Tried to put the 3" Heartthrob tailpipes on today... my mufflers ended up slightly further to the rear than stock, so I trimmed 1" off the end of each front tailpipe section. Lots of room under there without the stock tank.
Unfortunately the right side will not quite line up at the over-axle joint. The two ends are quite visibly misaligned at an angle. The rear tailpipes are designed to hang beneath the frame rails, and with my minitubs and inward-relocated springs the bend in the rear pipe interferes with the spring. With the pipe in the proper position, the joint won't slide in all the way and there's about a 3/8" gap at the top outside joint.
(The left side has just enough slack in the joint to mate up, although welding it on the car would be "interesting". I plan to tack it and then let the axle hang down which hopefully will give enough room to get the joined pipes out.)
If I can find a tight enough mandrel bend, I can cut it as short as possible (and trim the rear tailpipe if needed). That'll line the ends back up! 15 or 18 degree bends seem to be a stock item at least with 4.5" radius. A tight 1D (3" radius) bend would be better if available.
There's a lot of extra length coming out under the rear valance, so that will need to be "adjusted" (and to install turndowns). I was hoping to add glasspacks to the straight sections, but they definitely won't clear the leaf springs either.
So this kit isn't the perfect solution either, but it's close, and I got the four pieces for $227 shipped. I don't think anyone makes tailpipes to fit minitub/spring relocated A-bodies anyhow...
Edit: I had a bright(?) idea just after posting... cut a crescent-shaped piece from scrap 3" tubing, and weld it over the gap. Less work than trying to cram a tight bend in that area, cheaper than buying bends, but a little "rigged"...
