Definition and Functions of Lake Pipes

Car mods are designed to augment engine performance. Of course, an aesthetic enhancement is also desirable, but engine improvements come first. Lake pipes adhere to this core aftermarket principle by first enhancing engine respiration, but they also follow the second law of the aftermarket charter. That’s right, they inject cars with retro appeal. Stylish by design, what does it take to create this iconic 1950s exhaust mod?

Exposed Piping

When a gearhead allows his four-wheeled addiction to take over, a car’s suspension sometimes drops. The lowered body profile looks cool, but the chassis is now scraping the road. Imagine performance enthusiasts debating what to do with the exhaust pipes when they’re faced with this issue. They pause for a moment, sure, but then the work surges forward again as the pipes move up and out to the side of the chassis. This move preceded the birth of the first lake pipes. Side-mounted and fully exposed, the long tubes hugged the lower sides of the vehicle while emphasizing a rocket-like style.

The Evolved Hot Rod

The developing lake exhaust market was all about 1950s style, a retro look that, while evoking images of comic-book rocket engines, didn’t really add much in the way of a performance gain. Newer products look just as amazing as the original pipework, just as capable of evoking that powerful mid-twentieth century coolness factor, but they add real world performance. Top-notch pipe bends accommodate back-pressure release requirements. Premium alloys are fabricated as wide diameter tubes, bifurcating channels that bolt in place of waste constraining exhaust manifolds. In short, yesteryears side-mounted style still rocks, but that look now sports contemporary performance features.

Brings Retro Credentials

There was a reason these long pipes adorned lake cars. The modification was designed to make the engine roar with unmuted power, but noise wasn’t an issue because the chrome-coated tubes were blasting gas while racing along dry lake beds. As such, basic flapper valves and dump conduits were once used to keep things toned down when the car was rumbling through populated areas. Modern lake pipes are arguably still best suited for remote raceways, but new designs do dramatically cut the aggressive growl.

Built originally to allow vehicle suspensions to drop precipitously, exposed exhaust systems decorated hot rod side panels for decades while drivers raced in dust bowls and dry lake beds. Today, the retro pipework is coming out of the shadows as a way of showing off beautifully worked pipe layouts, systems that make performance addicts salivate with nostalgia-induced envy.

Trufit Exhaust
437 Warrigal Road,
Moorabbin, VIC 3189
Australia
Areas serviced: Melbourne
Tel: 03 9555 5688

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What Are Exhaust Manifolds?

Exhaust manifolds are designed to couple each exhaust port of an engine’s cylinder head to a single outlet pipe. Functionally, the steely unit collects ejected waste gasses from the multiple cylinders and ejects them into a single pipe conduit. Viewed from a purely structural viewpoint, the little collector unit is manufactured as a blocky series of aligned ports. Its job is to merge the collected streams of cylinder-burnt gasses, to combine the multiple exhaust outlets into a single channel. Let’s take a closer look.

Engine-to-Exhaust System Interface

Exhaust manifolds bolt to car engines via heat-resistant gaskets. They’re the compact factory-installed workhorses that convert multiple exhaust outputs into a lone stream so that the unified volume of dirty gas can be expelled down one channel and out through a car’s tailpipe. Unfortunately, that compact profile does not favour free engine respiration. It’s a bit like dropping your head to your chest and trying to breathe freely. It just doesn’t work well, and you end up feeling breathless. An aftermarket exhaust manifold opens up output next to the point that it’s generated. As a result, that hypothetical neck is now stretching to maximize volumetric flow.

Examining the Structural Configuration

This is a critical juncture because it’s the first turn and mixing chamber encountered by the pressurized emissions after they leave the confines of the engine. Consequently, a structure that causes volumetric constriction will decrease the efficiency of the system. Certainly, the multiple output ports are properly sealed by the gasket. Their diameter is broad and the manifold chamber is fairly spacious, but the internal space defined by the contours of the manifold junction are still far from ideal. Again, back pressure problems will manifest when this engine fixture is spatially constrictive.

Accounting for Material Shortcomings

The cast iron or fabricated steel housing is capable of absorbing copious amounts of heat, but that same material will become brittle as it ages. Likewise, the coarse microcrystalline structure used by the sourced metal creates a subtle drag factor, so exhaust ejection ratios are further attenuated. In simple terms, the exhaust collecting aptitude of the product is not in question, but it’s structural and material build does place a big question mark over the collector’s backpressure minimizing capabilities.

An nth amount in and one out exhaust manifold configuration works expeditiously, but geometry improvements and material subsidization will enhance this critical juncture point. Better yet, consider looking into a header replacement if you’re really passionate about horsepower scavenging.

 

Trufit Exhaust
437 Warrigal Road,
Moorabbin, VIC 3189
Australia
Areas serviced: Melbourne
Tel: 03 9555 5688

Trufit Exhaust on Google Maps
Trufit Exhaust on Google Search

Source: This Post “What Are Exhaust Manifolds?” appeared first on “Trufit Exhaust“