new "cheap" exhaust done......

[tsiegwart]

Hey Canuck,

Do you have a picture of the mounting bracket for the muffler? I can't quite make out in that one shot. Did you make up a separate bracket, then strap the muffler to that? It looks like (at least from the one side) you didn't weld directly to the muffler itself.

I'm looking at building the dynomax setup, but wondering how to mount the muffler to the car.

Thanks

[Milo2361]

personally, i used a similar method as bell - i have a flat metal rod i welded to the muffler that goes around it to make kind of a box shape, and i used 4 heavy duty hose clamps to secure it to the stock bracket.(2 on each side)


wayne - - you're a TON better at welding than i am :P i had to paint my muffler to cover mine's ugly scars. they hold though, and are air tight. thats the important thing!

[Oh Haha]

I didn't do the welding on mine.

The local muffler shop did it while I explained what I wanted.

[tsiegwart]

Milo thanks, I saw how Bell's was constructed that looks pretty strong, I was just curious when I saw Canuck's picture I couldn't see that box frame welded to the muffler.

[Milo2361]

I couldnt see a bracket on his either. for what its worth, the muffler may be light enough you might not need a bracket. i know mine hardly moves without it, but i like to have a little extra security.

[bell]

we had welded mine to the stock bracket which bolts the the engine mount, worked much better than straps imo, plus it helped keep it dead center while we tack welded the mating pipes to it, then removed it to finish the welds.
My prior exhaust was held on with straps, and the straps failed resulting in a hanging muffler, personally I think the straps only work well with the stock bannana muffler as that's what the bracket was designed for.

[Canuck_Targa]

I actually torch cut the flange out of an old piece of 1/4" steel, and cleaned it up with the die grinder.
No one had gaskets in stock ( they were about a week away) so I bought a sheet of exhaust gasket material and made my own. It was good because with the leftover material I had enough to wrap the top half of the muffler with it for a heat shield, because it ends up pretty much tight against the body.

[Canuck_Targa]

Sorry the above is talking about the test pipe flange.
I did use a bracket on the muffler. It had a factory little bracket on the muffler and I just bent a piece of flat iron to it and back to an existing bolt on the body. It seems quite solid, but I am still going to strap it to the original mount (I have been too busy driving it to get around to it yet).

You can kind of see the heat shield I fabbed up for the top of the muffler in this shot.

[Driven97]

Dragging up an old thread, but a big thanks to everyone who contributed. I virtually copied the one Canuck_Targa made:


and also did mine "upside down" compared to the B&B. It was also my very first time welding, so don't look at those too close.



End result looks nice all mounted up. I elected not to install a tip.

Here's the Summit p/n and prices for stuff I used:

SUM-622003 2.5" U-bend pipe - $21.95
WLK-17676 Walker 1 in 1 out same side - $69.95
WLK-31900 Walker 2.5" 3-bolt flange - $3.95
I stopped at Lowe's for some hose clamps - ~$10.

Total cost - ~$105.

If you wanted to do stainless the parts are about ~$200, but you'd probably have to pay a shop to weld it as stainless is a little tougher to weld.

Very happy overall. There's a little more bass at idle. On the freeway it's about the same as the OEM unless you're next to a wall. Under load it picks up to a nice sporty tone, and at WOT above 4000rpm it just rips.

Exhaust sound - YouTube

[Oh Haha]

Driven97-That sounds great!

[Driven97]

Originally Posted by Oh Haha

Driven97-That sounds great!

I would say thank you, but I just copied the hard work and trial and error of others on here. This is something I probably would have not attempted without the digital help of fellow Pelicans.

[Mr Project]

I just wanted to chime in - did this same project last night. Took around 2 hours start to finish, and I LOVED the result.

Apologies for the booger welds, but it fits and doesn't leak. I used a slightly smaller-radius U-bend from Speedway Motors, just because they were local and Summit racing was out of stock on the 5" radius piece. This was a mistake; I had to cut, splice, and tweak more than I would have liked to make it fit.


I did use a tip - this one from Summit Racing: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-690052

Without the tip I also would not have had enough pipe to reach outside of the body cavity. Stick with the larger-radius U-bend rather than my piece.

