Stainless Steel Exhaust ????

40 · January 11, 2006, 09:33:59 AM

Now that the 36 is taking a nap for the Winter,I'm turning my attention to the 37 Sedan project.On all of my previous projects,my buddy with a muffler shop has always bent the exhaust system for each car out of 2 1/2" aluminized pipe.Well....After 25 years in business,he closed his shop.A year ago,we had 6 muffler shops....we are now down to 2 and these guys are not capable of doing custom work.I am thinking of building the exhaust for the 37 out of stainless steel....buying the various lengths of pipe and bends,cutting them to fit and then having my buddy tig it all together.Anyone care to share their experience/tips? Who do you buy your stainless from??

Rochie · January 11, 2006, 12:11:20 PM

Daryle,
I know it won't help you down there but up here I get my SS tube from a buddy who runs a muffler shop. He can access, donuts, J bends, U bends, and straight tube no problem. Is there somebody around you could approach?
Wayne

Charlie Chops 1940 · January 11, 2006, 12:17:29 PM

Done a number of them. Buy the tubing and 180 degree bends through my local speed shop - he orders from Lane Automotive and is on their delivery route so I save freight and can get 20' lengths. I have done 2.5" and will be doing a 2" system for a '34 this spring. I use .030 s/s wire in my mig welder with straight argon and grind the welds. Not as pretty as tig but it works okay. Have done it with c25 gas but it's a little dirtier. If I didn't have the pur gas I probably wouldn't go get it. All depends on whether yer building for show or go....

Charlie

enjenjo · January 11, 2006, 01:06:09 PM

I have done several too. I am buying 304 bends from Burns http://www.burnsstainless.com/ you can also get the pipe from them too. I am still working on a bundle of 304 pipe I bought at a swap meet for $10 a stick. I tack it with a Mig, and finish weld with a Henrob using TM stainless flux, and 304 rod.

If you are just worried about it lasting, not appearance, you can use 704 stainless pipe and bends, but that will get a patina of rust on it if you don't coat it. it can be welded with mild steel wire in a MIG.

For mufflers,

Never Rust Stainless Steel
4279 Ohio River Blvd
Bellevue, PA 15202-3848
(412) 766-7775

Has the only SS baffled mufflers I can find. they are 16 ga, sound nice, and come either polished or mill finish.

kb426 · January 11, 2006, 01:15:26 PM

See there. He always has an answer.

enjenjo · January 11, 2006, 01:53:28 PM

Quote from: "kb426"See there. He always has an answer.

Having an answer, and having a correct answer are two entirely different things.

sirstude · January 11, 2006, 02:28:16 PM

I did the olds with U-bends this summer, just steel not SS. I aways wanted to try and I had a lot of experience on a pipe bender in my previous life. It is a LOT harder than you think, although the second one would be easier. The biggest problem I had was not having a good way to cut the pipe. A stand up bandsaw with a big table would help. I cut all mine with an air powered 4" cut off wheel. The next car I will go back to the muffler shop. I do have an advantage in that it is owned by a friend and he will let me run the equipment myself.

Doug

Dave · January 11, 2006, 05:32:55 PM

Quote from: "40"Now that the 36 is taking a nap for the Winter,I'm turning my attention to the 37 Sedan project.On all of my previous projects,my buddy with a muffler shop has always bent the exhaust system for each car out of 2 1/2" aluminized pipe.Well....After 25 years in business,he closed his shop.A year ago,we had 6 muffler shops....we are now down to 2 and these guys are not capable of doing custom work.I am thinking of building the exhaust for the 37 out of stainless steel....buying the various lengths of pipe and bends,cutting them to fit and then having my buddy tig it all together.Anyone care to share their experience/tips? Who do you buy your stainless from??

Got mine off a place that was selling stuff on egay.. I called em made a deal layed it all out migged it in 2 spots per joint and payed a guy to tig it and he ground off the mig welds after he spotted it with the tig welded it all and brushed it.. About 300 roughly pipe and welding and its sweeeeeeeeeeeet.
Dave

Scrap Fe · January 11, 2006, 08:19:10 PM

Daryl,

I bought a 2-1/2" Rod Builders Kit from Stainless Works at the Indy Goodguys a couple of years ago. The kit included (4) 45 degree bends, (4) 90 degree bends, (4) 180 degree bends and (4) 4 foot lengths of straight tube. The kit was $400 and had free shipping. Stainless Works phone number is (800) 878-3635.

The kit had everything I needed plus I have a number of pieces left over. I have full length headers but the kit has enough bends and pipe if you are using block hugger type headers or exhause manifolds.

I made all the cuts with an abrasive wheel chop saw and found that most times the two pipes that I wanted to weld together were slightly out of round. I made up a tapered plug that I resized both pipes before welding. This helps prevent blowing out the welds at the joint. To hold the pipes together for welding, I took some screw type radiator clamps and cut 3 slots so I could tack weld (TIG) the pipes together while the clamp held the pipes. Another thing I learned was to purge the oxygen out of the pipe with argon and cap the ends of the pipe before welding. The welds are much cleaner. I tried this on the last two welds and this made a significant improvement in the asthetics of the weld.

I also made up 3 bolt flanges for each joint so I can unbolt the entire system and replace mufflers in case I don't like the sound of the mufflers I bought. For hangers I bent up and welded 3/8" diameter stainless rod and used OEM rubber hangers. My tail pipes run underneath the rear axle due to no room with the triangulated 4 bar rear suspension I built.

My TIG welding made drastic improvements from the first weld to the last but I'm not going back to redue the welds. It will be just fine for me.

40 · January 11, 2006, 11:00:26 PM

Thanks for the info guys! Rick....That kit from Stainless Works seems like a pretty good buy and I'll remember the tip about purgeing the pipe! Do you recall what gauge/type it was? I'm definitely not looking for show quality but want it to look nice....I think I will use the higher grade as Frank suggested.I will grab last months StreetRodder and see what else might be available and it sure won't hurt to see what might be available on eBay.

Scrap Fe · January 12, 2006, 04:29:32 PM

Quote from: "40"Thanks for the info guys! Rick....That kit from Stainless Works seems like a pretty good buy and I'll remember the tip about purgeing the pipe! Do you recall what gauge/type it was? I'm definitely not looking for show quality but want it to look nice....I think I will use the higher grade as Frank suggested.I will grab last months StreetRodder and see what else might be available and it sure won't hurt to see what might be available on eBay.

Daryl,

My kit came with .060" 304 material.

2buck · January 12, 2006, 05:36:26 PM

I was told by a guy who does stainless exhaust for a living that each joint should be fully welded before progressing to the next joint. He said he experienced a dramatic change in the shape of the tack welded assembly when it was fully welded. :oops:
In other words..stainless will move and pull as the weld is completed. Each new added piece will 'move' so the next piece may require an 'adjustment' to maintain the intended routing.
As stated in the Burns website each joint must be precise.