Just so y'all know what I am referring to every so often, this is my 2003 Chev LS extended cab. Yes the shot is blurry; sometimes so am I.
Amazing what a winter of salt water and sand can do to a fresh frame paint job. it will all have to be scraped and reshot; a yearly chore. Having the wheel off makes it easier to get to the grease nipples and check the brake pads.
From the point of view of the camera, you are looking forward. What you are seeing are the head pipes, sort of, the cats, the crossover. Remember, all this rust is just one winter of driving.
Moving toward the back, the mufflers now become visible. This is a true dual pipe system whose ancestor was in the vehicle when it came into my hands. By way of $$$$$, a stock head pipe c/w cats, is around 1500 cdn.
And those duals now appear as they exit their mufflers and head for the rear end. The driver's pipe actually jumps cross country to pair up beside the passenger side because, on the driver's side, the gas tank is right there, and offers no room or way of allowing an exhaust pipe to ease on by. Moverover that tank is not metal, it is heavy poly-plastic of some kind; I do not want heat to get any too close to it.
Looking up toward the bottom of the truck box, what is visible is the pair of pipes as they start to make their bends to rise up and over the rear end axle tube.
Just a closen up of the two exhaust pipes sitting at the top of their respective arcs and running over top of the rear end. In this shot it is both noticeable and visible that the new pipe has a lot of crimps appearing in its curves. The sections of curved tube that went into this assembly were machine bent in a factory without the benefit of having that internal group of tube bender balls that custom pipe shops use to prevent kinking. The virtue here is that they come in various angled of bend, 45, 90, 30, etc so they can be fitted together both according to need and to get an end product that fits as cleanly and tightly as possible.
And, coming back down again to make the run to the rear quarter panel on the passenger's side. This is a busy spot due to the presence of the shock absorber, the rear stabilizer bar, and the spare tire. The pipes have to snake their way past all of these without touching any of them or the rear frame crossmember just above them.
And at last they both slip out from under the box side, just ahead of the rear bumper. Sorry, the new pipe is not sitting at an angle. It is the angle of shot that creares that illusion. Viewed from the back or the top, the two pipes run parallel to each other, although the back one is slightly longer; it is the older install and its old partner did match it for profile. I may give it a hair cut, (or not)
And thus ends the tale of the S-10 exhaust rehab. I still have to visit the muffler connection on the driver's side; it may need to have the clamp replaced.
And, of course, the stripping and cleaning and painting of the frame, as much as can be accessed and worked on.................
Nick
