Exhaust Redux: Cutlass Ciera Central Exhaust Pipe Replacement

I follow my blog readership statistics fairly carefully, so I know quite a bit about you. One would think that readers would be into photography, and maybe other dorky science stuff, but no, people come here looking for information about how to fix their old cars. Readers really like big color pictures. You want to know what he classic picture is on this blog? Nothing Roller Derby related! Instead, it's the picture that shows the exact location of the flame trap on a b230f engine.

I wouldn't call myself the living total codex of car repair, but I do have some stories to tell.

Here's another:

A few week ago, I was riding in the ChevOldsmoBuiac with the girl, and noted that I couldn't hear Wait Wait Don't Tell Me for the deafening roar the car was emitting. Upon our next stop, and poked around and discovered a lovely large hole in the central exhaust pipe that runs from the catalytic convert.

This discovery was a source of massive dismay. Like the muffler I replaced last fall, the pipe pretty new, circa 2007 vintage. I just replaced it! It's not rusty to speak of! Except, of course, where the holes rusted through. I am beginning to think the Cutlass Ciera is central a giant exhaust system conspiracy. I'm pretty sure I have had some exhaust problem every year for the past 4 years.

Exasperation and an order to Rockauto.

Whilst waiting for the delivery, I employed a random piece of flashing I found blowing in the yard and some pipe clamps to muffle the rumble. With few exceptions, any piece of sheet metal (pop can, soup can, house parts), tin snips, and a few clamps can solve quite a few exhaust problems, at least until safety and emissions inspection time rolls around.

When the time for replacement came, i decided to try a new approach to exhaust repair, and used the sawzall to cut the old pipe into small pieces instead of trying to snake it out in a single, pokey, rusty piece. I didn't have the sawzall before, so this was a new experience, and it saved me a lot of grief.

I also discovered more holes by the hanger

And further more at another elbow...

...along with the original holes I found. Really, it was becoming more of an exhaust channel than a pipe.

When I cut the pipe from the car, I found that most of it's metal was still there. It was only rusting in certain spots, near welds and bends, and near the seam. The zinc coating must have been applied to the sheet metal before it was formed.

In contrast, the exhaust hangars I constructed from springs and rubber strap continue to function very well.

The stainless steel bolts I put on the exhaust flange were almost new looking. The entire system really should be made from stainless steel.

Random rubber strap outlasted the pipe. Maybe it will outlive the next one too. I cannot even remember what the hanger it replaced looked like.

To get the stub out of the 10 month old muffler, I had to slot the middle with the sawzall, then hammer a big flatblad screwdriver into the gap to pop out the old pipe.

Not content to stop playing with powertools, I flattened out the crimp in the muffler flange with a c-clamp, and then tried to return the flange to as close to round as possible. Of course, it still, barely, would not couple with the new pipe, so I slotted it with the saw, then hammered a section of old pipe in and wiggled it around to trumpet it.
Here, you can see the expanded slot and the mark where the crimp used to be.

All the sawzall cutting ended up saving a bunch of time... It still took several hours from start to finish, but the project didn't take all day. I'm not sure how long it would have taken to get the pipe out from under the car with the muffler rusted on, or even then, how long it would have taken to separate the stub from the muffler, or open the muffler to accept the new pipe. Previously, I may have thrown in the towel and bought a new muffler or scrolled out the stub with the dremel. Having tools is great.

In that vein, I'm beginning to have fantasies about getting a wire-feed welder. While it might be better to discuss these fantasies with my therapist, the welder would let me patch exhaust pipes with generic parts (less time lost to shipping) and finally get the exhaust hanger situation straight, and fix a few other sheet metal related projects that I've been ignoring or flat out scared to start.