I don’t have a lot of experience with exhausts but I can weld pretty good so that’s half the battle there below is where i’m stuck.
I got a few cracks i’m not gonna fix without dropping the exhaust no space to work under there, it’s all one piece up to where it’s bolted to the engine, what ide like to do is cut the pipe where it goes up into the engine drop the rest weld up the cracks and pinholes.
The problem here is putting it back on. The pipe that heads up is not just smooth round pipe it has some kinda bumpy pattern on it its not the flexible kinda exhaust pipe, I think the bumpy pattern is there for heat dissipation maybe?
I don’t think I can just clamp that back in place but if thats is an option this would be ideal. I want that section to bolt back on when i’m done. I would like to avoid having to climb under the car with my welder if possible but if the only way is to weld some sort of flange in where i cut it i can do this but I don’t know what kinda fitting i should get for this.
Bumpy pattern sounds strange, (random shot in the dark - it’s not corrosion is it)?
What car?
Often times a manifold and the exhaust pipe are two pieces connecting together underneath the engine with bolts and a gasket. This is because of manufacturing tolerances required to ensure you can install the exhaust. The tooling to make multiple simple smaller segments accurately is cheaper that making one more complex larger segment.
they were bolted together 20 years ago but not no more over the years whoever owned my car before me had it all welded together all the way up to the manifold as it has been repaired this is why ide like a disconnect to make servicing it easier in the future.
The pattern on the section of pipe that heads up from the bottom of the car has an intentional pattern of bumps on it it’s not corrosion.
Maybe the bumpy pattern has been made to make it easier to slink out the whole exhaust without dropping the swaybar.
If it’s all one piece and you want to make it easier to drop the exhaust for other jobs you can surely chop it and add an exhaust flange to the two sections. A two bolts flange should be enough, you can find them in all sorts of diameters and they’re cheap.
Also, if you find cracks just after the manifold, weld a piece of flex pipe there, just to make sure it’s not gonna happen again.
