Exhaust cut-outs

General Discussion
1

I was reading an article in a car magazine and they said , talking about a car show event, “the spectators really enjoyed it when we used the cut-outs”. I thought and thought about what the statement meant, what the heck is a “cut-out” and why would the spectators like it? I finally figured out they must be talking about a method the driver can temporarily bypass the muffler and cause a big exhaust noise to come out the tailpipe. Does that sound correct?

If so, just curious how exactly is that done? So the driver can change the exhaust path to include or not include the muffler, all while still driving the car?

2

The new Corvette has a bypass tube around each muffler and a butterfly valve to open and close the bypass tube. It’s about a $1600 option.

Then there is the old standby from JC Whitney that you just cut the exhaust pipe near the front wheel well and install.

http://www.jcwhitney.com/mr-gasket-exhaust-cut-out-with-cable/p2031844.jcwx?filterid=d1939y2014g1984u0j1

3

Oh my, what will they think of next!! … lol …

4

These have been around for decades. My dad had a 1911 antique with one.

5

I’ve seen BMW’s with a dual tip exhaust and a butterfly valve in one of the tips, visible from the back of the car.
Apparently opens automatically at high speed/load.

6

This is my favorite way of doing it. When the caps are open, as they are in the photo, the exhaust shoots straight out the pipe. When the caps are closed, the exhaust is sent through a muffler.

I always liked lake pipes.

7

Lake pipes sound awesome ,but alas I do not like racket now,on another"note " a new state trooper we have has really been writing tickets on loud exhausts(how can he tell too loud ?) I thought if the exhaust was sound and leak free it was basically legal ,do troopers carry a Db meter ?

8

My BIL from Kansas stopped by on his way to the Back to the 50’s show in St. Paul. He had his 64 Fairlane with lake pipes on it. He unplugged the end of it for a demo in the driveway. According to him they are called lake pipes because they used them racing on the lake beds and would open the cut off while racing, then plug them again to drive home street legal.

9

They do in NH.
Lake pipes and noisy exhausts are illegal in NH. I talked to a guy at a show a while back that had a '72 Vega exactly like mine except with the smallblock V8 conversion. He had great looking Thrush lake pipes. But he told me he couldn’t hook them up and pass inspection, they were just for looks. NH is really pathetic on many of our regulations.

10

You can buy wireless remote controlled exhaust cut-outs, too. It can be used by those adult car owners who occasionally like to make a little noise but can’t take it on a day-to-day basis anymore.

11
wireless remote controlled exhaust cut-outs

You know, I’d have never believed this stuff existed until I heard it here. More proof that a person learns a lot about stuff on Car Talk forums … :wink:

12

Went to back to the 50’s car show today. 12,000 cars 64 and older of all kinds. I gotta say a good many of them had the cut outs of one form or another. They all made a racket.