Jimmy B. ( parts from Bruiser)

[skunked]

I'm not trying to be lazy or cheap. I just look at the fact that it is all 1/4" wall steel tube. I don't know how much it will take to bend it, but I think that it will take a bigger hit than the truck frame will handle. The ends are only 12" long and somewhat close to the tires in my view, so I don't know how much momentum could happen from the tire to the tube.

But even if I put a tube out to the ends, it would only be hooked to a piece of flat plate at the end of the mounting plate, and it would have to be firmly bolted to the truck to install it. The plates bow out slightly unless bolted to the truck frame.

FWIW- My bumper wraps around like yours and I don't have anything supporting those legs. I haven't had any problems and neither did the PO of the bumper and it's seen plenty of action. My front tube bumper is another story however, I need to fix that still.

 

[mrk5]

Fine, you guys just do what you like. Don't say I didn't warn you all.......

 

[6872xtc]

How about a gusset in the corner?

I hadn't thought of that. I just made sure that the side tubes were fully welded to the main tube, which is why the end caps were seperate pieces instead of a continuation of the tube.

 

[6872xtc]

Well after several interruptions in my life, we finally mounted the rear bumper today! And John made some splash shields to hopefully keep some of larger stuff from landing on top of the bumper.

I do have to admit to being too uninspired to get in high gear on this truck lately.
But my son and @500$k5 helped me out today!



They pulled the headers off while I worked on some lesser stuff. (Temporary steps/sliders)
We found out that Sanderson doesn't have a collector that seals well with the recommended copper gaskets!
Just as @Bent77 found out. And he had to tell me that mine had leaks, cuz I couldn't hear them...
So they got me well on the way to having the exhaust problems fixed! I have to work on it more this week and we just left the truck at my work.
I now have a list, and priorities to get my butt going!

 

[azblazer]

interruptions or geriatric moments?

help is always a phone call away dweeb...

if you couldn't hear the leak (old age) why fix it? Problem solved due to being deef and...well i will leave it at deef. Lol.

 

[Bent77]

interruptions or geriatric moments?

help is always a phone call away dweeb...

if you couldn't hear the leak (old age) why fix it? Problem solved due to being deef and...well i will leave it at deef. Lol.

Its was on the side of the o2 sensor. That's been proven to cause lots of tuning issues on FI systems

 

[6872xtc]

interruptions or geriatric moments?

help is always a phone call away dweeb...

if you couldn't hear the leak (old age) why fix it? Problem solved due to being deef and...well i will leave it at deef. Lol.

The O2 sensor was below one of the collectors, and as short as these headers are, both collectors were up in the frame, so there would be a chance of heat damage to fuel, brake and transmission lines.
And thanks for the offer of help, I hadn't checked with you to see when you were in town, obviously.

I had so many things to do around the house, and helping my parents, I hadn't pushed myself towards this. I have tried to spend more time with my family, and my Uncle was out here from Nebraska for over a week, so I had family time to work on, I neglected that last year.

 

[6872xtc]

Its was on the side of the o2 sensor. That's been proven to cause lots of tuning issues on FI systems

Looking at the gaskets, neither side was sealed completely. So I didn't want to leave the right side to possibly leak next to all of those lines. Kinda hard to ignore a part that isn't right, so cut it out!

 

[6872xtc]

interruptions or geriatric moments?

help is always a phone call away dweeb...

if you couldn't hear the leak (old age) why fix it? Problem solved due to being deef and...well i will leave it at deef. Lol.

Oh, and since you are giving me crap, I will just ask if you would leave an exhaust leak on yours?

 

[Bent77]

Looking at the gaskets, neither side was sealed completely. So I didn't want to leave the right side to possibly leak next to all of those lines. Kinda hard to ignore a part that isn't right, so cut it out!

All I heard was cut outs

 

[azblazer]

Of course not...i tend to be a lil anal about things. Lol.

 

[6872xtc]

So this is part way through the process of eliminating the 3 bolt collectors. The ring on the header received a nice weld bead to the sealing surface of the collector, then ground it down some, and the reducer is getting welded on. Here they are with short welds in between the bolt holes, and then the bolt holes cut off before final welding. This will give a completely welded exhaust above the O2 sensor, and I will put a V band on for disconnecting the pipes. This isn't the greatest solution, but this method made it easier to position the pipes without having to have 2 guys under the truck to hold parts in place and tack weld them together. And as I said before, the collectors were up above the lower flange of the frame, so that added to the difficulty level. I feel that this gave good accuracy while speeding the process slightly.

 

[Bent77]

How’s that powder coat smell?

 

[azblazer]

I suppose i was expecting to see a new flange welded to the connector so a v band aka turbo clamp could be employed.

 

[Bent77]

I suppose i was expecting to see a new flange welded to the connector so a v band aka turbo clamp could be employed.

Yeah that was an emotional letdown

 

[6872xtc]

How’s that powder coat smell?

Ya grind the ceramic coating off to weld it. And there wasn't much burned off elsewhere so far.
It didn't even have any marks from the cut-off wheel blowing sparks at it.

But the welder guy didn't comment about it anyway.

 

[Bent77]

Ya grind the ceramic coating off to weld it. And there wasn't much burned off elsewhere so far.
It didn't even have any marks from the cut-off wheel blowing sparks at it.

But the welder guy didn't comment about it anyway.

Doesn’t your welder sniff fumes?

 

[6872xtc]

Exhaust is back together. Test it tomorrow.
I believe that I have enough flexibility in the front pipes now. I wish that I had done this to begin with. And I also hope that these flex sections hold up. They have an inner tube and then something around it, then the braided wrap.

 

[azblazer]

I like the turbo clamps. I think its a superior way to seal things up and make things easier to take apart for repairs.

 

[6872xtc]

So just a little update. I ruined an R4 A/C compressor after finding out that the previous owner had turned the screw on the cycling switch all the way in, so I had vent temps like this.

But before I found the switch maladjusted, I decided that a Sanden style compressor would be more durable and bought a kit to make it mount in place of the R4. I got that mounted and found a serpentine belt that was the correct length. Now I have to get some lines made and see how it works. I have a Ferd orifice tube since @500$k5 got good results from one, and installed another new parallel flow condenser since there was so much junk on the orifice tube. I bought a 7 piston compressor rather than the 5 piston one so as to try and make it perform similar to an R4. Time will tell if this works. I should be able to get lines made tomorrow.
But in the meantime, I just drove it and stopped by an old friend's house who we have convinced to go to BB19 with his '85 K30. (So he says at least)
I hope that he does!