exhaust system. I ordered and waited for them to get around to making it but when it arrived it was in no way made for that car.  The company will not speak to you except thru EBay, but I managed to get a return going.  Still needing an exhaust, I found Waldron Exhaust seemed able so called them.  I found that for this car one needs the VIN (mid year changes in exhaust), as well as if it is equipped with the air level system.  Although I have not received nor installed their system yet, they were pleasant people to work with and most of all seemed to really know their way around exhaust systems.  I will report results when I get the products.

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wizard
Posted 2020-02-06 3:50 PM (#593885 - in reply to #593881)
Subject: Re: Exhaust Systems



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I know at least one here that bought from Waldron and it fit like a glove.
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NicksGarage
Posted 2020-02-06 7:27 PM (#593896 - in reply to #593881)
Subject: Re: Exhaust Systems



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I bought the stainless exhaust pipes and mufflers for my 300F from Waldron's. My car had stainless headpipes that were supplied by the 300 club. It took over a year before I was able to work on it to install the parts and when I did, I found that the tailpipes were wrong. I contacted them and they told me that I was mistaken and that there must be something wrong with the way I installed the parts or something wrong with my car. My old rusty tailpipes fit with their front pipes and mufflers just fine. Their tailpipes were too long. After speaking to a few other people who had the same problem and finding factory documentation on the correct length of the pipes, they stopped responding to my e-mails. I had other things to do so I just left the rusty tailpipes in there and was planning on taking the car to an exhaust shop to get it fixed. My favorite exhaust place is now 50 miles from where I live.

Anyway, one day several months later I get a notification from UPS that I'm going to be getting a package from Waldron's. They never wrote to me or anything about it so I waited. When the tracking said the package had been delivered. But I had no delivery from UPS that day. I wrote to Waldron's to ask what was up and called UPS. Turns out they had shipped replacement tailpipes to my old house, which is now 50 miles away. I didn't have the contact info for the new owners of my old house but I called my old neighbor and they said they would check with them. I decided to drive down there to see if I could find the pipes but nobody was home and no pipes to be found. The next day I needed to go down that way again so I stopped by and they were home and sure enough they had my pipes. I was able to get a tour of my old house (which had been remodeled by flippers) and went on my way.

When I got home, I pulled the pipes out of the box and they looked and measured right. Still no response from Waldron's on why they changed their minds and remade them. It was a few weeks before I could get the car back on the lift to install the new pipes. I thought it was going to be easy so I pulled the right rusty pipe out and inserted the new one. Sure enough, no go. The bend over the axle was wrong so if I get the end where it needs to go for the hanger, the pipe hits the body over the axle. If I slide everything forward to cure that, the tip doesn't reach the hanger. 1960 Chryslers have an odd layout for the pipes and the hanger at the back actually clamps to the downturned end, not on the horizontal part. This means you don't have any wiggle room with length.

I finally got in touch with Waldron's and again they claim that I'm doing something wrong or that there is something wrong with my car. So I put the factory rusty pipes back in and they're still in there until I can make the trek to the muffler shop to either have them fix the ones they sent me or make me new ones. Another thing with the pipes. The head pipes from the club were made from 304 stainless and Waldron's are made from 430 I think.

And that's not the end of the story...

I bought a 1960 Chrysler New Yorker Town & Country wagon last year and it has most the exhaust system missing. It only has rusty head pipes and tailpipes. These cars came with 2 resonators and two mufflers and the tailpipes exit out the corners of the car under the bumper ends. Being that the car is not driveable and my favorite exhaust place is still 50 miles away, I checked around to see what people were using. Seems like Waldron's is the only source to buy online. You can't even find resonators the right size anywhere. I chatted with someone with the same car and they had used Waldron's with no issue. I went on their web site and looked up my application and they show a picture with this system except the tailpipes weren't angled out the corners. I contacted Ruth there at Waldron's and asked about that and she said the picture was for a sedan but that a wagon set would come with the correct tailpipes.

