Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

All,
I need to replace the exhaust system (tail pipe, muffler and exhaust pipe) on my 526 4 door sedan. I posted on the AACA forum and Waldron's Exhaust was recommended and they do make systems for my car. Has anybody had any experience with their products for this vintage Packard (or others). Are there any other vendors you might recommend for Packard exhaust?
Thanks,
Rob

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I am making modifications to a complete Waldron system I bought a few months back for a 1929 model 645. What I discovered is that they use quality components (pipe and the muffler are good quality). However, their brackets and welds aren't accurate. The bracket that bolts to the bottom of the exhaust manifold was 1/2 inch plate steel on my original system. The one I received from Waldron was 5/16 inch plate. Also, the angle at which the bracket was welded was slightly off, so that the end pipe is almost two inches off from lining up with the muffler. If you order a Waldron system, tell them not to weld the exhaust manifold bracket to the front pipe. That way, when you get it, you can line it up correctly on the car, spot weld it, then take it to a local muffler guy to complete the weld. Also, the rear pipe was almost seven inches short after leaving the back of the muffler. I had to go buy a piece of piep and weld it on to the Waldron pipe. The last thing is that the muffler didn't have the four bolts welded on which allow it to hang on the frame. It was easy enough to go buy the bolts and weld them on each end of the muffler.

None of these things are huge issues. You just need to know that you are gonna have to make some modifications to the system when you get it. The silver lining is that they didn't gouge me on pricing. I got all three pieces (front pipe, muffler and rear pipe) for $625.

They’re very nice people but unfortunately they are not too good at what they do.

Not specifically for Packard but a few years back I bought a tailpipe, muffler, resonator and connector pipe and the connector pipe was just a regular round pipe when the car requires that it be flattened to clear the frame. They replaced it with one that had been beat to death with an air press so I had to use my old original piece instead.

Also, I tried to get them to make the tailpipe for my 1951 Henney-Packard from the original blueprint but they were unable to read the blueprint so probably that’s where all the other errors come into play.

Though it's not recent experience, years back I had occasion to install complete exhaust systems from Waldron, both for prewar and postwar models. Fabrication quality was excellent and fit and installation was without issues.

Thanks for all the feedback. It seems like they are a decent vendor. I do want the OEM sound and they say they provide that.

I used Waldrons on my '32 and '55, The '32 had been converted from an updraft carb to a down draft. So I or it as was a '33. I installed it myself, it took some mods near where it went to the manifolds. Other than that it went well.

I had the '55 done at a shop and it required some minor mods, but much required to make it fit.

Hi all,
I hope my initial review of Waldron's didn't sound too negative. The current owner bought the rights to the business when the original owner retired, so I'm sure there is a learning curve there. I'm thankful they are still in business, with the number of restorers and tradespeople retiring at the rate they are!

Also, the Waldron order form states that adjustments will have to be made. The language reads "your complete OEM style exhaust system is guaranteed to fit with some adjustments at your cost or effort during installation including pipe trimming, adding flat spots, bend angle adjustment, and opening ends".

I can't imagine something like this fitting perfectly unless it came from the factory or someone had the car sitting in front of them to work from. Overall, the folks at Waldron's did a decent job and offered a fair price.
John Wogec

On my post above, the '32 was previous owner and the '55 was the new one. I would not hesitate to use them again.