What did you do to your non-G Body project today [2024 edition]

CopperNick said:

Got into the exhaust pipe and found that the road salt had literally eaten holes in it multiple places all the way to the connection under the truck box just ahead of the kickup over the rear end. Turns out that I now need to fabricate a complete new unit.

Since that whole exhaust system never did see a parts counter to begin with, recreating it is a simple exercise involving a lot of pre-bent exhaust Ells that get trimmed for length and then fitted to each other in a specific sequence. Yeah, yeah, why not use mandrel bends and go pretty? Too much work and too little time and who is going to see it? For my little truck I have found this method to be easiest and most practical since I only get about 4 years out of my exhaust pipes due to the corrosive crap that gets sprayed on our roads every winter. Only minor glitch with the ells is that I needed 22.5 degree bends for one section and all the store had was 20 degree. You'd think that 2 degrees isn't much but it forced me to pie cut that bend and tweak the bend to a greater angle to get the alignment right. There is not that much free space under the truck box and that makes getting things right the first time saves the frustration of a redo.

With the brakes I did get as far as spraying them down with CFC free green Label Brake Cleaner. The drums are close to done. Not sure why or how but they have a lot of small black spots showing on the brake surface. Smooth to the touch, almost look like it was contamination in the metal during the foundering process. I did get almost 10 years and several shoe changes out of them so they did pay for themselves. I'd kind of like to see if they could be turned but finding a shop that not only has a machine but someone who genuinely knows how to use it........................................... Major exercise in futility, if you find a shop then they don't want to do the machining unless they get to do the shoe work too.

After all that there is still the acne in the passenger side of the box, still thinking that might have happened due to an adverse reaction between two of the layers of material that I shot on that side last year. If I can get it down to metal and Rust Mort it, then I will have to shoot Epoxy or similar to seal the surface before I dare shoot anything else. Only way I can see to isolate the layers and keep them from engaging in some kind of chemical warfare.


Nick

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78Delta88 said:

Nothing exciting. Just putting in gas tank.

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CopperNick said:

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By way of describing just how torn up that exhaust pipe was, a few pictures of the carnage to peruse.



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And this is the replacement pipe that I put together from my local big box auto store exhaust bend shelf. More on this after the next pic.


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Just a close up of one of the connections. As delivered, these are a slip joint connection, meaning that one end is slightly belled or spread so that the inner diameter of the bell is now equal to the outer diameter of the other end. This allows one ell to accept another one in a sequence more or less according to what type of overall bent shape you wish to create. Once I established which angles and how many of them I needed, I did get lucky and found them all actually in stock.

The connections from one ell to the next are permanent, consisting of a solid circumferential pass along the edge of the bell where it touched the mating tube of the next bend. Those passes were then chamfered down to remove possible points where salt or water could land and dig in. In addition, 4 rosette or plug welds were laid in at 90 degrees to each other and about half way along the length of the bell. I just used a step bit for that and ran them out to a 1/4 inch. Once ground and dressed they pretty much disappear. I can't make it look all that professionally made given how the individual bends were actually done but I can try to make the final product look like some thought and work were put into it to achieve a fairly nice looking final product.

As you can see, the final exit bend has not been added. Before that can happen I have to repair the hanger rod that holds the exit end of the pipe up and in place. One of the areas where the rust out was total was right where the rod had been attached the last time; probably due to salt and crud spray off the rear tire on the passenger side. Because this is a true dual exhaust system, there is a matching inboard pipe but for now it is still in decent shape. All the hanger clamps will be replaced with new ones and any joints will be getting Vibrant band clamps instead of the guillotine muffler shop versions. The band clamps both look neater and actually seal the connection without deforming it; makes any subsequent dissassembly somewhat easier.

As a semi-final note to all this I did inquire at my local indie speed shop as to whether mandrel bends could be purchased on an "each" basis for a project aimed at creating that pipe over again, only without the ripple effect in the bends. Coco was supposed to get back to me today but this is a long weekend up here and last minute customers probably had them going. I'll get the good? word sometime next week.



Nick

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