exhaust fix advice

[jvandyke]

On commute to work this morning on the highway, sudden change in exhaust note followed closely by sounds of pipes bumping and dragging. Pulled over and found pipe had broken clean off at the split (see below). Used a spare fan belt to hold it up to finish the drive.
What's common practice here? Weld back together if solid enough? Rework it all? It'll have to be done by a shop, no welding ability here. Bummer. At least now I "think" I know where my fumes were coming from.
Hope I didn't cause this last night when I changed motor mounts, maybe jacking the motor up stressed the pipe? I'd think there would be enough play to absorb that, but, maybe not. Oh well. It was loud before, it's REAL LOUD now. (and not in a good way).

[Paul]

First, I'd see if a muffler shop can weld it up. If they balk, you can tell them this is temporary 'cause you are working on a full custom job. Then start asking them questions about pricing for a custom job...

[Lindsay]

Looking that closeup, it that GT rear resonator pipe (non-stock)?

I would follow Paul's advise to weld; telling them it is temporary repair if shop balks. Then, ask about custom exhaust with their recommendations.
Now you know where exhaust smell was (may of) originating from.

[jvandyke]

Nothing stock here, Pacesetter (or the one OTGS sells) put on by PO's PO. Then custom exhaust all the way back with Ansa tips. Sounds (or it DID sound) great. I'd love to keep it as I believe it's 2" most of the way and that's a good thing I guess.
No resonator at all unless you count the Ansa tips as resonators.

[jlthunder]

Here is my 0.02 cents. If it is rotten in one area, then it will be rotten in other areas. Go for the temp fix if it is your daily driver, but then go with a complete new exhaust. Fumes are no fun as you have discovered.

Jeff

[jvandyke]

It's been my daily driver but it doesn't HAVE to be. I'll take it to a shop and see what they say. It looked to me like the weld failed rather that rust through but it was a quick "holy crap, get to work on time, I don't have my cell" moment so I didn't waste time diagnosing. I was glad I had a spare fan belt along as a "strap". I would have been toast. Almost tried to take the broken piece off (from split all the way back) but I'm not sure I could snake it out over the axle and that wasn't the time to try.

[namba209]

Good plan, taking it to a shop. If you can be without it for a couple of days, the weekend is coming, just go for a complete rework on the whole system. Why pay for a temp fix, then pay again for a permanent repair. Just being frugal here. The cost to do Willit's exhaust was aroudn $350, but it is a true dual exhaust and I supplied the mandrel bent tubes and mufflers. But a custom exhaust is not your ordinary, put the card in the machine, and here's your pipes, then again the Opel exhaust is not ordinary either. They can save your muffler and tips, if they're good. JMTCW.

[coolchrisp]

I had mine done last summer. I not sure the EXACT price. it was around $225 or so for pipe, chrome tips, flange for header, gasket and labor. i suppliied the muffler they did everything else, it took them about 2 hours to do. They used 2 1/4 pipe all the way with a split in the back for the 2 tips. if it looks problematic to you, id jsut redo the hole thing and get it over with. if one weld failed, the others might too

[ungermm]

I'm sure a decent muffler shop can reweld the area and it won't cost you that much. My guess is that the original weld failed as a result of the weight of the free hanging pipe end and/or poor original welding. If you keep the same set-up, you might want to have an additional hanger installed past the welded area. Jerry

[jvandyke]

We'll see what they have to say. There's another hanger right at the rear where the stock resonator would be. It might have failed due to the motor mounts I put in last night, I jacked up the engine. Could be I stressed the exhaust someplace but I doubt it. Most likely it was failing before that and has been the source of my fumes issue all along. I sure hope so as that has kept my wife from liking the car. That and the fact that she came scowling into the garage last night (this morning) at about 1:00 a.m. Hey, I was on a mission!
I'll probably have to cool off on the car fixation a bit, not sure I can swing too much $$$ at a new exhaust at the moment. Wouldn't KILL me to let her rest a day or two (the GT, AND the wife).

[rockytopmark]

I did my exhaust last year as well... one good tip I got before doing it, was to use a piece of Flex-Pipe, after the header and before the muffler. This removed some vibration. The one in the pic is not mine, but gives you an idea.

[jvandyke]

Shop is going to rebuild that Y section and patch it back together. $130
Rebuild would be $220 which is probably the smarter move but just don't have the dough and I personally think the rest of the system is pretty solid yet. Maybe pennywise and pound foolish but it's really either the patch job or nothing at the moment.

