Project Torana - Exhaust

By: Steve Nally, Photography by: Steve Nally

Date: 21.12.2016

One of the final tasks on Project Torana was fitting a decent set of pipes. Glenroy Exhaust took up the challenge

If there’s one thing that annoys Silvio Perrone, it’s blokes who don’t place enough importance on their car’s exhaust system as part of a complete performance package. Silvio runs Glenroy Exhaust Centre with his brother Fabio and he’s lost count of how many times he’s had to correct (or just bin) exhaust systems that are wrong for clients’ cars. "An exhaust is usually the last thing on a guy’s mind," Silvio shrugs. "Often they’ve blown so much money on their car that they don’t have enough left for a good system, but if they’re not going to match the exhaust to the motor they might as well drive around with one plug out."

Drop in at Glenroy Exhausts and you’re likely to see everything from an HQ with a big block to an AMG Mercedes and a Kenworth truck. The blokes there are nothing if not versatile and, apart from fabricating custom exhausts, they also do ECU re-mapping and diesel tuning and manufacture exhaust components to wholesale.

"One week we’ll have a workshop full of trucks then it will be brand new Audis then old-school cars like the Unique Cars Torana. It’s never boring and 90 per cent of our work is custom," Silvio says.

"Every man and his dog sells exhaust systems off the shelf because it’s easy, and we’re often fixing other people’s mistakes. It’s not just about putting a big exhaust on a car. If it’s a daily driver you don’t want to be able to hear it from 10 blocks away. Boom is the worst, there is nothing more irritating than that. That’s the thing we really try to eliminate."

Silvio says you can walk into a shop and buy a ready-made system for cars like our Project SS Torana or an HQ or XY but what’s important to match it to the engine’s power. Then you have to decide whether to route over or under the diff, allow for clearance, and the exhaust ‘growing’ as it heats up… It’s not as simple as just bolting on some pipes.

The Project SS exhaust had a good starting point with the Pacemaker extractors already fitted by Mick and his crew at Glenlyon Motors. They’re an off-the-shelf product but Silvio rates them. "I use Pacemakers day in and day out unless it’s an oddball installation like a 350 Chev in an LJ Torana, then we’ll make our own," he says.

Job one for the Glenroy boys was to ‘flange’ the extractors so the system can be taken off in sections if need be. Next the two sections from the extractors to the diff are fabricated and joined in the middle by a balance pipe. Silvio had already specified straight-through stainless steel Magnaflow mufflers, the tricky part was deciding whether to go over or under the diff using mandrell-bent tailpipes and ensuring the pipes cleared the four-link’s trailing arms and the drop tank. Then all that was left to do was get the angle and position of the tailpipes just right.

And the result? The thing sounds spectacular – a deep resonating note that is going to make its new Queensland owner very happy.

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