Have you installed your own kit exhaust?

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shadango

shadango

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I am still wrestiling with whether to go kit or custom bent.

How many of you bought either a Dynomax or Magnaflow kit and installed yourself? I want either magnaflow or dynomax muffs and figure I should stick with the same brand kit if I go that route....probably result in the easiest, best install if I do it.....

Can one guy do it alone using floor jacks/stands?

Do you really need to weld it together or is clamping enough?

Even though I may not need it, mandrel bent stainless steel sure is calling out to me.....
 
I put a Flowmaster kit on my wifes car..everything fit nice and clamped without welding.
 
I just got off the phone with one of the shops on the Magnaflow site...about 25 minutes from my house...

I am taking the Durango in to them tomorrow to have the muffler looked at...its under warranty thru magnaflow....so, while I am down there he said he can price me out a system for the fish.....

He has a buddy in the town I live in who has a flat bed service, so at least that works out....he does stainless, though standard crush bending. He of course says I won't need the mandrel bent.....any shop that cant do it will say that I suppose....LOL...he also said that stainless will turn orange....unless you get the "really good/expensive stuff which is hard to bend"......

Hmm...first time I ever heard that before. Does stainless turn orange?
 
I've done several kits and cobled togther my own with use of a flowmaster over the axle universial aa well as there pre-bent over the axle pipes.

It just takes time and effort. Keep the temper down and walk away.
Also, remember, the car should be on ramps, not jack stands, theres a huge clearance difference when you take the car down off of stands.

Yea... guess how I know...:sad8:
 
Hey rumblefish.....

Can you explain about the clearance issues ramps versus jackstands?

Are you referring to over the axle, specifically?

Also, did you weld yours together, or are the kits good enough that tehy can just be clamped?
 
shadango said:
Hey rumblefish.....

Can you explain about the clearance issues ramps versus jackstands?

Are you referring to over the axle, specifically?

Also, did you weld yours together, or are the kits good enough that tehy can just be clamped?
Click to expand...



Yes, over the axle clearance. When you lift your car up via floor jack, bumper jack...what happens? The car goes up first and the tires, axle stay on the ground. This increases the clearance between the body and axle/tire and the spring bends which is also a clearance changing item to consider.

IF you use car ramps, the whole set up changes very very little, near not at all. Also, I would certainly do this with a full tank of gas because the weight will make everything closer, tighter and harder to run the pipe. But if you don't do it and then fill up with gas, then 2 freinds, the clearance gets even tighter and if the pipe isn't run just right, it'll hit something.

I have welded up some kits to off the shelf pipe. The Jegs kit I put on my Duster didn't need to be welded, but that would be the best way to finish up. While I didn't smell any exhaust, water does seep out leaving black stripes from the carbon inside the pipes. Technical leak.

If you decide to weld it up and haven't had a lot of practice, weld as much as you can when your ready after a final fit and drop the pipes to get at the rest.
 
I installed the Summit kit on Wednesday. I wasn't able to do it myself, per se, but with the help of a couple friends, I was golden. It only took us two and a half hours and some time on the tubing cutter.
 
T304 Stainless turns a goldish color when heated....and T321 Stainless changes color too, T321 is the most Heat resilient form of stainless...it is also very strong tensile strength wise....therefore harder to bend...so the guy wasn't lying to you.

For a car such as yours....I would go with T304 stainless, Mandrel Bent, and I would get online and order a bunch of mandrel bends, find a exhaust website and get some hangers, find some Stainless Mufflers and then take the car and materials to a Competent Welding shop and have it all CUSTOM FIT and TiG welded...not MiG.

But thats just me.
Good Luck either way you go.
Nice Cuda.
 
rumblefish360 said:
Yes, over the axle clearance. When you lift your car up via floor jack, bumper jack...what happens? The car goes up first and the tires, axle stay on the ground. This increases the clearance between the body and axle/tire and the spring bends which is also a clearance changing item to consider.
Click to expand...

