Replacement Exhaust Suggestions

Jim,

I can't be certain on the mileage.  It's been in CA and AZ it's whole life until now.  The odometer says 79K and change.  My mechanic seems to think everything on the truck is consistent with that mileage, but it's impossible to know.  It hasn't been messed with and has most all of it's original parts and configuration, which is why I bought it.  I don't like prior owner hack surprises (:

Troy

Not too much. Most of the truck is rot-free (other than the lower battery tray). Don't know why somebody bilked the tail half of the exhaust.

This is on the back burner, as I (in another thread) pulled the engine and have that saga keeping me (and my wallet) busy.

Reviving this thread due to the exhaust becoming a higher priority item.

I finally replaced the bad injection pipe (Found a NOS motorcraft one on ebay for $80 shipped) and re-welded a broken injection pipe bracket back to the downpipe (ugly but functional).

The good news is that fixing such didn't seem to cause any major performance changes. The bad news is that it seems like I have more exhaust blowing out the front seam of the muffler than I do coming out the tail pipe, which makes me think the muffler has blown up internally.

Not sure how I want to go about this. All I know is everything past the cats needs to go away.

Is your exhaust 2 1/4 or 2 1/2 out the Cat?
Do you want to dump in front or behind the rear wheel?

I imagine a tail pipe, hangers, muffler and mid pipe could be had for as little as $100-150.

I have been using some Blue Demon stainless flux core in my Horrid Fate Titanium 125 welder.
It welds fine to low carbon steel, and those hanger clips won't fall off.

I have also (recently) converted my little brothers Chicago Electric FC from AC to DC for about $45 in parts. While it doesn't have the variability of mine it does work a LOT smoother now.

All I personally have for welding is a junky 90A Harbor Fright Flux Core (yes, the cheapest welder ever made). Running Lincoln wire in it.

I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be 2.25", and what's welded there is 2"... although I could be off. I'll have to check again.

Looking for a more or less stock look... so behind the rear wheel. Just trying to avoid spending $$$ on some junk that will rot out in 3-5 years and put me back where I started.

I don't have any problems with bolted or clamped joints.
If you worry that it may leak at first, smear a little muffler cement both inside and outside the telescoping tubes.

Buy the best clamps you can.
My system uses 2 1/2 and 3" stainless U-clamps with nickel anti-seize on the threads for the two forward hangers and a stainless rod type hanger with a belled end going into a rubber '8' behind the passenger tire.

But I think hangers should be welded.
And I welded flanges to the front of my muffler so it bolts up with gaskets, like stock.

This is the welder I put a bridge rectifier and capacitor into.



It's not a spattery unstable arc anymore.

Jim I have a welder like that in your picture and would love to do the mods but I am electrically challenged. How hard was it to get right?

Really easy.
There are dozens of youtube tutorials.

The parts are not hard to get, either..

Welding will likely be involved... whoever hacked it up last time cut it right at the tail of the 2nd Cat... nothing to clamp to other than the rusty junk pipe itself. Which is why I'm beginning to think the local shop will likely be involved... I really doubt my flux core welds will be any good, even if I did convert it to DC.

That's unfortunate.
I know a lot of chain muffler shops weld everything so when the cheap tin can muffler rots out "We have to replace the entire system!"

A decent ground clamp, a big smoothing cap and a $20 200A bridge rectifier will do a LOT for those cheap welders.
I realize it was probably $100 out the door, but I like to tinker.
Once it is hooked up DCEN it can get some penetration and the range switch actually seems to do something.

Try to find a seamless muffler and don't accept any crinkle bent tubes.
If you want a system you can work on later consider getting a pair of collector flaanges and having one of them welded to the Cat.
Then it's just a simple gasket and three bolts to change anything out.

Were it me, I would weld the bolt heads to the flange of the Cat so I could hang the gasket on the 'studs' and had one hand for the wrench and another to position the pipe.

Bronze or brass flange nuts won't ever seize and because they have their own washer a combination wrench won't slip off of them.

Reviving the thread due to finally making progress (due to the meetup coming and not wanting to roll in with the rotted bailing wire mess I have now).

Ended up piecing the parts out on ebay. Went with an AP challenge series muffler (seamed but has good reviews and looks decent) and tail pipe (mandrel bent, none of that crinkly crap Walker is pushing), walker intermediate pipe (what I could get) and some heavy duty (3/8") clamps. $130 shipped... I could have gotten an AP everything kit from rockauto, but the $50 shipping killed that idea.

I considered a welded two chamber muffler and longer intermediate pipe, but the price was the same as what I bought and the quality on the noname knockoffs I was looking at I've read is junk (internal welds like to pop loose apparently).

Hopefully the parts will be in next week and I can get this knocked out.

Yes!  We don't want no "rotted bailing wire mess" here!

On the other hand, you'll appreciate the better exhaust system on the drive.

Parts came in unexpectedly early, so I got it swapped last night.

Tail pipe is a fail: Apparently AP shows this as a smooth (press, maybe mandrel) bent pipe (Rockauto, etc.), but actually is a crinkle bent pipe...



Per rockauto the numbers match (54755)... it's the AP pipe all right. Made in USA at least... the quality seems decent. Installing it anyway because the job needs done.

