am looking for good exhaust gaskets, between the GHL over axle and the ARH mid pipe.
have had them apart numerous times and they are pretty much toast now. I bought a cpl
of Walker gaskets, but definitely not thick enough, have a small leak, have adjusted, loosened,
twisted and tightened, no chance i can get it cured. So after my bland story, am asking what
a good quality thick gasket would be.. the ones there there did not leak and they had some
kind of orange gum to them, and steel of course.. other than a good quality gasket, i can only
think of doubling up the cheap ones.. not sure if that will work either..
any opinions are welcome..
TIA

 

 

I use any ole cheap 2.5 inch two bolt flange gasket just like the ones posted above.

The key to long term success is to resist the urge to crank them down and bend the flanges. Thick and tight equals bent flanges. Doubling up and tight equals bent flanges.

There's a hundred ways to skin a cat, but I generally use one standard gasket with a film of high temp RTV on both sides of the gasket and reasonable torque.

This results in no bent flanges, no leaks, and no hardware falling off or coming loose. YMMV.

 

I have used these and the copper. Both work fine and I just torque them to spec. You should not need RTV unless they are damaged. 30 ft pounds is general spec for most systems.

Note Copper is crushable so it forms to uneven surfaces. If you have a bad flange it may fill the gaps.

It will still not be unusual to get moisture drips even installed correctly.

 

Exhaust tubes ? Switch to V-bands. No more gaskets. Use the locator style with insert ring for even more rigid gasketlessness

 

Band clamps are great on straight pipes but near bends they can be difficult.

Case in point Borla used bands every place but the section right before the axle. To close to the bend. But yes bands are great as they are easy to remove if you need to service the car and re use.

 

Pretty tricky to use bands when both pieces flanges on them i believ

 

only 1 gets the locator flange. I dont think you can use two of them, im pretty sure it wouldn't work they would just butt ends

The trick to getting the locators to work is where and how they are used. Typically there needs to be some flexibility in one of the two sides, like a moveable rubber mounting so the pipe can wiggle, for example right off the engine there is very little flexibility so if you tried to connect both right and left exhaust manifolds together you'd need a flexible joint somewhere or it would be too rigid, possible cracking when it heats up or something.

In the long exhaust under a car, there is more flexibility in movement because of the hangers. However you'd still only want to use 1 of those rigid locator ring style v-bands in a line, not two, generally I place them closer to the engine because they will not permit exhaust leaking or movement, and make sure there is plenty of flexibility down stream. There are non-rigid V-bands without the isolation rings, but they can slip around over time which is good for comfort, longevity, flexibility, but also can have small leaks over time, especially when the clamps are re-used over and over. What I do is keep a supply of spare clamps for when the old clamps look beat up, or I detect leaking with my hand, that usually cures it. Also there is a technique to getting them sealed and lined up, a little anti-seize, a little oil, to help them slide around a bit as you tighten the clamp, and then don't make the clamp very tight, it should be kind of loose and the exhaust will still seal up nice when it can slide into a comfortable position, and even if they leak a little when cold that could still stop when it warms up so I check them warm.

 

[QUOTE=Kingtal0n;1608482241]only 1 gets the locator flange. I dont think you can use two of them, im pretty sure it wouldn't work they would just butt ends

The trick to getting the locators to work is where and how they are used. Typically there needs to be some flexibility in one of the two sides, like a moveable rubber mounting so the pipe can wiggle, for example right off the engine there is very little flexibility so if you tried to connect both right and left exhaust manifolds together you'd need a flexible joint somewhere or it would be too rigid, possible cracking when it heats up or something.
Both my exhaust pieces have flanges.. the GHL has a flange, and the ARH mid pipe that connects to the GHL have flanges.

 

I understand you have flanges. What we are discussing is whether or not it is a good idea to use these instead, you can switch to this, and it may really speed you up and make life easy for you. With a little practice these V-bands are very user friendly even the cheap ones from ebay work really well. Its a potentially low hanging fruit of exhaust mess simplified and I can tell by what you wrote that you've never had the pleasure of using one before or you probably would have already done it and never made this thread.

 

Poster child for v-bands statement, this tells me right away a V-band can make your life easier immediately, I hope this info will help

.
seal design is important. All gaskets are not same, and all seal designs are not same. its all about design of how to tackle that seal, not what gasket is made of. Sometimes no gasket is better.

variation in aftermarket or even replacement specifications. Different gaskets for the same seal, some are wrong. V-band has no paper or rubber gasket

You will do this with a v-band also. However, the v-band is a single easy to reach well lubricated locating nuton an easy and cheap to replace metal band. Think of it as a disposable gasket, except that its a giant metal band which partially acts as a gasket.




Do you see the little lip that sticks out on the left pipe, and it matches the valley on the other pipe so they are forced to fit tightly together like a slip-joint, and the band goes around the outside to lock it tightly together. You can get v-band with or without these little flange lips. They don't need to be tight either - I tighted my Vband almost completely by hand, but then the last couple turns with a wrench you know good and snug, its easy to over-tighten these they don't take much, once the pipes feel solid you can smack and pull at it, and it acts like a single pipe, its good.

 

i understand what you are saying, and i appreciate it..


not sure how those bands work on this connection

 

cut off old flanges and weld on new ones

a competent muffler shop could do it. For example when I was finishing up mine I found a nice large place with 10 lifts and guys who just weld exhaust all day every day. I found a grizzled exhaust welding veteran and show him the clamp and 15 minutes later it was done ,

I wouldn't recommend it if I didn't think it was perfectly reasonable and feasible

 

Why is this becoming so involved. He just needs some gaskets.

 

hmmm never used a v-band before either, eh? Well you couldn't possibly understand then and I don't blame you for not knowing

 

I used V bands on my Turbo intake with 23 pounds as it was needed. The pressure and to keep boost you need them.

On a C5 exhaust it is a bit of over kill.

Regular band clamps and the flange clamps work just fine. I have had the exhaust on and my car a number of times and it works just fine.

 

i have the issue resolved..

mods can close it