Alright folks, this is what my exhaust guy came up with, it works, it clears the ground -OK-, not the best in the world and speed bumps were already my enemy, "KEEP IN MIND" this car is factory ride height, i hope this will possibly help some people with their exhaust decisions, these are the hedman long tubes, they are the collectors that came with them, i had them expanded to 2 1/2 to fit the flowmaster y-pipe 2 to 1 piece i purchased thru summit, the cutouts sound awsome when uncapped and i have always wanted to have this setup, i would like to have the electric cutouts but 150$x2 is not gonna happen any time soon, i had to modify the hedman hedder on the driver side due to slave cylinder interference, this actually caused my headers to be the same length, look under "Long tube headache" for the pics on the mod...

 

couple more...

 

My old y-pipe was like that and I hated it on my lowered car. I'd scrape every speed bump.

 

Glad you got some picture so you know what it looks like before you tear off those flanges. They look like they are in the weeds and to top it all off they are in the middle of the car. If you were going for cut outs why not put them in the back by the muffler and gain some ground room.

Not trying to be negative. But that has to be the worst spot in the whole car for those.

 

Well, i am pleased with it so far, but the main reason i had them installed in this location is that there is room for them to suck up a bit, they are no lower than the section that runs below the crossmember, also the rumble they put out in this area is very aggressive, running only one by the muffler would not give me as much power when uncapped due to more back pressure, having two in this location is going to give me the most back pressure loss for the track, dual 2 1/2 VS one 2 3/4 cutout, i had this discussion with my exhaust guy, thanks for the input, i am open to all constructive criticism and feedback.

 

another reason to keep cutouts closer to the collectors is to keep it more of an "open header" application. move them further down the exhaust just eliminates the purpose. my cutouts are placed right after some collector reducers 'cause I have 3" collectors and a 2 1/2" pipe (cutouts are 2 1/2"ers from Summit). It also seems like your cutouts are more centered under your car, thats gotta be fun opening and closing them up...

 

Having the cutouts as close to the collectors is the best possible place for exhaust flow. That is obvious. But that does not mean it is in the best location as far as ground clearance goes. That was my point.

The center of the car requires them most ground clearance due to the angles that the car sees when you go over a crest or something. Also if you regularly hit the exhaust you usually end up braking exhaust hangers or causing exhaust leaks. Both are no fun.

 

Well, like i said, in the pics they are where they can pull up a little, the onlu place they have bottomed out is the driveway of the house, kina have to go into tire ruts so even my 86 TA bottoms out a bit with a better clearanced system, i would love to have 300$ for the electric cutouts to bolt them on too, but that money will be going to a T56.