Can you patch/seal/ or someway repair an exhaust pipe that has cracked near the connection to the car’s muffler?
There is some pipe left coming out of the muffler, but there is a part that’s broken that’s pretty flush with the muffler as well. No pieces are missing, so in a perfect world, I could superglue it back together, but I know that won’t work.
Any solutions out there, or am I looking at a whole new exhaust system?
Thanks
SFP
If the metal is sound, it can be welded. If it has significant rust, it can’t be fixed. In most cases, that doesn’t mean a whole new exhaust system. Usually a portion of the system can be replaced.
Ask a muffler shop. It sounds like something that may be pretty quickly and cheaply fixed, but it’s not something you’d want to do yourself without experience.
My buddy and I went to a junk yard when we were in high school, to turn my truck into a dual exhaust. We found a Chevy just like it, but we couldn’t get the old exhaust to drop, so we cut it in half. We took everything home, bolted it back on, and then couldn’t figure out how we were going to put the two mufflers back on. It was pretty cool driving around with straight pipes, but, needless to say, my dad was pissed. I knew another buddy who knew how to arc weld (but not MIG*, which is what you’ll need), so we just got a larger pipe, cut it in half, and tried to weld that on. Obviously, it didn’t work; the arc was too hot. So we decided we’d use an oxy-acetylene torch to fill in the gap. That sort of worked, but the pipes were sticking out a foot on one side and 18" on the other. My dad made me use Fubaya’s suggestion, which is the one I would now recommend. If you don’t need any piping, it will probably be around $20 (for .5 hours labor).
A competent weldor could use any process to do your work, and there are compression sleeves obtainable in lieu, but be advised repairs are unacceptable for roadworthiness/inspection requirements in some locales.
Santo,
That was one of the funniest stories I’ve read out here! Thank you for that. It also sounds like a path I might have tried at one time. Just to make you feel better, I sawed off my catalytic converter on my old Mustang II (how embarrassing) and the exhaust pipe ended right about where the firewall stops, so exhaust (not to mention the noise) went directly into the car. Talk about dad being pissed. The pipe remnant wasn’t tied to anything but the engine block, so it shook back and forth like the tail of a happy dog. The car vibrated so badly, I had to take it to a muffler shop to take care of it. But for a few days, it sounded cool, even if it looked like a Cheech and Chong mobile if the windows were rolled up.
I think the groupthink here is that I should take it to a muffler shop. I have never welded before, and this doesn’t sound like the project to learn.
I like the groupthink. Thanks all!
That’s probably the tamest story I’ve ever told!
Come back and let us know what it ended up costing, I’m curious as to how close my estimate it will be.
Speaking of Mustang II’s. A friend of mine had an old Ford Fairlane sitting out in the weeds with a premium fuel 289 in it. I thought it would be a cool idea to yank the dinky 4-cylinder out of my Mustang and cram that V-8 in instead. Over a long summer I managed to get it all put together and the last step was to have a dual exhaust installed. The problem was that I was short the necessary funds. So I drove it around for a couple of weeks with the exhaust coming directly out of the manifolds.
From what I understand, the 8-cylinder Mustang II was the single fastest production car ever to come out of Detroit. (whether that is true or not, I don’t know, but I rode in one once and have no reason to doubt it. Take it to great debates if you want.) Anyway, as you might have guessed, I had the powerful 4 cyl. 3-speed. Which brought back another memory. First time I drove that POS, the stick shift came off in my hand. Ah, memories.
Santo, I’ll have to do a search to read some more funny.
I was never brave enough to take my home-brew version up to full speed. I assumed it would rapidly disassemble itself if I did. I used my original tranny and it wasn’t a very good match for the more powerful motor. OTOH, I could lay a scratch all the way through third gear.
Uh, oh! :smack:
For minor leaks and cracks, there is always a muffler cement, like JB Weld.
Are you talking about a hole/crack in the pipe or is it broken right off?
If this is the only problem, there would be no reason to replace the whole exhaust system.