Exhaust Cutout - Install, Guide - Chevy Chevelle

Available from Quikie Racing, the exhaust cutouts (in various pipe diameters) are delivered with everything you'll need for installation. For the photo, however, we goofed and forgot to show the header collector triangle-type flanges that are also included in the kit. In any case, undoing three wing nuts and pulling off the side plate make your car race-ready.

Available from Quikie Racing, the exhaust cutouts (in various pipe diameters) are delivere

Everybody knows that a choked-up exhaust system hurts engine performance, which means slower e.t.'s at the dragstrip.

Freeing up the exhaust system by upgrading to a dual exhaust pipe setup with better-flowing mufflers is a step in the right direction, but running open headers eliminates exhaust backpressure and delivers more power and better quarter-mile times. Even though running open headers at the dragstrip is cool, crawling under the car to drop the exhaust pipes is a real hassle. Plus, by the time you're finished uncorking your rig, your hands and clothes are a complete mess.

Exhaust cutouts are a quick and easy way to run open headers without going through the hassle of jerking the entire exhaust system. After splicing cutouts into your exhaust system, simply undo a few wing nuts on race day, and you're ready for action. When you're finished racing and ready to go home, put the block-off plates back on and tighten the wing nuts--that's it, you're done. Although the concept of running exhaust cutouts has been around (and popular) since the '50s, most cutout setups are a real butcher job. Now a company called Quikie Racing has easy-to-install cutouts that work great and are simple to use. We installed a set on project Cheap Street Chevelle, and we're having a lot of fun using them.

1. You can splice the Quikie cutouts anywhere in the exhaust system that you want. We wanted to run ours right off the header collectors. Due to clearance problems on our Chevelle, we had to make some short pipe extenders (about 11/2 inches long) to get the cutouts to exit where we wanted. If your car has plenty of room, which most older cars do, simply weld the triangular collector ring onto the cutout.
1. You can splice the Quikie cutouts anywhere in the exhaust system that you want. We want
2. After unbolting and dropping the stock exhaust pipes, attach the exhaust cutouts to the header collectors just as you would your regular exhaust pipes.
2. After unbolting and dropping the stock exhaust pipes, attach the exhaust cutouts to the
3. Place your stock exhaust system next to the exhaust cutouts to determine where to cut the old pipes. Remember, it's better to cut off too little than it is to cut off too much--or you'll have to splice in extra metal later. Work (and measure) slowly and carefully.
3. Place your stock exhaust system next to the exhaust cutouts to determine where to cut t

4. Raise the stock exhaust pipes back into place next to the end of the cutouts. Have a buddy hold the two pipes together as you make a tack-weld to hold everything in place. Then, completely weld (360 degrees) the exhaust pipes to the cutouts. Afterward, check to make sure you've got a complete, leak-free weld. If everything looks good, you're ready for the dragstrip.
4. Raise the stock exhaust pipes back into place next to the end of the cutouts. Have a bu
5. When it's time to race (drag race, street race, or whatever suits your fancy), simply undo the three wing nuts and remove the block-off plates.
5. When it's time to race (drag race, street race, or whatever suits your fancy), simply u