Were sidepipes available on '70 C3's as a special order option from the factory? I'm looking at a '70 roadster that has sidepipes. They look pretty original. How can I tell the aftermarkets from factory?

Thanks,
Steve

As far as I know, side pipes were not an available factory option on a 70.

Factory side pipes for C3's were a one year option only (1969). They consisted of the pipes and a set of cast Aluminum finned covers that were Chrome plated. Many sets were sold over the counter after 1969 and put on later cars. Paragon Reproductions has leased the original tooling from GM and is reproducing the finned Aluminum covers along with all mounting hardware. There should be little difference between the original parts and the reproduction parts except that the quality of the repro parts is probably a little better. I put a set on my '75 (3) years ago and they are BEAUTIFUL!

Some one is also making a molded fiberglass cover as a low cost replacement. You have to paint these covers. These are NOT original GM covers.

Yep, that pretty much summed it up!

If the owner took a set of originals and installed them I think your doing ok.
but the 70 didnt come with them originally I believe they were not offered on 70 and up because of one emissions restrictions and two not many people ordered them on the 69 so gm droped the option, that is a educated guess not based on any facts just my opinion.
I cant help you with OEM or aftermarket unless I saw a picture.

johnny

One year only factory option 1969! Although I have installed factory original pipes on a 71 coupe, used a nos rear panel and made it appear correct on this '71 and fooled everyone (not in the know) as it was removeable as was original '69 unit panel. Most don't go out of their way to make it a "factory correct installation", I think I'm a bit of a perfectionist. They do look good on early sharks of course!

Factory side pipes were offered ONLY in 4 Years....

1965 .. 1966 .. 1967 and 1969....

Bob
64 72 76 79 & 95

The factory sidepipes were available over the parts counter for several years at the dealerships and were considered to be a "dealer option" in the early 70's, much like the luggage racks. If you had the documentation that proved they were installed by the dealer when the car was new, then they can be considered original.