Interested in the thoughts on Lake Pipes. Stainless Steel vs. Chrome. Pros - Cons Running a functional set or for aesthetics only. The car is a long, low and slow early 60s styled custom.
If you can swing it - yes. Stainless steel will cost more but probably last longer than whatever chrome pipes are available. You may clear coat the chrome to extend its life a little. Non working pipes will last longer too. No toxic chemicals or fumes. No heat cycles.
Since you asked, I think they are lame. Dummy ones, beyond lame, whatever that particular place of shame is. Along with…well, you didn’t ask.
If it is what you like... Just do it. If it turns out you are disappointed, that's what swap meets are for.
Hello, One day before the pandemic started 2 years ago, we were driving around the beach side community looking for an old surf shop where I got my last custom made surfboard. When we rolled around the curving street, out of nowhere, a purple car was seen a long ways down the street. Who has a wild shade of purple these days? It was an old Buick sedan that was in a stage of building or it could have been a style with the Frozen Purple Paint. The “frozen” paint is a popular color for custom paints and also from various factory cars/trucks. As far as a long side pipe made of chrome plating or stainless steel, remember, it is the lowest to the ground and meets all sorts of water everywhere. But, as we found out in a very salt air environment during our sailing days, there are grades of stainless steel and the lower the quality, the faster it rusts. Yes, stainless steel rusts if not treated or continually wiped with a protective solution. On his 1951 two door Oldsmobile sedan, my brother had put on some long side lakes pipes. They looked cool and were actually hooked up to the down tube from the exhaust pipes. So, there were times when the cap was taken off and the sound was like a drag strip. But, they did not last long. If one wants a lowered rake look, then something has to go, as it gets scraped every time a bump or rise in someone’s driveway is approaching. Lowered rake The first thing I noticed is the lowered stance. The question is, how low can one go without scraping and stay within the CHP lowered laws? I noticed a similar looking Buick sedan in a series of photos. It was the same all purple Buick sedan that we saw a year ago. It now looked finished with a custom, off-setting paint, color matching skirts, and trim. There was still the purple paint on top of the roof. A tri-toned custom Buick in So Cal, no less. Kudos to the owner, it looks rather cool and fits right in to the custom car scene. Wild paint? Who has a tri-color paint scheme these days? Mild custom, nice looking, you bet...YRMV Our Buick fanatic dad would have had fun looking at this Buick sedan. I could picture him driving it to work when we were little, wearing his famous, Dobbs Fedora hat… HA! New photo of the custom paint by Jay Philippbar
The question was not about if lake pipes are lame, etc. But the thoughts between chromed lake pipes and stainless steel, the pros and cons. The traditional builders of customs during the early period used lake pipes, sometime functional and sometimes, like with spotlights, they were dummy ones.
My comment was to that poison to the eyes you posted. Unless of course you did not post that picture ironically.
I had chrome dummy lakespipes on my fleetline bought them used for $100 bucks polished them up with wd40 amd ran ‘em !! Would wipe them down with wd40 or whatever penetrating oil I had handy when I remembered to clean them and they always shined up nice . I was going to put a set on my 55 Buick as well but changed my mind . fake or not they are a nice look in my book for 50’s customs .
I searched for a couple years and finally found a pair of shorty "kickstand" lake pipes. they were functional and the only exhaust, they weren't simply cutouts. I loved them and people commented about them all the time. I managed to round up another set for some unknown future project.
I tucked a set of those ribbed kickstand pipes into my PU's running's boards. It was either that or a SS strip down the boards, it needed somethin shiny on the sides other than just door handles and hinges, this is what I chose. Truck is not done yet so you will have to settle for this
these WERE chrome, and hooked up to the exhaust. installed downhill from the exhaust, so they were rusted out. lakes pipes are not my cup of tea anyway!
I’m a fan of lakes pipes. If you run them open, with no mufflers, I can tell you they can be F’n loud! I recommend cutout valves. Use a higher grade of stainless, like 304.
I tried that. The motorcycle baffles I tried were WAY too restrictive. Didn’t work for me. Took them out.
Hello, As mentioned before, my brother had our local welding shop connect the long, chrome, side lakes pipes to the down tube of the exhaust pipes coming from the motor. So, the cap was functional and when we opened it, it was loud and noisy. But, it was exactly like the local nearby Lion's Dragstrip pits area. That was the point. On many Friday nights, my brother would uncap each long, side lakes pipes and be off to the teenage hangout/cruising grounds. He figured out that at a certain RPM, the sound was exactly like legal muffled sounds. So, if a local police car or CHP cruiser was nearby, up came the RPMs until the danger was passed. But, he did get a warning and was made to cap up the cover when a sharp-eyed CHP officer saw an uncapped opening. It was not a moving violation or fix-it ticket, but the CHP officer stood by as the caps were put back in place. Of course, a stern warning was as good as the next week of uncapped sounds coming from the long, chrome side lakes pipes. Jnaki The one thing and final thing was that after several weeks up to a month, the pipes played their part. But, every time he came up into our own driveway or went over the intersection near our house on the way to or back from cruising, he had to go ever so slowly. It was so as not to scrape the chrome long side lakes pipes. The pipes were the lowest spot on the 51 Oldsmobile Sedan and took the brunt of any bumps or street pot holes. The idea of a lowered rake was more important than having to worry about those low hanging, side lakes pipes at every street corner, sidewalk crossing into driveways or even the alleyways near our house. 1951 Oldsmobile Sedan Teenage Cruisers So, those cool looking side pipes were sold to a friend and my brother had the short down pipes get the removable cap for the drag racing sound when needed at the local cruising scene or for the time trial runs at the local nearby Lion's Dragstrip. YRMV
Hello, The only difference back then, to opening the exhaust pipes, was to get access to the noise and hope it improved the performance. But, reaching under the car was the way to open those pipe caps. With a wingnut, those caps slid off easily and we did not lose any wingnut caps vibrating off, either. But, that was a noisy proposition driving around with open pipes. These days, there are remote control opening cut outs available. But for most, it is not a direct route down and out from the exhaust pipes, but just put in place anywhere it is convenient. It is noise and not for performance if there was any performance gains with open long pipes or even shorty down tubes. YRMV Jnaki Besides, who wants to be known as a loud hot rod at driving cruise events...better bring your custom fitted ear plugs. For show, it is like a 50-60s styling design. For these modern times and convenience of not hitting the lowest spot on your hot rod or custom, it is for show only. Who wants to be associated with loud noises from pipes or mufflers like the "idiots in a mustang" and those popping mufflers?
So, my frame is boxed so I could not use a nut and bolt. Any suggestions for a secure way to attach this bracket to the frame?
I bolted mine to the inner rockers, bent the bracket 90 degrees. You could also use nutsert's--- rivnut's.https://www.zoro.com/avk-expandable-tool-38-16-steel-aa181-616/i/G9676466/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=surfaces&utm_campaign=shopping feed&utm_content=free google shopping clicks&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIi4PtvpTE-AIVm3NvBB3MHgNZEAQYBCABEgKYc_D_BwEJust a quick online pic.
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