I have a 1969 Ford F100, long bed, 360 engine (basically 390 block). It has a single exhaust right now, still factory and rotting away. I have an LMC truck magazine for this particular truck. It has pre-bent dual exhaust system with turbo chambers. I forget the price, $300 +/-? I was advised by a friend of mine that he personally wouldn’t mess with buying a kit like that. It may not fit exactly and I will probably end up at a muffler shop anyway. I did call a muffler shop and they said the same thing, at which I’m not surprised. I’m actually a plumber so if someone asks if installing a bathroom in a basement with no bathroom existing, would it be easy. I would reply that it would be hard and probably quicker and better workmanship with a plumber doing the work for you. So I understand where this muffler shop is coming from.
Now, my question(s) are: Does anyone out there have experience with doing their own exhaust, or do you recommend having it done? Are exhaust kits in magazines hard to install? A shop quoted about $400-500 for duals and more for name brand chambers like Flowmaster. They would install turbo chambers.
Can I also have your opinion on Flowmaster, Dynomax, Magnaflow, etc. Maybe some other brands I don’t know of. It does have a big block but I don’t want the pro street sound, but something that…i don’t know…“purrs”.
Your expertise and opinions are greatly valued as is your time in reading this!
Thanks!
JP3
THUMBS UP FOR THE NEW FORMAT OF CARTALK!!! LOVE IT!
I have replaced a number of exhausts (used to work at a garage), and it was never much fun, lots of rusted fasteners, etc. So I’ll have somebody else do it now (when needed, it’s pretty rare these days). For your truck, if money’s a big deal you could order the parts, but you do run some risk of them not fitting. I’d have a shop do it.
Great Advice! Thanks! Really, $400-500 isn’t too bad and I can have them do anything with the tips in the back. I want it hidden high behind the back tires just barely coming out of the rear quarters.
Some of the fits won’t work without some work but it is only a minor problem. A pipe expander with an air or electric impact gun will do the job. Broken studs on the exhaust manifold can be drilled and cleaned with a tap without much trouble. If a muffler clamp breaks, you will know how not to break the next one. Don’t use the half inch drive air gun on it; use an air ratchet and don’t go too crazy on it.
If you are a plumber, it isn’t worth the wasted time. Have somebody else do it.
Yes! Time IS an issue as well. I work 35 miles away and have 4 kids, etc. So time is an issue. I’m sold. A muffler shop it is. Just gotta find a good one.
Name brand pipe (Walker, IPC) fit great but still need tweaking sometimes. A no-name pipe kit will fit like crap. Have a shop bend up a set, you won’t be sorry.
I’d say you get what you pay for. If you buy cheap, expect it to be cheap. I’d consider getting stainless. If you buy stainless, you’ll likely never have to do it again, but if you get regular steel, expect to have to replace parts in 5 years or less.
P/U trucks are the easiest vehicles to install an exhaust on…The 360 is a TRUCK engine with little performance potential. Have a shop install a single 3" system and save the expense and weight of duels…But duels with glass-packs DO sound cool, if that is your goal…
If you go duals, there is one other thing to consider. There is a lot more surface area to cool the exhaust gasses before they exit the back. That increased surface area increases the possibility of condensation occurring inside the mufflers and pipes, especially toward the back. This condensation will be acid so it will corrode your pipes and muffler sooner than a single exhaust.
Since you have a 35 mile drive, this wont be a problem for those trip, but if you do some short trips around town, in cold weather, like on weekends or going for parts mid day at work, it will be hard on the system.
i might have misled some. it’s not my daily driver, just a toy. daily driver is a taurus. this truck gets driven maybe two or three times a month. i’ll sometimes drive it to work every other friday.
@caddyman: “The 360 is a TRUCK engine with little performance potential.” so i can’t change some internals for more power and upgrade from 2bbl carb to 4bbl or double pumper? not looking for a ten second truck, just something with good sound a power to put a grin on my face.