If you were to jack the car up and support it in the rear by jack stands placed under the axle tubes that would work too, right? The weight of the car would be on the springs....
 
Yes. Use your head or do it twice...............
 
sharpie said:
I installed the Summit kit on Wednesday. I wasn't able to do it myself, per se, but with the help of a couple friends, I was golden. It only took us two and a half hours and some time on the tubing cutter.
Click to expand...

Was the kit a universal one or specific? I guess universal if you had to cut, right?

Also, I will be hooking up to headers....the pipe kits go to the cross members, where the headers end.....do you have to add anything in or will teh kits have it all?
 
I know you addressed sharpie, but the kit I got from Jegs was a direct bolt up to the Hooker Headers and came complete with instructions and pipe hanges.
You may want a chop saw on hand (Circular saw) to adjust pipe length and Leisle sells a hand turned (Ratchet or wrench really) pipe expander. Some pipe fits varied by 1/64 from dead on. While that's near nothing for some......
It's a ***** to get on when it's "That hair small" of a fit.

The Jegs did not have or come with a H or X pipe. True duals they are.
 
sharpie said:
I installed the Summit kit on Wednesday. I wasn't able to do it myself, per se, but with the help of a couple friends, I was golden. It only took us two and a half hours and some time on the tubing cutter.
Click to expand...


I did a Summit kit on mine last year. I added their H pipe kit to mine also
and it sounds really good. Total was under 250 bucks for all.

Stainless is always better but I figure what the heck I will get several
years out of this kit and if I still have the car worry about a replacement
way down the road.
 
shadango said:
Was the kit a universal one or specific? I guess universal if you had to cut, right?

Also, I will be hooking up to headers....the pipe kits go to the cross members, where the headers end.....do you have to add anything in or will teh kits have it all?
Click to expand...


Shad,

the kit is for a 67-76 Duster/Demon/Dart/Scamp with a small block and long-tube headers. They say that they're made for Hooker Competition Headers, and I'd tend to agree, since it fit so well.

The reason I had to cut was, the passenger-side was longer than the driver's side. The drivers-side muffler and pipes all the way back fit like a dream. The passenger-side wouldn't even get the over-the-axle pipe on, it was so far back. We took about three inches off the rear-extension pipe at the front on the passengers side, and about two inches off of the over-the-axle pipe at the muffler, and now I only have to cut the tail pipe down about another inch.

It was really easy, had everything including 3" collecter pipes, and was cheap. The best kit for the money, IMO.
 
pretty sure exhaust are 304 and 409. 409 will take on a rusty apperance. i would prefer aluminized steel over that crap. yeah it will last, but looks like crap. a lot of oem exhausts are stainless and they get this oxidation that looks like rust, but they will last. oh and there is no need to tig an exhaust on a cruiser, maybe a blinged out trailer queen that the trophy whores will be crawling under. its going to do nothing for your performance, or longevity of your exhaust. stainless or aluminized. mig will work fine with the correct wire.
 
It is T304/T321 JamesDart...do some stainless exhaust research...you will see nothing else mentioned BUT T304/T321....and MiG welds look like crap in comparison to proper TiG technique....I hate bb's and splatter....to each their own.
 
pypes and many others do use 409 stainless. 409 does take on a rusty appearance. im not arguing 321. maybe it is used for headers, but this guy is talking exhaust systems. only reason i wasnt positive, i havent played with stainless in a little while. i am a welder by trade not a weekend warrior, at the same time not an exhaust specialist but as i said i havent really been playing with stainless in a while so for a second i gave you the benefit of the doubt, but a simple google search will set your facts straight. you really wont get much if any spatter on an exhaust if you are any kind of good welder that can push wire. yeah no doubt tig is pretty. its also very slow. its not going to help the flow of an exhaust, and it isnt going to do anything for a car that a good migged sytem wont do.
 
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