'98 Silverado Z71 "Town Pickup"

[OutlawDrifter]

ordered a 3.5" exhaust tip and an aluminized tailpipe from summit. tip will be here tomorrow, the tailpipe doesn't arrive until monday. found a 3" mandrel bent pipe for a ford application, should work out just fine, $38 and change.

 

[GMRedline]

you need to get that y-pipe on and let me know how it fits ;-)

I know!

I ran into an issue with the factory bolts. Even though I sprayed down all the nuts and bolt in the exhaust system with PB Blaster several times it's not making my job any easier. I have 4 out of the 6 header to downpipe bolts loose. One is stripped and the other I can't get at until I cut the exhaust off.

1 of the 3 cat to muffler bolts snapped when I tried to remove it.

I was hoping to "prep" the exhaust by getting everything loose before I jumped into the project. But it doesn't look like that is going to happen.

So now I'm preparing for the worse.

I'm going to cut the stock exhaust off which means it can't go back on. If welding a socket to the stripped nut doesn't work, I will grind it off which means I will have to replace the manifold studs.

I already have new manifold studs ready to go but those can be challenging too. If I'm going to have to do that, my best bet would be to remove the manifolds from the engine which brings 12 more nuts and studs that are notoriously difficult to remove.

If I'm going to remove the manifolds from the engine I might as well just bought some headers.... See where this is going?

Either way, I don't have the time to jump into this project since I need to drive my truck every day. Starting March 1st I won't be driving the truck for a few weeks. The project will for sure start then.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

well, tailpipe showed up today, it was the wrong one. i'm tired of waiting at this point. they refunded my money and told me to keep the tailpipe. so a wrinkle bent 3" is going in...better than a wrinkle bent 2.75" i guess...especially for free.

should have exhaust done by saturday at the latest.

 

[frito-bandito]

Nice truck! Sucks about the trouble the exhaust is giving you though.

 

[Jorge6.5]

What kind of tail pipe were you looking for? Dynomax makes a 3" mandrel tail pipe right in summit also here for cheaper http://mudflaps.com/i-7231809-dynom...il-pipe.html?gclid=CN-eusjJ4coCFc0lgQodkUwCwA

It's only aluminized steel. I've been running the same one for over two years. Starting to rust on bottom so I'll clean it up and hit it with exhaust paint.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

What kind of tail pipe were you looking for? Dynomax makes a 3" mandrel tail pipe right in summit also here for cheaper http://mudflaps.com/i-7231809-dynom...il-pipe.html?gclid=CN-eusjJ4coCFc0lgQodkUwCwA

It's only aluminized steel. I've been running the same one for over two years. Starting to rust on bottom so I'll clean it up and hit it with exhaust paint.

That would have been my first choice but they are backordered for over a month.

 

[Jorge6.5]

Sorry about that. Maybe you can look up the part number through another retailer.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

No worries, the part number itself is on backorder from Dynomax, along with a few other 3" mandrel bent pipes they offer. I called on your number a few weeks ago.

Haha, I could probably list off about every 3" mandrel tailpipe out there right now!

 

[slowburb]

That's s real nice looking truck. Well they both are. I applaud you for the obvious care you take of your stuff.

I waited a long time to upgrade the stereo in my truck. Looking back, it would have been better if upgraded to the Bluetooth capable radio I have now, a long time ago. Yup. Headlights and radio would have been first. If you say a new sound system is in the plans, its a good one to plan early in the schedule.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Thank you for the kind words. My dad has always been meticulous about his vehicles. Guess I picked it up from him growing up. Hopefully my kids will do the same.

Audio never was my thing growing up. All I cared about was speed and sound. I bought a 2wd K5 a few years ago and got my feet wet with amps and subs. This pickup will just get a nice upgrade, nothing over the top. Still trying to figure out the direction of the head unit.