Little performance potential does not mean no performance potential. If your expectations aren’t too high, you can get a little more performance out of it. The hard part is finding good performance parts, this was not a popular engine for building up.
It might be cheaper, and more fun, to find a decent 428 to drop in.
Yeah if you like crawling under the truck with crap falling in your eyes, its fun. I would only do limited work myself. As far as the catalog quality, there will be a huge difference in the guage of the pipe from OEM to some after-market pipe. Just like there are different thicknesses of copper pipe for plumbing. Also the quality of the bends can make a difference. Some bends restrict the flow where others don’t. Then there is the general fit issue. I’d just let a regular shop do it but ask about the pipe guage and the type of bends.
its my understanding that its a 390 block. those weren’t built up for racing in the trans am, SCCA, days? 390 was fords answer to gm’s 396, but couldn’t compete at the track, so ford came back with, what was it…can’t remember, 428? if there’s not much performance potential, then i’ll leave it stock as it was the introductory year of the Explorer line of trucks. i am planning on keeping it as close to original as possible. i may even keep the 2bbl carb on it.
great info!
yes, keith, my expectations aren’t too high. it is tempting to drop a screamin bbf in it!
Anything by Flowmaster or the like will fit like a glove… Cheapo’s will not… Bout that simple. I will only tackle very minor exhaust issues…sometimes not at all. I HATE having rust and dirt fall in my eyes and then bang my head on the underside of the car as soon as the stuff enters my eye… A professional car lift changes everything, so…got one?
FYI, the 390 preceded the Chevy 396 by several years. It was never raced in scca or trans am, it was too big for those, but it may have been raced in NASCAR and NHRA. It was enlarged to 406 to compete with the 409, 413 etc.
Ford did have success with the 427 engine, but this engine is very rare. The 428 was sort of the consumer/street version of the 427. It wasn’t heavy duty enough to take all the HP a 427 could pump out, but because of its smaller internals (bearings etc) it had less internal drag and could be built to pump out some respectable HP on the street. It just couldn’t be built to the extent of the 427, it wouldn’t hold up.
A lot of cars that Ford labeled as having a 427 actually had a 428.
332, 352, 360, 390, 428 all belong to the same engine “family”…That suspect 2-barrel carb is a BIG two barrel, sought after by those wanting a little extra go out of their 2V 289’s and 302’s…
The 390 was Fords big block workhorse for many years…Everything from T-birds to P/U trucks were powered by that engine…In 390 GT ('67-68) trim it produced 335hp. Police Galaxies got this engine as did Mustangs and Fairlanes…In 1968.5, the 428 Cobra-Jet was unleashed as Fords big performance mill '69-'74…of course, if you had enough money, you could acquire one of Fords racing engines, the legendary 427, a cousin to that humble 360 in your truck.
If you want to put a little muscle in that 360, a medium rise aluminum intake manifold (get rid of 80 pounds of ugly fat) and 4 barrel carb will indeed perk it up. While you are at it, install that 390 GT camshaft and yes, your dual exhausts…Some serious money on the table here…Or step up into the modern age with a Modular V8 out of a late-model Mustang GT…Yes, fuel injection, you will need the engine control module and harness. They make kits to do this…$$$$$$
I have never understood souping up an old pick-up…The have such poor traction, handle so poorly…Loves labor lost…But to each his own! have fun! When playing with those Ford big Blocks, get a spec sheet and compare the bore & stroke dimensions of all those engines…You can see what fits in what and how Ford managed all those different displacements…For performance, think big bore, short stroke…Look at the 427…None of those parts will fit in your 360…Not that you can find those parts today…
If you co caddyman’s route, which is practical BTW, then go ahead and get a complete dual exhaust system with headers and the turbo mufflers at the rear, not in the middle. They work better in the rear because the gasses have cooled a little and condensed, so they wont generate as much back pressure. Also add an electronic distributer and ignitions system from a late 70’s model.
