Ash 145 Report post Posted December 24, 2016 Wow that is so impressive!! I don't know if I could cover over that artwork though. It looks too good to hide away. I completely agree why you'd cover it up but such a shame it can't be left. How many mm thick are the flange plates that mate to the heads? They look about 20mm? 2 Zefevinee and Selmadox reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted December 25, 2016 Wow that is so impressive!! How many mm thick are the flange plates that mate to the heads? They look about 20mm? I was thinking the same thing. Probably won't ever see any warpage there. Gorgeous! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Machspeed 219 Report post Posted December 25, 2016 Wow, that's one heck-uv-a Christmas present, Mike....LOL! Good for you. Maybe I missed it, but do you plan to race this car? Merry Christmas!!! John Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Machspeed 219 Report post Posted December 25, 2016 And RPM, I just spent a good deal of time looking over your build. You are quite the fabricator yourself, my friend. Awesome! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted December 28, 2016 Look, I actually worked on this today! I have been looking at getting this exhaust fitted for some time. I had the collector reducers formed for a while, but haven't welded the flanges on yet. I haven't seen this done quite like this with the flanges and a slip fit. I have a gasket laid out that I need to trim to make sure it doesn't leak. As these will be welded to the collectors, I purged them as the flanges were welded in place. The beginning of the exhaust section stared with it's own flange, which was welded in place on both sides, then ground smooth. I had modified the flex connector a while back, they started out round and with the help of my vice, are a nice oval shape. These are the double layer, bellow inside, braid outside. They should help with any vibrations and thermal expansion during use. With the upstream parts all shaped, I trimmed the two 45 degree elbows to fit and tack welded everything in place. I am in the process of welding all this together. The flex couplers are fun to weld. It helps to run a small bead on the wire to fully cover to the bands. Basically having to do a double pass. Time consuming, but the results are nice and neat. 1 Ridge Runner reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted December 28, 2016 Damn, I hate you Mike! Seriously now, that is such beautiful work. Be proud young man. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SM69Mach 68 Report post Posted December 28, 2016 That looks great. Nice job. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stangnet33 88 Report post Posted December 28, 2016 Great stuff Mike ! I'm also going to try and use flex pipe on mine. Did you end up doing any mods that you were thinking on the x-pipe ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted December 28, 2016 Thanks for the compliments everyone, just having some relaxing fun! Made a little more headway with the exhaust. Flipping the car upside down helped as I didn't have to clamp very much in place. I had a general idea of where I wanted the mufflers to sit, but have been torn between going out the rocker, or going up and through the quarter. The quarter exit will be a little less work, but will require a cover over the pipe on the interior, along with a bunch of sound deadening material. Anyway, I took a bunch of measurements and looked at several ways to connect the X to the mufflers. After chopping the back side of the X down to hardly anything, I chopped down the two remaining 45 degree elbows and tacked them in place. I also trimmed the offset pipes and stuck them in the muffler inlet tubes. Sticking all this back in the car, with my make believe PVC drive shaft, it looks like this might work. There are a few things I need to straighten up, along with constructing some muffler hangers and making a decision on the rocker / quarter exits... 1 Ridge Runner reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ridge Runner 1,112 Report post Posted December 29, 2016 Looks like that flat tube makes it a bit easier to clamp things in place . Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ash 145 Report post Posted December 29, 2016 I can see being upside making it much easier to build as well. I'm not sure if we can get that shaped pipe here but I'm going to look into it now. I like the look of that. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted January 1, 2017 Oval pipe is neat, but I don't know if I will go there again. If (and it would have to be a very special IF) the vehicle was set-up to be race car low, or there were chassis routing limitations (like a full body pan) I could see using this shape of pipe. As the oval section height is 2 1/4" high, regular 3" pipe wouldn't be that much of a difference for ground clearance. Yes, it is stainless, but the cost difference between a 3" round vs a 3" oval kit is over $400.00. The other draw back is there are no "normal" parts for oval systems. As noted with the flex connectors, modifications were necessary to form round parts to the oval shape, there are no great off the shelf collector flanges (as my oval collectors needed custom transitions, not included in the kit) and the bend qualities are decent at best. I know that bending an oval pipe the "hard way" is not easy, and I am being critical of the parts I am working with. Having to butt weld the sections together, which I would do with a round system, takes a little bit more time to get the joints just right as my Porta-Band isn't the greatest way to cut this large of a pipe perfectly straight. Along with deformed bends, the amount of fabrication to get two sections of tubing to line up just right, ends up in some compromises. The trail of receipts for all the parts (so far) from the collectors back is $2,190.62. (just totaled that up, WOW) I still have to get some wide band O2 sensors, and make a bunch of other custom parts, glad I don't have to have a labor bill included in all this, that would be nuts! With the been there, done that point of view... stick with round systems... lol. I did get a little more done yesterday with having to do some adjustments and a few more weld seams completed, I'm starting to design the hangers, which need some material to be made out of. I wanted to utilize the mounts on the shock reinforcement area, but the 3-link bar is all in the way. So, I'll have to make some beef-ups to hang the system from the transition pan area. Time for some overkill exhaust mounts lol. Happy 2017 everyone! