Exhaust Repair and Upgrade

<Click on any image to enlarge!>

The exhaust (some of which I can't doubt was 23 years old) leaked badly and I was really beginning to hate sucking fumes at every stoplight. The Scout had factory dual exhausts without catalytic converters or a crossover pipe. An old pair of turbo-type mufflers had seen better days, and judging from the lack of exhaust from the passenger side I suspect the heat riser valve is shot.  Careful measurement of the original exhaust revealed that the outside diameter varied from 2 1/2 inches off the manifolds to 2 1/4 inches at the mufflers! The large D-shaped crimp where the passenger side exhaust runs past the transfer case doesn't exactly help either.  Evidently the lack of flow made the passenger side corrode heavily beyond a simple repair.

Eventually I want to install a set of Stan's headers and all new 2 1/2 inch tubing with a crossover pipe. But first, a little first aid for the old exhaust! 

I went to the PepBoys and bought a three-bit exhaust pipe cutter and a handful of straight, 90 degree, and 45 degree pipes. I cut out as much of the rotted exhaust as I could from the passenger side. (The drivers side looked OK)

Here's a section of the rotted exhaust

Even with gentle pressure on the cutter, the tubing easily collapsed. I had to use a tailpipe expanding plug to reshape the ends before I could fit the new pieces on. I arranged the elbow and straight pipes to mimic the shape of the original exhaust, slipped them on, and secured everything with new clamps.

Hopefully this'll last until the summer.........more later!