Trying to build a custom exhaust.

I will need a bend made, and i am thinking of going to a shop to have them bend the piece i need.


Does any one know if all shops are able to bend the pipe and not put thoose ripples in it ?

How can i bend a pipe with no ripples ?

Dan

 

What you are looking for is a shop that can mandrel bend pipe.

For such work I go to Mufflex near Trenton, NJ. Check out a cople of local exhaust shops, but avoid Midas like the plague.

 

i think the best way to do your own exhaust is to buy "mandrel bends" or kink free bends and fab it up your self. they best place to get cheap alumnized bends is ebay.

lay out the part of your exhaust system you want to do and measure the approximate bends you are going to need and order them. then it's just a matter of cutting and welding.

the hardest part to do is the exhasut pipes right after the c beam meets the diff becuase these need to bend almost about 70 degrees and bend almost 90 to the muffler on top of that they need to be exactly mirrored of each other so that they look good, since this is the part of the exhaust that will be visible from the rear of the car.

if you have never fabbed up an exhaust before this might be too big a job to start off with.

i would not suggest beding your own pipe unless you have a bender.

 

Dan,
If you have no luck, Summit and Jeg's carries "u" bend ,"j" bend ,and straight slip-on piping kits pretty cheap in aluminized steel that is mandrel bent in various sizes. You can just cut sections out of it that you need. I did this when i removed my slip-on cats from the headers and reworked it around my tranny for optimum clearance and welded. Worked pretty good.
Rick

 

Thanks for the advise.

As far as I can tell all i need is the angle, and then i can go straight back with it, as long as the angle is perfect.

I have build mine before on my jeep, but not good with figuring out the bends.

Dan

 

http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb....~Z5Z5Z5~Z5Z5Z5

<img src=http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb.dll?parta~showpic~Z5Z5Z50000050f~Z5Z5 Z5FAAAQ~Z5Z5Z52~Z5Z5Z5~Z5Z5Z5>

 

Am i crazy trying to make theese, it seems rather simple.

I fell as though I just have to get the ange right.

I want to make m y own because i dont like most of the tips out there.

 

http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb....~Z5Z5Z5~Z5Z5Z5

 

Here is another eliminator that I am using as a guide

http://content.madirect.com/img300/618965.jpg

In my head i have to remove my original muffler,

Get the perfect angle 70 or 90 ?

I am going to clamp that to the vehicles existing pipe.

Then get a straight pipe, clamp that to my angle.

Figure out how long i need it to be, and weld my tips on there.

Same thing as all the $200.00 eliminators sold, except I will have the tips i want and it will be cheaper.

So if i see this right all i need to the correct ange and bada bing bada boom...
?????

 

Here is a picture of the cat back exhaust I just finished building for my 85. I bought two 2-1/2" "U" bends, two straights @ 4'-0" and two Force mufflers (knockoff of Flowmasters) all from Summit delivered to mys shop for $143.00. I built the bolt on flange from 3/8" stock and a plazma torch, then drilled all the holes. I cut all the bends and straights with a 4-1/2" grinder using .40" thick 4-1/2" cut off wheels and then welded everything up. I tried to use the original stock pipes and mufflers as a pattern for the new exhaust. I did have to make some minor adjustments when I fit the pipes. Just tack the pipes together and then fit, adjust, re-tack, fit and finally weld it up. I painted this with Rustoleum hi-temp aluminum paint good for 1200 degrees. I will be using this for the track. But I will tell you that it was not a difficult project and worth the effort.


Forget trying to bend pipes yourself. Even with a hydraulic bender you will crimp or flatten the pipes. Any muffler shop that does not have a mandrel bender will bend the pipe and crimp it to a smaller diameter. Go with the mandrel bends from Summit or Jeg's. Even if you screw up, you can weld in a small section to save your project (the nice thing about welding) and correct your angle or length.

 

John that looks great I did something similar on my C3 using stainless victolic fittings and tubing they gave me at work.

 

I once saw a trick that looked good.
Before bending the tube they packed sand inside of the tube and then bend the tube.
That way the tube kept almost wrinkle free and a constant diameter.
Hope this helps you.

 

I have tried the sand trick with thick wall tube and it still flattened. My son did a lot of ornamental iron work and often had to bend tube. Any tight bend like you need for an exhaust would flatten. It was easier to buy pre-bent tube, cut and weld. If you wanted to bend things in a 3-8foot diameter no problem. I have a special bender that can bend tube and flat bar. It can bend 2-1/2" x3/8" flat bar the had way down to a 30" diameter.

 

In fact this is exactly what the "artists" at Mufflex did when I had them build me a new SS rear Y.

They welded in a 3" section to the rear cat mount, welded in a pre-cut "Y piece, welded in two straight sections, then welded in a pre-made "bend" into each pipe followed by a straight section to each muffler.

The entire process took only a short time as it only required cutting all the straight sections to proper length. Once all was cut to length then everything was fitted and clamped before welding began. I would estimate it took less than an hour for those experts to do an excellent job.

 

Well it seems like All i have to do is buy the 1 angle piece as I am just going from where the muffler connects to the pipe, as shown in the eliminators.

Does any one know what angle pipes i should order ??

are both side the same angle ?

Dan