So, I went ahead and placed an order for an aluminized set. About half the price of stainless and for this car it's fine. A week later I get a message from them saying they want me to provide pictures of my original exhaust. This worries me because they seem unsure of what they are doing. Turns out I'm probably on their list of problematic customers, even though I never made them resolve the issue with my 300F exhaust. I sent them pictures of what I had and of course that led to confusion because one of my tailpipes had been replaced and wasn't exactly right. We agreed on the design of the system and then I made the mistake of asking if they could upsize the pipes. The New Yorker has 2" front pipes and 1 3/4" tailpipes from the factory. They said they could upsize them 1/4" for extra money but that they wouldn't guarantee they would fit my car because I complained about the pipes on my 300F. Now keep in mind I didn't order oversized pipes on my 300F. So not wanting to poke the bear any more and figuring that the stock exhaust size is fine for a stock car, I went ahead and ordered them. 8 week lead time. They weren't supposed to charge my card until shipped but they charged it right away.

A couple weeks ago I got a message from them stating that their muffler supplier in Canada was behind and that they would be delaying most shipments. But last week the system arrived, including the mufflers. Here it is all laid out. The second picture is the same system installed in another wagon. Again it will be a while before I get it in the car as I have to work on fuel and brake lines and rebuild several hangers. I'm going to remove the old pipes this weekend and test fit it anyway so I can make sure it's going to work.

Moral of the story, don't let your pipes sit around for too long before you get them installed. They do quality work when it comes to welding and such and the mufflers they have made are nice. And don't tell them I sent you or you may get put on "the list".

Sorry for the novel.

Edited by NicksGarage 2020-02-06 7:33 PM




(exhaust_new_01.jpg)



(exhaust.jpg)



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Attachments exhaust_new_01.jpg (118KB - 320 downloads)
Attachments exhaust.jpg (95KB - 304 downloads)
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60 Imp
Posted 2020-02-07 3:06 AM (#593904 - in reply to #593881)
Subject: RE: Exhaust Systems


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Location: North Australia
Hey Don, I bought a stainless Waldrons system for my 60 Imperial coupe and it fit fine. Only complaints were that the clamps were light duty (I replaced with heavier ones) and one of the mufflers developed a rattle, which then stopped again, not sure why. Initially I had it fitted up by an exhaust shop, and they did a poor alignment job. When I got my hoist going I re-adjusted the pipes and I got the system to fit good. The exhaust shop said I should of got them to make a custom system, but I am glad I didn't. My system has the resonators and mufflers and is very quiet, which is what an Imperial needs! The system I took out was a patched together bitsa, which was nasty, with no resonators.

Steve.

Edit; I recall reading somewhere that Waldron sourced the original factory exhaust designs (blueprints?), and then programmed a CNC tube bender to make the systems, I don't know if this is true, but make sense.

Edited by 60 Imp 2020-02-07 3:09 AM
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60 dart
Posted 2020-02-07 4:53 AM (#593907 - in reply to #593881)
Subject: Re: Exhaust Systems



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i would suppose they still use bend cards . the cards had all the specific pipe info to bend up per card -----------------------------------------------------later
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DonFromTexas
Posted 2020-02-07 9:48 AM (#593911 - in reply to #593881)
Subject: Re: Exhaust Systems



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Our of curiosity I spoke at length with Waldrons, they use a dual system, the computer data that is fed in, then they compare with a known good pattern. The computerized product is then compared with the known sample, then tweaked to agree 100% with the sample. At this point I feel very confident I can get a set that fits. Will find out soon if that is the case.
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Powerflite
Posted 2020-02-07 2:10 PM (#593925 - in reply to #593881)
Subject: Re: Exhaust Systems



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I would like Waldron's if they would make them with stainless pipes in a larger diameter for a reasonable price. Since that isn't the case, I usually make my own and adapt tail pipes from some other car like a '57 Chevy. Some cutting & splicing is often required, but I get what I want for a reasonable price.
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