Exhaust welded into one piece?

[jimbojames]

I've done very little work with exhaust systems in the past so I have no idea if this is typical. I'm in the middle of removing engine and transmission and realized the exhaust system has been welded into one continuous piece by the previous owner. I guess this makes it more rigid and smoother on the inside, but it sure is pain. Should I just cut it cleanly and either clamp or weld it back together later? I don't have any welding equipment.

[Tdh]

If you cut it cleanly enough, a good muffler shop could weld it back up for you.  You could also clamp the joints you make by slipping a larger diameter piece of tubing over each joint and clamping the ends.  

 

Are you pulling the gearbox and motor out of the top, or dropping it down?  if pulling from the top, do you need to remove the entire exhaust?  

 

You could also just cut the damn thing out, and replace it!

[jimbojames]

Replacement is certainly on my mind. It's not a particularly great setup, but you know how project creep gets. I'm pulling the motor from the top and might be able to work around it. It has a non-stock header that takes up more room so we'll see.

[TobyB]

Cut it, and then have a v- flange welded in someplace around where the header ends-

or maybe a bit behind the gearbox, as there's a bit of room there.

Or even twice, with another flange towards the back.

 

The issue is that, as you replace motor mounts and stuff, the engine moves around a bit.

Then you end up needing to re- clock and re- angle the muffler and the tip, and... well, oops.

 

t

 

[MatthewCervi]

I hate it when places do that.  My Bavaria currently has an almost-new rear muffler welded directly the the rotting center resonator.  Now I get to pay almost twice as much because I'm not willing to do it incorrectly.  Grrr...

Edited December 7, 2017 by MatthewCervi
Fixed typos

[echappe]

It's all planned as different sections need to be removed to work on different parts

of the car. the rear muffler needs to be removed to get the differential out. Someone welded mine, had to be cut

[MildSeven]

Mine was all one piece, taking out out during the disassembly wasn't bad because I removed the rear sub-frame.

 

To re-install it, I cut it and put a sleeve with 2x exhaust U-clamps... also I need a new muffler but that wasn't on the agenda for this year.

[jmiller]

Midas gave me a welded-up system once.  Decades ago before I knew anything about car parts.  Worked fine for a few years until it didn't.  Blew it up because of a bad gulp valve on the smog system, causing a loud bang when shifting 1st to 2nd in the morning when the exhaust was cold.  Happened at the same place in front of the same neighbor every morning.  Always said a silent "sorry about that" to myself.

[jimbojames]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think I'll just cut it and clamp- then upgrade in the future.

[Tsingtao_1903]

I have to make a similar decision with my exhaust.  The butt joint band clamps below may work.

 

http://www.walkerheavyduty.com/downloads/english/walker-mega-clamp-sell-sheet.pdf

Edited December 7, 2017 by Tsingtao_1903

[Dick R]

When I acquired my 02, the large hole in the muffler demanded immediate attention.  I then discovered everything welded together from the headers to the muffler along with a very amateurish job of wired up hangers.  My solution was to remove and replace everything with original-type stuff.  Starting with a used stock exhaust manifold that I bought for a very reasonable price from someone on FAQ and just went back from there with all new parts.  Very glad that I did that.  If anything breaks, it can be easily replaced by me since now nothing is custom fitted.