[Lindsay]

Originally Posted by jvandyke Shop is going to rebuild that Y section and patch it back together. $130 Rebuild would be $220 which is probably the smarter move but just don't have the dough and I personally think the rest of the system is pretty solid yet. Maybe pennywise and pound foolish but it's really either the patch job or nothing at the moment.

Good-bye to the days of the $50 repair/ fix job, but Employers only want to pay less than $15 per hr. Guess key words are "Rebuild" and "Make it Right". If the exhaust is sold and design ok, then got to keep it on the road. Hope rebuild solves exhaust smell issue.

For years, I keep thinking of buying 110V-120V WELDER and start practicing with non-structural welds.

[opelwasp]

Originally Posted by Lindsay For years, I keep thinking of buying 110V-120V WELDER and start practicing with non-structural welds.

Don't bother with a 110-120V, not powerful or versatile enough. One needs a 220-240V wire feed with CO2, you'll be much happier. Flux core welders look like pigeon $h1t when your done.

[jvandyke]

Originally Posted by Lindsay Hope rebuild solves exhaust smell issue.

Me too. I hope this is last major thing I HAVE to do for while. Not that I've had many major issues in my 4 months of ownership. Lot's of "little things" that I've been able to figure out myself. Some not so little in hindsight...
Last week was $100 for motor mounts and taillight gasket set.
This week $150 on exhaust. Honestly this expenditure doesn't bother me in the least but the other half feels different and I can understand that, so fingers crossed that I'll be able to go back to tinkering with little things for a few months.

Here's a list of what I've done so far, looking back, I've accomplished a lot, not that everything I've done is "done" just had the whole instrument cluster out again last night trying to fix some light issues and now it has diffrent issues.....but all back together again last night anyway for ride to muffler shop today

Interior
Glove box got one, put it in
heater controls-rebuilt slider control panel
rebuilt heater box/new fan motor
shifter plate (custom made aluminum)
kick panel speakers--vents reinstalled, speakers moved
rear deck reupholstered
window crank adjust and lube (needs more!!)
rearview mirror (replaced)
gas tank vent line replacement (new lines)
new stereo (yep, old one died)
solve fume problem (getting there, hopefully today!!)
ditched old seatbelts and put in new 3 point inertia belts
fix turn signal indicators (fixed one problem still have others)


Engine
air filter housing "rebuild" emblem for old housing
tighten up-loose on manifold
test for vacuum leaks
manual choke (ineffective, removed again, wired open)
adjust mix
linkage lube, align
heater hoses/valve (part of heater rebuild)
valve cover (got spare, polished)
refill tranny
oil change
check valve clearance
mess with electric fan

body/chassis
FIX BRAKES-new rear cylinders, rebuilt front caliper, new front pads, flush whole system, new hoses all around
driving lights move/lose sold on ebay, redid original set up, rewired blinkers, marker lights.
replace bumperettes/fog lights
attach reverse light, fix switch on tranny
reseal taillights, all new gaskets
new motor mounts installed

[namba209]

Not too shabby for only having the car 4 months. It's coming up on 7 years working on Willit? and I'm still not done. But the times it's been on the road, WOW. Hang in there, the fun never stops. At least you can tell the wife it's keeping you outa the bars and brothels.

[jvandyke]

compared to what some guys spend in $$ and time on things like golf and hunting and all that, I'd like to think I'm pretty reasonable, I only wrench late at night after the kids are squared away and household tasks are done (mostly ) and I really try to avoid unecessary spending (the whole motor mount thing may have been a wild goose chase, not clear on that one yet)
Yep, keeps me out of trouble, beats watching the garbage on TV.

[kwilford]

Originally Posted by opelwasp Don't bother with a 110-120V, not powerful or versatile enough. One needs a 220-240V wire feed with CO2, you'll be much happier. Flux core welders look like pigeon $h1t when your done.

I beg to differ. I have a pretty cheap Clarke MIG 110, and have used several other 110 volt MIG's of a better quality. The flux core wire takes some practice when welding thicker metal (see my threads on the body dolly, body rotisserie and front suspension compression tool) but it is still much better and easier than most 220 volt stick welders I have used, unless you need to weld REALLY thick material (greater than 3/16"). As for sheet metal welding, a decent 110 volt MIG welder with 0.023" solid core wire and either Argo-Shield or some similar inert gas mix is ALL you really need. And practice. Welding that exhaust pipe would take about ten minutes with a 110 volt MIG welder.

JM2CW

[jvandyke]

I'll have to teach myself to weld then.
Picked up the car. Looks okay to me although I heard it knock against something a couple times. I'll check that out as I think I should not have deal with that.