What to do about my SSIs

[Schrup]

I bought some SSIs & a sport muffler off a track car last winter. When my mechanic installed them he told me they were hacked up pretty bad. Here are some pics.



As you can see it's been leaking through the flange pretty bad, the mating surfaces are warped both on the SSIs & the muffler. One friend suggested that the flange can be straightened out with a torch. I'm thinking I want to take try & see if the manufactorer will sell me the missing ends then have somebody good at welding stainless restore them to there original length. Then I want to install a Flowmaster or something lightweight & cheap for now or have my sport muffler (which is also a hack job) fixed, but don't know if that's possible. Was hoping for some opinions, I'm on a very tight budget. Here's a pics of the muffler.

[Rot 911]

Holy crap Paul! I can't help but think the horsepower gained by tuned headers is lost with the addition of those long intakes on the muffler!

[MichiganMat]

the obvious response: sell it to me.

[Bill Verburg]

Why would somebody do that?

This is what the SSIs should look like

[john walker's workshop]

i would call SSI and see if they could provide the repair part. they're pretty nice over there. PM me for another option.

[RSupdate]

Looks like those were chopped off for megaphones....

Shoulda bought mine..... and there still available too

[Schrup]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by RSupdate
[B]Looks like those were chopped off for megaphones.

Can megaphones be baffled enough to use on the street?
Where would I find these?

[cab83_750]

Originally posted by RSupdate
Shoulda bought mine..... and there still available too

[/B]

OK, how much?

[aigel]

O boy, and I thought there isn't much you can do wrong by buying a used set of stainless heat exchangers!

Try SSI. If they don't want to do the work, try a race car fab shop. Someone that does custom header work. There is usually plenty around in the drag racing world. Even a regular machineshop that does precision vacuum and other stainless tubing work will be able to help. I think a pair of templates may be very good to have to bring.

Just a few thoughts. Good Luck,

George

[SLO-BOB]

RSupdate-you specify no e-mails so contacting you on those SSIs is tricky. How much and will they fit a 77? Tia.

[Elombard]

Another thought, I bet you can get a wasted 2 in 1 out muff for free and hack the intakes off and have them welded to your sport for a cheap fix there.

Is the leak bad? I might just leave it.... get a new gasket (or 2) and let her role your probably only losing 1 HP or something.

[aigel]

I think that the power loss due to what's been done is minimal if notieable at all. The important stuff takes place further up the stream. Maybe you can bend things in shape enough to use as is. Maybe have some new flanges put on the SSIs. That way you can alwways put megaphones.

George

[Schrup]

I am seriously considering Supertrapps. I can get the 18" x 4" black steel (8lbs) for $250 & put about 12 discs ($130) in it. Cheap, lightweight & loud. I'm really short of money right now & I think it would be a good fit. I'll know more after I hear from Triad & if he can help me. I hope I can get the parts to repair my SSIs , which I want no matter what, so that I can have then restored eventually.

I really liked the sound of the sport muffler that was on there, but I wouldn't mind if it was a bit louder back there. What do you all think?

[aigel]

I think the cars with megaphones sound great. But I'd worry with themin traffic. You will have "pull me over" written all over the car.

George

[Schrup]

George, I'm talking about Supertrapps, I think they're a bit less noisy than megaphones.

[aigel]

Uh, I see. I have seen those on cars. They didn't seem to be any different than the megaphones.

At the prices you quoted, I'd give it a shot. It will be fun, no matter what the result!

George

[dad911]

Supertraps are way too loud for the street. Perhaps two small mufflers, one on each side, straight back?

[Oldporsche]

Just fill/straighten the flanges and try a set of short glaspacks. You could always put two glaspacks in line on each side too, if the first suggestion proves that it's too loud.

You actually have a lot of options here.

Good luck,
David Duffield

[Schrup]

Many thanks to John Walker for getting me the parts I need to repair my SSIs. While visiting his shop to drop off my gear box on Saturday, I met Al Kosmal who was kind enough to bring down his Triad muffler with less than 1k miles on it & sell it to me, thanks Al. While I was there I picked up the repair parts John acquired for me.

My first problem was that I needed the SSIs bolted up to the motor to have the ends properly fitted & my motor is currently out of my car stripped down to the block to be prepared for cleaning. I was brainstorming today & remembered that I still had my old OEM exhaust that John removed last winter & concocted a plan. I used a piece of wood & my old exhaust as a template to secure my SSIs in their proper position without having to lug my motor around. I did fit them on the motor before doing so.

I used carriage bolts to secure the SSIs to the wood, it was only wide enough for 10 of the 12 studs, but that's ok, the wood doesn't need to be square. I think I got the difference between left & right figured out as far as the end pipes.


Now I need to find somebody local that's really good at welding stainless. I'll take it by a high end speed shop (Pro Max) this week & see what they say, I don't want to pay to much for a couple of welds. I think I should be a pretty simple job, they just have to make 4 chop cuts & 2 full circle welds, but I want the workmanship as close to what the SSIs have as possible.

Any opinions or foreseeable problems are appreciated. This was a nice diversion, I really didn't want to crawl back under my car & continue to grind away at the undercoating, but that's waiting for me.

[speeder]

I would strongly advise you to be patient and wait until you can bolt the SSIs onto your motor and then have the welder do the fab. If one of the pipes is off by 1/2" laterally it will be a knuckle-skinning, profanity heard from miles around BIATCH to get the muffler on and it will never seal.

If one of them is off by 1/2" lengthwise, you will not be able to install the muffler, period. Why the hurry? Your motor is apart, right? You are lucky to have gotten the proper repair parts before doing something regretable w/ them, just imagine the exasperation if they weld those on and you have muffler fit problems.

The template looks good, but trust me, it's a much more precise thing if you want a 2-in 911 muffler to bolt right on. Good luck!