Also was a pain getting all the sticker and tape residue off... elbow grease and brakeleen took care of it after the tailpipe was hung. The outlet was dented pretty bad, but that may have been me, not the lack of packaging... which I was able to straighten out with some pliers

Final pics of the old system:





I was able to cut the weld at the cat outlet with a cutoff wheel on an angle grinder... Cat #2 still looks pretty good internally:



I then cut it again a bit further back past the weld, which allowed me to pry out the end of the old intermediate pipe. Barely enough room to clamp the flared end of the intermediate pipe to the end of the cat, but there was; no pipe welding required!

Old system removed from the truck:



That thing is TINY... and look how few holes are in the internal pipe? A bit of an exhaust restriction? I didn't get a picture inside the new muffler, but it's a lot higher flowing than this nasty tin can... not to mention all of it (to include the tail) is 2" pipe, not the 2.25" it's supposed to be. Looks like it got the Midas touch?

One issue I had to deal with is the muffler hanger. Whatever ******* did the last install took the stock hanger (it had a Ford number on it!), chopped it, and welded it to the muffler. The new muffler has an M8x1.25 hanger stud. Thinking fast, I welded a scrap washer to the hanger remains:





Good thing I had a big bag of M8 Whiz nuts leftover from a Ranger 3.0 exhaust stud job years ago! Yes this is pretty redneck, but it will have to do until I find a better hanger...

I'll get better pictures in the daytime of the new system... but here's one more I nabbed while I was under there:



From initial testing it seems to be flowing well. No weird noises... We'll see on today's commuting!

Bummer on the bends but you've got it working.  

Looks like a rubber strap and standoff are in your future?

With a welder I'm sure you can *fab up some sort of frame bracket.  

Well done, Larry.    But a rubber hanger should help eliminate some noise.  Still, that washer was ingenious.

Let us know how it sounds?

There is rubber in the factory setup reused. The strap is surrounded with sheet rubber between the bed and the retainer plate.

Sound is very quiet. Still flows well it seems... But it's a stock replacement muffler, so what else would I expect?

Ok, missed that.  Glad it sounds nice and quiet.  You'll enjoy that on the drive to the show.  

Good job!

ratdude747 wrote

Parts came in unexpectedly early, so I got it swapped last night.

Tail pipe is a fail: Apparently AP shows this as a smooth (press, maybe mandrel) bent pipe (Rockauto, etc.), but actually is a crinkle bent pipe...



Per rockauto the numbers match (54755)... it's the AP pipe all right. Made in USA at least... the quality seems decent. Installing it anyway because the job needs done.

Also was a pain getting all the sticker and tape residue off... elbow grease and brakeleen took care of it after the tailpipe was hung. The outlet was dented pretty bad, but that may have been me, not the lack of packaging... which I was able to straighten out with some pliers

Final pics of the old system:





I was able to cut the weld at the cat outlet with a cutoff wheel on an angle grinder... Cat #2 still looks pretty good internally:



I then cut it again a bit further back past the weld, which allowed me to pry out the end of the old intermediate pipe. Barely enough room to clamp the flared end of the intermediate pipe to the end of the cat, but there was; no pipe welding required!

Old system removed from the truck:



That thing is TINY... and look how few holes are in the internal pipe? A bit of an exhaust restriction? I didn't get a picture inside the new muffler, but it's a lot higher flowing than this nasty tin can... not to mention all of it (to include the tail) is 2" pipe, not the 2.25" it's supposed to be. Looks like it got the Midas touch?

One issue I had to deal with is the muffler hanger. Whatever ******* did the last install took the stock hanger (it had a Ford number on it!), chopped it, and welded it to the muffler. The new muffler has an M8x1.25 hanger stud. Thinking fast, I welded a scrap washer to the hanger remains:





Good thing I had a big bag of M8 Whiz nuts leftover from a Ranger 3.0 exhaust stud job years ago! Yes this is pretty redneck, but it will have to do until I find a better hanger...

I'll get better pictures in the daytime of the new system... but here's one more I nabbed while I was under there:



From initial testing it seems to be flowing well. No weird noises... We'll see on today's commuting!

Thats the same thing I found with the one I bought for my truck.  I ended up buying another tail pipe but I got one for a '83 and up from rock auto and it wasnt crinkled in the bends.  How ever the hanger is not correct for my '82.  It is the later 83 and up rod hanger while my '82 uses a bolt on bracket style hanger.  Im thinking about using the '82 tail pipe I bought from rock auto to get the hanger off it and weld it on the '83 and up tail pipe.

But for me I am fighting with what I want to do.  Part of me is thinking about running either straight 2 1/2" single or going with 3" single.  I never was able to get word about the off road Y pipe I found by Bassani which is 3" but no clarification on if the adapter they sell for the OE manifold would apply to my shorty headers with the OE ball flange to fit an OE Y pipe.

One thing I noticed is there just isnt an aftermarket anymore for our trucks which is sad to say the least since 80 - 86 trucks are still quite popular.

Being it is a factory replacement the bends on the tail pipe are normal.
As fro the stickers / labels you could have just left them on and they will burn off as the system is used and heats up.
Looks good
Dave ----