The greats all had sweet pipes. Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, Buddy Holly, to name but a few, could belt a tune like nobody's business. Crooners who made the opposite sex swoon, they commanded the stage with talent, charisma, and those melodious pipes. We idolized them and wanted to be them, if only for a moment.
Think of all the cars you've owned, hobby and otherwise. The ones you liked the most probably sounded even better than they went. Tubular headers, large-diameter stainless pipes, mufflers that had little restriction but deep, throaty resonance, and polished tips out the back or in front of the rear wheels-the car had to sound right to be cool. The opposite sex couldn't notice you if your ride made sewing machine noises, or at least that's not the first impression you wanted to make.
As the sign says, Warner's...
As the sign says, Warner's Muffler has been around since 1974.
The Steve's Auto Restorations Real Steel '34 Ford roadster pickup that Dad and I are building has an engine that produces 555 hp and 557 lb-ft of torque. Naturally, we want this SBF 427 stroker to sing as well as she's built. So when it came time to get her some custom pipes, we contacted JBA Performance Exhaust Company in San Diego, California, and Magnaflow Performance Exhaust in Rancho Santa Margarita, California. We first discussed our engine's power output and the configuration of the roadster pickup's all-independent chassis with Mark Mathews at JBA. He recommended we go with JBA's Shorty headers for the small-block Ford and mentioned Warner's Muffler in our hometown of Oceanside for the custom installation. Mark also said we should phone Magnaflow for the mufflers.
JBA supplied its Shorty headers...
JBA supplied its Shorty headers for the Ford small-block V-8 and included all the fasteners and collector gaskets.
From talking to Warner's Muffler owner Jim Warner, we learned that it'd be best to go with 2.5-inch-diameter stainless steel pipes and 18-inch-long stainless Magnaflow mufflers. Jim went on to say that the exhaust system would work most efficiently and last forever if we had the pipes and mufflers ceramic coated. JBA's Shorty headers were shipped to us with the bright ceramic-coated covering. Warner's Muffler recommended we contact Olympic Coatings in Escondido, California, to coat the pipes and mufflers in ceramic.
When we first arrived on the scene at Warner's Muffler, we noticed the roadster pickup we'd towed there the day before was already on a rack. Every other lift was occupied, with Warner's technicians working most expeditiously under each car.
After our half-day of witnessing Warner's at work on the '34 Ford roadster pickup and other customers' daily drivers, Dad was so impressed he compared the crew's efficiency to the way Hemingway used to write so sparingly and specifically-not using too many words to describe something, but just the best ones to get the point across the most effectively and artfully. There's no wasted motion at Warner's Muffler, but there's plenty of prowess in fabbing sweet pipes.
To assure a perfect seal with...
To assure a perfect seal with the heads, Warner's Muffler utilized Byson gaskets for the 289 to 351W Ford small-block V-8.
Based upon the amount of horsepower...
Based upon the amount of horsepower and torque the engine produces, Warner's Muffler recommended 2.5-inch-diameter stainless steel pipes and 18-inch Magnaflow Wide Open stainless mufflers.
Jim tightened the header bolts...
Jim tightened the header bolts on the driver side and repeated the same process for the passenger side.
By holding up an X-pipe under...
By holding up an X-pipe under the faux driveshaft where it would have to go, Jim convinced us we'd be better off leaving it out of the exhaust system.
Before bolting the JBA headers...
Before bolting the JBA headers to the engine heads, Jim sanded the bolt surfaces smooth.
To simulate where the pickup's...
To simulate where the pickup's driveshaft would be, Jim cut a section of 2.5-inch stainless pipe and duct-taped it into place between the trans yolk and the differential yolk.
After eyeballing how long...
After eyeballing how long the initial pipe should be on the engine side, Jim selected some 2.5-inch-diameter stainless pipe stock and started bending it in the exhaust tubing bender.
Once he'd made the first bend,...
Once he'd made the first bend, he test-fit the pipe.
To clearance the oil pan,...
To clearance the oil pan, Jim made several more complex bends in the exhaust tubing bender.
To make the flared pipe ends...
To make the flared pipe ends perfectly round, Jim used the hydraulic expansion finger device.
He used the flare tool to...
He used the flare tool to expand the pipe end that mates with the header collector.
Warner's Muffler cut the pipe...
Warner's Muffler cut the pipe the desired length in the cold saw.
After more fine-tuning in...
After more fine-tuning in the tubing bender, the hydraulic flare, and hydraulic expansion finger devices, Jim attached the fabricated pipe to the header collector with 3/8-inch-wide steel header flanges.
Onto the engine side pipe...
Onto the engine side pipe Warner's Muffler fabricated, Jim tack welded the header flanges at each end in order to begin making and bending the next section.
Warner's Muffler used muffler...
Warner's Muffler used muffler stands to hold the Wide Opens in place for more welding and pipe fabricating.
While Dad watched, Jim made...
While Dad watched, Jim made sure the pipes he'd fabricated for going above the half-shafts and through the Kugel Komponents IRS would not interfere with the inboard brakes or the emergency brake on the driver side.
To make the first passenger-side...
To make the first passenger-side tube, Jim repeated the steps he took to fabricate the driver side. Each side is unique.
With the muffler stand holding...
With the muffler stand holding the driver-side muffler steady, Jim welded a 3/8-inch-thick steel header flange on the muffler inlet pipe and proceeded to weld the hanger onto the muffler.
Assured that the rear pipes...
Assured that the rear pipes went through the Kugel rear suspension without interference, Jim welded hanger tabs on the rear crossmember.
While Jim held the Magnaflow...
While Jim held the Magnaflow Wide Open driver-side muffler in place, David laid down more weld on the header flanges.
Notice the Permahold muffler...
Notice the Permahold muffler hanger has been partially tack welded onto the driver-side Magnaflow muffler.
Welding the hanger onto the...
Welding the hanger onto the rear pipes came next.
Warner's Muffler blew apart...
Warner's Muffler blew apart the completed exhaust system and finish welded all the header flanges on the pipes.
The Warner's Muffler custom-fabricated...
The Warner's Muffler custom-fabricated exhaust system is best called Sweet Pipes.
Several days later, we visited...
Several days later, we visited Warner's Muffler to see the Olympic Coatings ceramic-coated pipes and Magnaflow Open Wide mufflers, and to witness the whole system going back together.
In no time, Jim and Brian...
In no time, Jim and Brian had the custom exhaust system back together.