Hot Rods Long Megaphone or Torque Tube-ish style Mufflers?

So, I saw these pop up on ePay and I had to have them immediately. The seller said these were sold by the speed and custom shops in a bygone era, but I've never seen another set before.

Have any of you? I'd love to know more about these.

They look pretty well made, with a folded seam running the length. They're about 55" long and a 4" tube and 2" openings front and back. Take a gander:

 

Did the ad mention what country ?

 

No, but they did mention Honest Charley.

 

Is that John Deere Green or Oliver Green?

 

I have to ask ..... what are torque tube style mufflers ?

 

Looks like an old Montana style Side Pipe off a vintage snowmobile (John Deere maybe)....

Really good at turning fuel into noise and not much else.

 

A lakes style header with the tapered end of an early torque tube for the collector.

 

Example

 

Nope, these are not those. These are about as long as that little rig in the picture you posted.

 

A very common exhaust system modification during the 1950's to deepen the tone of split manifolds and/or the Ford 1.5" pipes was to use a '36 Ford torque tube cut in half on an angle in the middle of the tube. The small end of the tube was perfect for the size of the average tail pipe (s). The tail pipe had to be cut off as soon as it cleared the differential hump.
The angle cut on the end protruding under the bumper did two things, it looked neat and minimized damage to the "boom can/Megaphone" dragging on driveway approaches. The thick steel of the torque tube was also a benefit.

 

Here's the better pictures from the listing. You can probably get a better idea of how these are constructed here.

 

Actually, it's the tapered halves of the drive shaft from inside 35/36 torque tubes.
They get called torque tube collectors all the time, but they are not made from the torque tube!

 

Never even realized the shaft itself was used, actually had to do a google image search to prove you right! Lol

 

Ok, so, but, has anyone ever seen another set of these?

I sure haven't, but I'm under 40.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

This is a drive shaft, the thing you cut in half, it goes inside the torque tube:


Here is a differential with the torque tube attached, heavy material:


lakes headers made from actual driveshafts, not cones:

 

Thanks for the correct explanation, X 38.

 

They look like they are put together like a Smithy. Same fold and end.

 

That gives me something to start digging with, thanks!

I haven't put light down the tubes yet so I'm not sure what the inner construction looks like yet, but I'm expecting something like this:

 

I heard back from Spencer at Honest Charley's and nobody there had seen any quite like this either, but seconded the Smithy's ID:

"I asked one of our veterans around here and they are not familiar with them. It appears they are just smithy's with a cone welded on the end of the muffler. I looked through a '61 catalog and did not see them in there as well. It may have been a product carried then. But unfortunately, we do not have any more information on them."

 

I was thinking the same thing as Rusty Rocket. Would be easy to add a cone to the end of a Smithy with 16ga. and you have it.

 

This is true, however these look to be factory.
The cones are seamed in an identical fashion as the cylinder.
The cone has not been welded other than to the cylinder.

 

I'd use them. Why not? Not everybody has to use '36 driveshafts.

 

Oh I am TOTALLY going to use these on something. They are going into my secret horde of special parts for now though.

 

Those things are definitely nothing special or anything to get excited about.
They are simply old mufflers with the cones fabricated and welded on.

 

Yeah. Ho-hum. Just send them my way. I'll dispose of them for you.

 

If you actually LOOK at the pictures, you'll see that's not the case, but, as usual, you're just quick to have something negative to say about something someone else has some excitement about, which is why I had to click on "Show Ignored Content" to see your post and regret doing so, every time.

Moving on,

HAH, NOT A CHANCE! I'm already trying to decide what kind of build these would really shine on. I'm thinking a low slung modified or roadster. Probably a mild/stocker 59AB with stock headers running out to these to start with. Regardless, they'll get a coat of some gloss black.

 

You are correct on that they will look cool on a roadster or modified regardless of who made them or what the history of them is.

Unique one off or obscure parts can be what makes a hot rod stand out.

They may even sound nice if they are behind a flathead or something like that.

Sorry if I came off as a grumpy negative old bugger but according to you I'm always that way
You probably won't see this anyway but that's ok

 

Figured I would wake this one up since I am looking to actually use these on my build now. I am thinking I will run a 45 off the header with a cap on the end and a J pipe off that to the mufflers

 

@patmanta, check out post #6365 on this thread.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-induction-thread.1042950/page-213