VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION VCCA Judging Questions 1948 Stainless Exhaust Pipes

I am to understand these are excepted at judging if routed correctly. True or false

The exhaust pipe is from the engine to the muffler. The tail pipe is from the mufler to the rear of the car.
If I were judiging a car and either pipe was shiney stainless I would deduct points.
If a low grade of stainless and low shine I would not.
The exhaust pipe lasts for ever and steel is fine.
The tail pipe generally will go for several years or more. I have aluminized steel tail pipes on my cars, bent at a muffler shop, and they look like new but not artificial after 10 or more years

Thanks Gene, understood....The pipes are old but not too bad .My problem is though the flange from header to exhaust manifold does not mate up well and I think it is for a different year? Unfortunately the joints to the muffler are "not" clamped "they are welded" and the header pipe must be cut to change the flange...This being said I will need to replace the system and thought stainless would be a viable option...Guess not

Remember, to be correct for '48, the tip should look like the picture. Really!!

Wonder how many judges know this?


From '48 service news.

The 1941, 1942 and 1948 had a round end on the tail pipe. The 1946 and 1947 had a flat or oval end. If you got a new tail pipe in 1951 you got the 1948 tail pipe and the hanger had to be changed. In this part of the country the end of the tail pipe rusted off the first winter. Chevrolet did off a much more rust resistant replacement aluminized pipe for $1.04 extra. The mufflers usually lasted 2 years.

The VCCA National Judging Manual dated 2011 says the following on Page # 27. "Aluminized or stainless exhaust is acceptable."

dtm

Thanks guys...I remember the discussion about the 45 deg.cut of the tailpipe.Russell,nice to see you have gone for the GOLD..BTW Rus,nice paint!!!I guess I must have read about the stainless pipes in the manual some time back as well. I haven't decided which I will use as of yet, but I will cut the 45 on the tail pipe...I never thought about the missing muffler clamps until being judged at the last NW meet and lost a few points. The possible incorrect header pipe flange has been a problem for a while though. The gasket"donut"does'nt seem to fit properly and I may have a poor seal because of that???

Who may I ask has a stainless exhaust???

Some of my cars have the stainless steel exhaust systems. With the little use of some of my cars an iron system barely makes it through one year. In most cases when judged I do not receive any deductions. SS highly recommended.

Nice to hear that Ray, your opinion is well received...When I have the pipes bent I will also have them cut the 45 on the end of the tail pipe

Ray,
Can you recommend a place for good SS exhaust?

Doug go to Chevs of the 40s.com or The Filling Station .com

I've read old posts that don't recommend buying "store bought" exhaust systems...They almost never fit right, the bends are usually off...Have a good local shop fix ya up...I don't even see any muffler shops that don't run anything but aluminum coated tubing anymore, that and SS...I like the plain tubing for my art work, but scrap ends like that are impossible to find anymore...Have to buy full lenght's at the steel supply...

I do not understand the judging process. Fact is, the more I try to understand VCCA judging, the more confusing it becomes for me.

A vehicle begins at 1000 points, then points may be deducted for whatever is incorrect for that specific year and model. Correct ?

It appears deductions are expected to apply, for incorrect this or that, but a S.S. system that did not exist back then, is acceptable, without any point deduction. Why is that ?

A vehicle must be factory correct, to go for the 1000 points, unless VCCA states a non original item is "OK" for the factory correct car.

Confusing to me.

I agree. To say the least it is a little confusing.

Yep, always keeps me scratching my head and wondering ....

Only a WAG but possibly they are considering the exhaust to be a normal maintenance item and those items would be non point deductible. Items such as oil,filters,grease,plugs,brakes, points,belts,w/w fluid etc. as long as they are correct replacements if applicable. I do agree the SS vs std exhaust is questionable.

Maybe someone can answer the issue of allowing Stainless Streel exhaust from when they were on the National Judging Committee when the decision was made. Just an FYI. The 2011 Judging Manual on Page 27, allows both aluminized and stainless steel exhaust systems with no point deductions if the vehicle is in Class Judging.

dtm

I am no longer a member of the Judging Committee. I was unceremoniously removed. When I was a member the prevailing opinion was that there are some items that are impossible to get in original condition or exactly as they were originally. Also many people who had their vehicles judged got upset when a couple of points were deducted for item(s) that was no longer available or the reproduction parts were not 100%. Tires, hoses, belts, batteries, exhaust systems, honeycomb radiator cores are among them. So to try to keep everyone happy they allowed some of those to be accepted without point deduction(s). I never agreed and tried to get them to understand that they were not being fair to the guy that found those items (probably paid dearly for some) and put them on his car so it would be as accurate as humanly possible. They however, paid more attention to the squeaky wheels (those that pitched a fit) over a few points and cited the declining number of vehicles being judged as their justification. It still is BS in MHO but that is VCCA reality.

The other rationalization was if obviously different parts were not accepted without point deduction it would discourage people from restoring their cars and trucks and we in the VCCA just didn't want to do that! The VCCA meets had fewer and fewer cars being judged and many were convinced that those Nit-Picking judges were to blame. Didn't have anything to do with being fair and balanced to all. Just don't gig my car cause I might take it as an insult. More BS.

Fortunately there are still a few of us that prefer to restore or preserve these old Chevys the best we can despite possibly not receiving a VCCA award. The reward knowing that we did our best can be more important in MHO.

Chipper,

Thanks for your comments / explanation. Certainly makes sense.

It seems , in life today, if we can't cut the mustard, the bar is lowered, so no one will ever get angry with us.

Your final paragraph says it all.


"Fortunately there are still a few of us that prefer to restore or preserve these old Chevys the best we can despite possibly not receiving a VCCA award. The reward knowing that we did our best can be more important in MHO".

Trying to understand the wheres and whys of VCCA judging, I ask many questions on judging .....

Is the 2011 Judging Manual the most recent edition, and if so, how may I obtain one ?

The 2011 Judging Manual is on the VCCA web site.

Didn't know, but thank you, JYD.

You bet. It is all there in PDF so you can print it out.

Can you be a little more specific as to where it is hiding? When I search the "Publications" heading it says there are none available.

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