First up, none of the pics so far show pipes going thru the inner guards. The Best Mufflers pipes thread around the lower control arms and outriggers before coming back to the conventional location.
For any street SBC Torana the Hurricane 4:1 1 5/8" pipes that T0rana has in both the red and black/chrome engine bays are sufficient and bolt in with no modifications. If you make more than about 300 HP then it pays to cut off the 2 1/8" collector and replace it with 2 1/2". This got my UC to an 11.0 quarter so they aren't too bad.
FWIW I would think an engineer would be more concerned about someone modifying the K frame than cutting a hole in an inner guard.
JMHO
You're right Andrew that car on the hoist is the 2Tough torana..and it isnt running the headers up through the inner guards as i thought at first glance. I still stand by what i said about running exhausts up through the inner guards on a street reged car though, the issue being brought up by inspectors is altered structural integrity. Some cars with big holes cut out for intercooler piping often get knocked back too.
Anyway the obvious solution as mentioned is to run smaller pipes..but the op did ask about fitting 1 7/8 primaries. I do know of another torana being built currently with an LS1 using 1 7/8 primaries and its being done with a modded K-frame/trimmed rails and of course custom header pipes. Even if you want to use 1 5/8 pipes its still going to be a tight fit and you still will need to modify the firewall for the dizzy which means belting it with a hammer..or trimming it neatly.
Edited by AD_75, 28 March 2012 - 04:24 PM.