Upcoming tweaks when I have a few minutes -

1 - The upper heat shield seems like a good idea - I smell hot rubber when driving for a while. Nothing melting or burning yet, but I think the engine compartment rubber seal is getting hot.

2 - I used mild steel for cost and ease of welding. I'll pop it out and paint it with some Rustoleum BBQ paint - I've used that on cheap mild steel exhaust parts for a long time with reasonably good results.

[tdw28210]

I've done this twice now. Have one on the '85 and on the '87. The '77 will get one too.

[Oh Haha]

Originally Posted by Mr Project

I just wanted to chime in - did this same project last night. Took around 2 hours start to finish, and I LOVED the result.

Apologies for the booger welds, but it fits and doesn't leak. I used a slightly smaller-radius U-bend from Speedway Motors, just because they were local and Summit racing was out of stock on the 5" radius piece. This was a mistake; I had to cut, splice, and tweak more than I would have liked to make it fit.


I did use a tip - this one from Summit Racing: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-690052

Without the tip I also would not have had enough pipe to reach outside of the body cavity. Stick with the larger-radius U-bend rather than my piece.

Upcoming tweaks when I have a few minutes -

1 - The upper heat shield seems like a good idea - I smell hot rubber when driving for a while. Nothing melting or burning yet, but I think the engine compartment rubber seal is getting hot.

2 - I used mild steel for cost and ease of welding. I'll pop it out and paint it with some Rustoleum BBQ paint - I've used that on cheap mild steel exhaust parts for a long time with reasonably good results.

Looks good but we want to HEAR it!!!

[Mr Project]

Originally Posted by Oh Haha

Looks good but we want to HEAR it!!!

Here's a quick attempt - this was just my cell phone on the dash with my windows down last night. Not a good sample, but it gives you an idea. I love it! Just a little more bass at low RPMs, still pretty quiet in the car with the windows up at speed, but a little pop on overrun and a nice howl at high RPM.

I also have a cheapo cat-bypass pipe but otherwise a stock 3.2 and stock HE's.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3ZGJow4F9OIT0sydE8wdUpfbTg/view?usp=sharing

[Oh Haha]

Sounds about like mine. Not too loud but enough to know it's not factory.

Do you have any pics of your Corvair? My first car was a 66 coupe. You can PM me if you would rather not post them here. Or maybe in Random Transportation pics thread?

[Driven97]

If I run out of projects and start over again, I think I'll try an even lighter straight through muffler, and have it dump down / rearward kind of underneath the right rubber bumper extension. My straight left exit gets pretty noticeable when in the left lane on the freeway next to a wall, even some curbs can reflect the sound pretty good.

Maybe use a trick ultralight Burns Stainless muffler if I feel like thinning my wallet a bit.

[Ferrino]

Do those pipes slip inside each other, so you essentially lap-weld them, or are they butt-welded? What's the welding technique - do you just do a series of tacks, or do you tack a few points and then run beads in between? I didn't know there were non-stainless versions, so I'd like to give it a shot with my MIG!

[Driven97]

They do slip inside each other, at least did with the parts I listed. Makes things way easier.

I only had access to a gasless welder. Plus I had (and still have) virtually zero welding skills. What I did was mock it all up on the car, tack weld it, pull it off, then go over it with (marginally) better welding all around.

[Mr Project]

Pretty much what Matt said. If you make poor choices with the U-pipe selection like I did, you'll have to cut and splice some butt-weld joints to extend certain pieces of the pipe. That makes it more challenging.

The one tool that would make the welding much easier is a good metal chop saw. I freehanded everything with a cutoff blade in a 4" angle grinder, which means the cuts are not straight and butt weld or angled cuts are much tougher to get fit well enough for an easy weld.

I am also a terrible welder, but I think the method is solid:

1 - Cut, mock up and mark with a sharpie the depth and rotation of the joints
2 - Tack weld according to the marks
3 - Test fit
4 - If it all fits, weld it up between the tacks.

Give a though to heat management, especially on the 3-bolt flange. If you warp that it will make getting a good seal tougher, so you might weld it in stages depending on the heat you're putting into it and how thick the flange is.