I just purchased a complete exhaust system for my 68. It is supposed to be an exact match to the original system. The fit and finish was excellent, it installed easy and just fell into place everything lined up with the OEM hangars. The exhaust company also restored my OEM hangars for me and did a great job.
My issue or question is the turn down of the right side tail pipe does not look correct, as the left and right sides don’t match. I questioned them on this situation, sent them several pictures. They double checked their pattern and insist that manufactured it correct. They state that they have manufactured systems for a “concours restorer” and never had a system sent back for correction. I don’t have my original system to reference.
Here is a picture of the rear of the car, is this correct??? 1968 J-Code car.
Doesn’t look correct to me either. See if they will send you a different P-side tailpipe. Maybe just a one off opps when they were bending that pipe.
Boss,
They did send a replacement as they thought thyy might have made an incorrect cut. But it was identical. Then they asked for several more pictures of the pipe both on and off the car. They say they agree that it does not look correct, but it is. And that they made their pattern from a verified original dual exhaust from a '68 Cougar 302. And have sold several sets and never had anyone complain.
The system came from Waldron’s Exhaust in Michigan, and from my research before buying, has an excellent reputation of making correct systems.
It looks like your psg pipe is a bit higher than the drivers. Check to make sure the pipe is parallel with the ground. Even with that the cut on the end does not look right.
I had a similar problem with a system from Magnaflow that I put on a late model Mustang. It turned out the muffler had been dropped on its end and the exit angle was off. This caused the tail pipe to be higher and slightly offset to one side. The Fix was to pull the muffler and then use the tail pipe for leverage to straighten it all up. Fit perfectly when I go it down. Magnaflow wanted me to make a freight claim but I didn’t want to have to hassle with UPS over it. They probably would have replaced the muffler but we needed to get the car back on the road.
I agree, the PS tailpipe is wonky, I’d stay on the vendor until they see it your way (reality).
Both sides should be the same.
Here is a picture of a factory my 1969 Cobra Jet exhaust system. The turn downs on the tips, should look the same on 1968’s from what I have seen.
and later re-installed.
Check and make sure your brackets that hold the mufflers are on the correct side. If I remember correctly one is longer then the other. If you had them swapped that would make one side to high and the other to low. Looking at the bottom of the mufflers they don’t look even.
Have an original factory exhaust from a 68 J Code (buried in the garage right now but will try to extract for some photos). The turndowns on the tips are identical and at the same level, very much like the off-the-car pic from CougarCJ. In other words, both should look like the driver side in your pic. The cut angle on the two pipes looks different, and it also appears the p-side pipe is sitting a bit higher.