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Machspeed 219 Report post Posted January 1, 2017 The trail of receipts for all the parts (so far) from the collectors back is $2,190.62. (just totaled that up, WOW) I still have to get some wide band O2 sensors, and make a bunch of other custom parts, glad I don't have to have a labor bill included in all this, that would be nuts! With the been there, done that point of view... stick with round systems... lol. Happy 2017 everyone! Kids cost more, Mike! I got two in college and they're killing me...lol! Looks awesome.....nice fab work as usual!!! Happy New Year Buddy, John Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike65 475 Report post Posted January 2, 2017 Nice work on the exhaust Mike. Happy 2017 everyone. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted January 2, 2017 Mirrors. Your gonna need mirrors under your Mustang so folks can see your best work. I think the cool factor trumps the money spent. But it was your money spent :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted January 2, 2017 Kids cost more, Mike! I got two in college and they're killing me...lol! Looks awesome.....nice fab work as usual!!! Happy New Year Buddy, John One of the reasons I am able to build this thing is my kids are out of college and are on their own lol. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted January 5, 2017 In an attempt to figure out what style and placement of tips I wanted to do I messed around with several different shapes, sizes and placements. This exhaust is coming out of the side of the car, one way or another lol. I've looked at SEVERAL different tube configurations and shapes and have decided to go with two 3" oval outlets. I started with mocking up going through the rocker panel... Then I tried a little bit different shape on the lower quarter... (which I didn't like) so through the rocker it is. I got started by making a stainless sheet profile of the rocker as it will be part of the tip surround. It will also be removable for access to the tips, hopefully. A little more visualization of my thought process... In order to see what will actually fit, and how much modifications to my new floor pan I am going to have to make, I got to chopping up some metal. As you can see through the hole, there is a floor pan half way in the hole, along with a frame rail in the distance. Yea, just a little bit of creative notching and reinforcement to do. I'm going to build the tips first and work my way to the frame rail. I've cut up a few bends and laid out some templates of possible routings, no turning back now lol! 1 Mach427 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted January 5, 2017 Holy smokes! Now you're acting like those no fear Aussies I love so much. I hope I don't like this mod very much or else I'll be copying you. Looks like I visited you about six months too soon. I wish I had half of your creative mind. Really cool mod Mike. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stangnet33 88 Report post Posted January 6, 2017 You have balls, I'll give you that :0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ridge Runner 1,112 Report post Posted January 6, 2017 Not to fear ,if you decide you don't want to go through the rockers ,i have some outer rocker sections here if you need them . Have you thought about a nascar type exhaust exit out of the rockers ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ridge Runner 1,112 Report post Posted January 6, 2017 This could look pretty sweet if the tip curved to match the face of the rocker and just slightly protruded . 1 Zefevinee reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted January 6, 2017 That style was one of them many I looked at. I have the tips marked to the contour of the rocker and will allow them to protrude less than a half inch or so beyond the cover. I also have a section of an outer rocker just in case lol. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
unilec 57 Report post Posted January 6, 2017 Love your idea on the side pipes, maybe if the were pointing back to the rear a bit would look better, but just my opinion. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted January 17, 2017 I have been in the designing phase lately. Trying out different shapes and configurations for the tips. As I have made 50 different cut templates, I finally have one I'm going with. I drew the shape on a tube, then made a negative template for all 4 tips. Sliding the tube into the template, the outline can be marked and semi easily trimmed. The contour resembles the rocker shape, looks a little weird on the work bench, but blends well with the car, least I think so... With the tip profile done, I started trying to figure out how to make these two tubes go into one. I had two 2" 90 degree bends that I was going to make tips out of, instead, cut them in half and started fitting them to the oval tubing. The oval stuff is 2 1/4" x 3 3/8", the 2" tube needed a little expanding to fit. Some careful persuasion expanded each half to fit quite nicely. They are just shy of the tangents on the oval, but I will be able to finagle the parts to work. I made the inner radius piece first, carefully trimming it to fit the oval tube. Once happy, I tacked it to the tip. A little trimming on the longer section allowed these two parts to be almost ready to tack together. The outer radius is stuck in position to get a measurement for a transition to the round 2 1/2" tube from the muffler. I'll have to lay out that part next, which should be interesting. 2 Mach427 and SWPruett reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted January 17, 2017 Nice! That's my kind off fun. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
