Search the Community

My thoughtful wife gifted me with a new set of Patriot ceramic coated mid-length headers for Christmas. Of course, I had searched high and low for a set of full length headers that would fit a big block, manual transmission ’70 Monte, but nobody makes one. Several are available for big blocks with automatics because they don’t have the Z-bar in front of the firewall that interferes with a swept-back #7 pipe. An unknown brand of full-length, tuned 2” headers were severely massaged and installed way back in ’74 when the 402 was heavily modified but they were completely rust-coated, heated up my starter and made it almost impossible to change the oil filter. I thought seriously about having some shop install the new headers and connect them to my existing exhaust system but the only shop that could/would do both wanted “at least $600, maybe more”. So I decided to do it myself … using ramps in front and jack stands in the rear. I thought I would have to cut the old headers up to get them out but they barely snaked out without cutting. Good thing, too, as my salvage yard buddy wanted them for an “old school” drag racer he was building. By comparison, installing the new mid-length headers was a breeze … no loosening of motor mounts or anything. Of course, the challenge for a novice like myself was to build the intermediate pipes between the mid-length header collectors and the original header-back 2” exhaust system on the car. The passenger side was straight forward, cutting the expanded section of a 6” radius 45 degree 2.5” elbow and welding it to the collector adapter that came with the headers. Then a piece of straight 2” and a connector to the existing 2” pipe. The driver’s side was a different story. For some unknown reason, the collector on the driver’s side sticks down a full 3” lower than the passenger side so the same elbow used on that side hung down too low. Since I could not find a small radius 2.5” elbow anywhere locally, I decided to cut the middle section out a large radius elbow and weld it up. That forced me to learn to weld thin metal with my Eastwood 175 welder. Got ‘er done … came out pretty good. I no sooner got everything hooked up and noticed a split seam on one of my original mufflers. I decided that it was high time I upgraded to a completely new 2.5” dual exhaust system anyway. Should have known that nobody (including Patriot) makes a dual exhaust system that hooks directly to a mid-length header. But since I had already made intermediate pipes for the 2” original system, I just needed to convert them to 2.5” size and order a standard header-back 2.5” exhaust kit for full length headers. Summit offers a complete, no-frills 2.5” dual exhaust kit for $228 including over-sized shipping fee so I gave it a shot. It is basic but uses heavy gauge pipes with mandrel bends with turbo mufflers and includes all clamps and hangers. A lot of reviewers complain about the hangers, but they worked well for me with just minor modifications. There are a ton of cooler and more expensive exhaust systems available, of course, but this one met all of my needs so why spend more to get a big name and/or high-tech design features if I don’t want or need them? Well, after several days on my back on the garage floor and several dozen trips in and out from under the car, it is completely installed … it fits good, looks good and sounds …. loud, much louder than to original mufflers. I may get used to them or I may replace them if the wife or neighbors complain too much. Total project cost including ceramic headers, dual exhaust kit, adapter pipes and exhaust tools was just under $700 and I did all of the work myself including the welding … guess that’s one reason I love my first gen Montes. The following thumbnail photos are proof that it “happened” …