cjames Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 Ok, so I got tired of sitting on my hands waiting on parts and machine shops. I was hoping to have the turbo engine at least long blocked by now... oh well. I decided to go ahead and get the exhaust built, at least most of it. The new 3" system now connects to the stock NA downpipe, at the flange where the resonator used to go. When the new engine is in, I'll cut off the flange, and build a new downpipe to connect to the system. I used 3"x.065" 304 SS tubing. Its a little heavy, but the tube and fittings came from the scrap bin at work, and it welds real nice. I think the .065" should hold up for many years.... The muff is a Magnaflow 3"x3", I think the case is 4"x14". I was a little worried that it may be too loud on the NA engine, but really it's not bad. This is my first attempt at fabricating exhaust. I welcome comments and criticisms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetleaf Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 :cheers:Looks great, amazing considering it was you first build. Nice job.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSM Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 Top notch as far as I'm concerned. At least you can weld, I can't very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSM Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 Love the wood drive on ramps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadianz Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 Looks really nice, its almost the exact same setup as I have on my car, same muffler too! I havn't started mine yet, its on a turbo car though. You should get a sound clip of yours and post it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMWHYR0HEN Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 Really nice craftsmanship on that exhaust system. Just curious on why you used 3'' for an NA application. Plans to go turbo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjames Posted February 24, 2008 Author Share Posted February 24, 2008 Thanks for all the positive comments! EMWHYR0HEN, I am in the process of building a turbo engine, read the first sentence in my post its ok, I get distracted by pictures too. JSM, the wood drive on ramps are totally custom, built 'em all by myself too, yep . Without them, the car sits too low to get the jack under... the tricky part is remembering to put the wood back under the wheels when lowering it off the stands... Not that I've ever done that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMWHYR0HEN Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 Thanks for all the positive comments! EMWHYR0HEN, I am in the process of building a turbo engine, read the first sentence in my post its ok, I get distracted by pictures too. JSM, the wood drive on ramps are totally custom, built 'em all by myself too, yep . Without them, the car sits too low to get the jack under... the tricky part is remembering to put the wood back under the wheels when lowering it off the stands... Not that I've ever done that Opps sorry, I missed that! Ive got to stop jumping to conslusions.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OR-JO Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 How loud is that muffler? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffer949 Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 i just built mine like a week ago from the turbo back and yours is WAY nicer than mine. i just used aluminized steel mandrel bends and just put her together. i was in such a rush i didnt even try to clean my welds up.(friday before DNI) Ill go back and see if i can clean them up when i put my new he351cw in. ill have to modify my dp a little bit to make it work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjames Posted March 26, 2008 Author Share Posted March 26, 2008 How loud is that muffler? It's by no means quiet, but it's not so loud that it wakes the neighbors. It occasionally sets off car alarms (kinda fun) and it has a rather irritating "ring" at 2500rpm ('bout 63mph in 5th gear). When I get the other engine built, the turbo should break up the resonance, and quiet things down a little. I'm happy with it, but it's not the muffler I'd buy if I were sticking to an NA engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtmny1999 Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 I have the same muffler and 3 inch piping on my turbo car. Its pretty loud but the turbo quiets it down a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cockerstar Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 Wait, you said this was your first system?! It looks great! I agree, a sound clip is necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slownrusty Posted April 12, 2008 Share Posted April 12, 2008 Wow...that does look fabulous! Congrats on a really clean and smoothly built system. Yasin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fhptom Posted April 12, 2008 Share Posted April 12, 2008 I agree with everyone else on your build. I had cut my exhaust system in half having it exit right under driver seat. Another racer told me to try it to lose a couple of pounds and free up some hp. Found it to be a big mistake and went to local muffler shop and they wanted over $175 just to put in about 6' of piping. Being able to do it yourself is great. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjames Posted April 12, 2008 Author Share Posted April 12, 2008 Wait, you said this was your first system?! It looks great! I agree, a sound clip is necessary. Thanks for the compliments. I should say that although this is my first exhaust system, but I'm no stranger to welding pipe. I work in the engineering dept at a food plant, so I do quite a bit of fabricating and welding, including a little pipe... I will admit that fitting the exhaust was a little more challenging than running process piping at work thats level and square, with plenty of room to work. My TIG welder isnt near as nice as the one at work either. I'll work on a sound clip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrZ Posted April 12, 2008 Share Posted April 12, 2008 Cjames, we have the same muffler but mine used a 2.25 inch pipe to connect to that muffler. I got short of $$$. HE!HEH!EH! magnaflow sounds great! Even greater on a pipe like yours. keep up the good work!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyvette Posted April 12, 2008 Share Posted April 12, 2008 CONGRATS! Ive seen guys that have been building exhausts for YEARS not do as nice of work...........in fact my local muffler shop has NEVER done work on welds that looks that nice! BTW WHAT TYPE, MODEL AND BRAND OF WELDER AND WHICH AMP & SHIELD GAS SETTINGS...WIRE OR RODS, MIG? TIG? HOW ABOUT MORE INFO ON THE EQUIPMENT YOU USED AND SETTINGS, Im sure some of us can always use more info. a JOB like that plus materials would easilly cost several hundred dollars at most shops so it makes having a welder and the skills almost a no-brainers and easily cost justifying the welder purchase , returning the expences in only a few jobs , from that point on the welding equipments paid for....I purchased my MILLER 252 MIG last year for 2K and its already paid for itself, I purchased a USED 330 amp TIG IM still learning to do welds with but the more I use it the better I get and the more I prefer TIG over MIG for some applications Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjames Posted April 13, 2008 Author Share Posted April 13, 2008 CONGRATS! Ive seen guys that have been building exhausts for YEARS not do as nice of work...........in fact my local muffler shop has NEVER done work on welds that looks that nice! BTW WHAT TYPE, MODEL AND BRAND OF WELDER AND WHICH AMP & SHIELD GAS SETTINGS...WIRE OR RODS, MIG? TIG? HOW ABOUT MORE INFO ON THE EQUIPMENT YOU USED AND SETTINGS, Im sure some of us can always use more info. a JOB like that plus materials would easilly cost several hundred dollars at most shops so it makes having a welder and the skills almost a no-brainers and easily cost justifying the welder purchase , returning the expences in only a few jobs , from that point on the welding equipments paid for....I purchased my MILLER 252 MIG last year for 2K and its already paid for itself, I purchased a USED 330 amp TIG IM still learning to do welds with but the more I use it the better I get and the more I prefer TIG over MIG for some applications I was hoping it wouldn't come up, but OK. My welder is a POS Century 230/140 amp AC/DC arc welder. It runs stick pretty well, and it's actually a great power supply for TIG welding. I have a 200A air cooled TIG torch, argon cylinder and flow meter. I simply clamp the stinger onto the TIG lead. I got alot of it used, and MAYBE have $300 in the whole setup, including the cylinder. The amp control on the welder sucks, I adjust it to where it welds good, don't need no fancy digital readout to tell me where its set. I've never really found a need for MIG, I can arc or tig weld most anything, probably with better results. Bottom line, you dont need alot of fancy and expensive stuff to make good welds. (not to say I wouldn't like to have a new Thermal Arc inverter) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyvette Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 considering the TIG set-up your useing IM even further impressed, but your correct, the more I use my tig welder the more impressed with its potential Ive become,for years I had only an 220volt 230 amp ARC welder and a oxy acetolen torch, and you would probably be surprized at what can be accomplished with just those, its not that good equipments not a huge help (it is) but the skill and experiance of the guy useing any equipment has a huge effect on the results GAS FLOW RATE SETTINGS? AMPS? filler rods? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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