Exhaust and transmission cross member? 1971

[Frank Riley]

there is a metal cross member or bar under the transmission that the exhaust goes through on the 71, there is part of this structure on the bottom that is bolted to the frame on the bottom of the side rails. The past owner of my Vette had the complete exhaust system welded together so I can not seperate my exhaust (yes I want it out). If I remove the flate bottom part with the 2 bolts on the ends can I then drop the exhaust down and out of the 2 holes it is in, or is there a problem with the transmission not being supported? Let me know pointed@earthlink.net
Frank

[MaineVette]

Technically I think this is possible. However, if you have a manual transmission you may need to disconnect the shifter assembly as well. Judging by the fact that you have a "bolted" cross member it sounds like you have an aftermarket transmission so it's hard to say for sure what you'll encounter when you do this.

But, even if you drop the cross member, how will you get the exhaust out of the ports? If it were me I'd probably just cut the exhaust and introduce a splice. It will probably be a lot less work in the long run.

[ArtGle]

.... I got the whole thing out in one piece with the crossmember.