Im looking for a universal kit to do the exhaust on my 47 ford coupe. I have found the following on the net: http://www.jegs.com/p/JEGS/760799/10002/-1 http://store.summitracing.com/partd...PE-10701&N=700+400636+319694+115&autoview=sku (this one is SS) I dont want the SS one, any other recommendations? I dont want to mess with stainless, as the cost is not necessary, and I dont want to deal with back purging it to get nice welds. On the contrary, I will need to sand off the alumized plating on mild steel pipes. I will be TIG welding everything. Is there a high temp paint I can put paint the pipes with so they dont rust where I ground and welded the steel?
If you have the original flathead, Red's Headers makes dual exhaust kits... If not, you're probably on your own adapting something like the item you posted...
the flowmaster kits work really nice....did a full 3.5" on my old malibu wagon with 2 universial tailpipe kits....the full universal kits probably have enough bends to do a couple cars..... brandon
Honestly why not just take it somewhere? I have used a local Meineke and they took into account how low the car was and did a much better job than I could have without me spending a month on it. I dropped it off in the morning, picked it up around closing time. Done.
Chad, much as you said you don't want stainless, that's what I'd recommend. I do almost all the cars I do with it. Never rots, rusts, you can polish up the last couple feet of it peeking out from under the bumper. Easy to weld. Easy to grind/sand the welds, and no paint or aluminizing to touch up. AND the best reason is, if you don't drive the car a lot, the condensation that forms in the exhaust system, WON'T rot out the pipes from the inside, which seems to be the most common cause of failure in old cars that aren't driven all the time! If you've got the TIG, you've got the right welder for it. I don't usually backpurge my exhaust when I weld it, and it holds up OK. And I think SS pipes sound better! (don't know if that's entirely true, but it sounds like it to me!)
I own a custum exhaust shop in Minnesota, and my supplier is heartthrob exhaust they sell manderal bent kits out of aluminized tubing. You could check out thier website they are very reasonable. For a great sound you can run porter mufflers on it.
Well Mark, I think you may have sold me on SS. I know when I dont backpurge stainless, the weld comes out grey in color, but I guess it may polish out. I guess I need a good reason to use that stainless rod I have sitting around, and doing nothing with. The price difference between stainless and aluminized steel isnt terribly much, surprisingly.
There are different grades of SS used for exhaust. 304 is the top line and polishes up real nice. usually expensive. 409 is used by many people and is a small step above mild steel and the cost reflects that. If I'm doing a high end car I use 304 and spend lots of time making the cuts in a way that the pipes fit perfectly together and then Fusion Weld them with no filler rod. Looks really cool that way and no back purge problem. Very time consuming though.
Yes!! On all of it!! Also, if your welds are gray, move faster. The weld is too hot. Have you been looking at the pretty weld thread on here. Do a search. Thin stuff is harder to make look good because you have to know what you are doing. Back purging isn't neccesary. If you need something to stop you from welding 3 lbs of filler inside the exhaust, use solar flux.
The Magnaflow is said to be "400 series" stainless on their site. I dont plan on spending what 304 would cost, so Im going to go with the magnaflow kit.
Here is a picture of my final results. Due to the fact that Im working under the car on jack stands, its hard to get a pic of the exhaust installed. These are some of the sections outside of the car after I final welded on the hangers. I used hangers and flanges from Welder Series. In the end, due to cost, I went with mandrel bent Aluminized steel. I have about $350 in the entire exhaust. The exhaust tucks in under the car very tight, and presents no clearance issues on a low car. I dont think Id have been able to get anything like this done at a local muffler shop, and having it done at a custom fabrication shop would have been $1000+ easily with all the labor.
Nicey done. My muffler shop owning pal also uses aluminumized tubing and sprays the weld area with Hi-Temp aluminum paint. VHT I think.
I second this. I used heartthrob as a supplier, they have everything you would need except those ginchy Porter Mufflers!
I am sold on stainless for an exhaust. I am very lucky though, I have a good supply of scrap stainless tube from 1.5 inch to 3 inch, bends, 90's and offsets for each size. I just put a dual set on a 27 roadster and the cost for the material was around 50 bucks. I am getting ready to do a 3 inch system on my Camaro and will use the scrap I get on it also.. The stainless has a sweet little ring to it that is very distinctive and will last forever.. I don't purge the pipe either nor do i fuse it. I think the weld is stronger if you use filler rod on the joints.. The plant that I get the scrap from does purge the pipe and the welds are picture perfect.. Looks like you did a very nice job, good fit up also..
Thanks guys. Im glad its done, and happy with the final result. One step closer to getting on the road. At this point, most of the mechanicals are taken care of, the new crate motor is sitting next to the car, and ready to be swapped out with the junk block thats in there now, afer a lot more block sanding and paint. I do expect to finally have the car ready for paint early summer.
Id splurg on the stainless. I bought a summit brand exhaust system for my 95 chevy truck few years ago that i owned. It rusted out in less than a year. Of course, I lived in Ohio at the time but i expected it to last atleast a couple years.
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