mitered exhaust, who's done it?

[TerryD]

The exhaust on my K5 is cobbled together from several pipes I had laying around. Has anyone done exhaust with a chopsaw, mitering the bends? Id cut bends into segments, somewhere between 15 and 30 degrees to maintain a little flow, but I don't have a 400hp engine either. I have a MIG so the welds would be fairly clean once I got going a little. What says CK5?

 

[dhcomp]

What is the motivator to do it yourself? Exhaust is one of those things that isnt' really that expensive, and is worth having a decent shop do it.

For the time it will take, they have the right tools to get the job done, and price will probably be reasonable.

 

[Blue85]

You wouldn't even have to miter it, just cut slots on what you want to be the inside of the bend. Then bend to the angle you want and weld it up.

What I don't like about this plan is all the new rust spots you're adding. Aluminized tubing lasts for a while, but eventually fails at the welds. I would only do it if the system only needed like 1 or 2 bends.

I've had systems bent to fit at a shop for about the same price I would have paid just for the materials. This is sometimes the cheapest solution and almost always the least work.

 

[TerryD]

I've just been considering trying it for a while. No real reason other than that.

 

[Smokinthehippies]

i wouldnt even bother.
just find a shop and have them do it. unless you just want to do it for arts and crafts time and dont mind paying to have it redone once you get tired of it.

to answer your question, i did it sorta. i used a universalish kit and just cut thru the included bends and hacked it up to work. was one of the top things i was going to have redone if i kept the truck.

 

[cwn anwyn]

Just buy some U and J bends in your diameter and piece it together. Last time I did it that way it was pretty easy and cheap. Bought my bends from Summit and bought a stick from the local exhaust shop. Between a miter here and there and cutting the bends to fit, you can run it any way needed.


I would have had the local shop bend up exhaust for me. But the last time I asked them to make a simple bend in some tube for my intercooler piping it looked like fresh dog crap. So I didnt feel they were up to the task of making a good exhaust setup.

Z

 

[NorCal_Chris]

Ive always made my own exhausts. same concept that was mentioned. use a U bend or 2 and a straight stick. cut the u to the desired bend and weld it in. i have done some pretty complex multi plane snaking downpipes and such this way.

 

[tRustyK5]

Yup, easy enough to do at home...and I won't take mine to an exhaust shop because most don't mandrel bend the tube, they use a pipe kinker/folder/crusher for that ultimate high flow performance, then want $500 for their sh1tty work not routed how you wanted it.

 

[odin]

Yup, easy enough to do at home...and I won't take mine to an exhaust shop because most don't mandrel bend the tube, they use a pipe kinker/folder/crusher for that ultimate high flow performance, then want $500 for their sh1tty work not routed how you wanted it.

Agreed.
Im making my exhaust on my build using a kit, like mentioned above.

 

[cybrfire]

Used to be an old guy here in town that worked for the stealer ship. When he was around I'd have him bend me a tube or two. Since he retired 10 years ago, i've done all my own. He was good though, You could tell him make and model of your truck and he'd bend the pipe to squeeze by the transfer case from memory. Fit everytime.

Those days are gone I think.

 

[Blue85]

Yup, easy enough to do at home...and I won't take mine to an exhaust shop because most don't mandrel bend the tube, they use a pipe kinker/folder/crusher for that ultimate high flow performance, then want $500 for their sh1tty work not routed how you wanted it.

Weird. I've had duals done for $220 and $250. Sure it's not mandrel bending, but with dual 2.5" pipes you can afford to lose a little diameter on some bends. It's cheaper when you go to the bad side of town - and they are less strict about everything being in the factory configuration.

This is about the same price as a clamp together kit from Jegs, so I figured I wouldn't waste my time. I looked into buying the mandrel bends and this also ended up being more money.

 

[diesel4me]

Most all my vehicles end up with a home brewed exhaust system,especially my plow trucks,but I also made them for my daily driver K5 and Chevy van too.............................................................................................................I've used the 90 degree and 45 degree pre-bent elbows from parts stores to make the front pipes,they fit perfect on stock GM manifolds as far as the angle,then I use whatever I can get for the straight runs,I've used everything from chain link fence corner posts that are heavily galvanized,and last years,-my Chevelle wagon had the duals made from that stuff and it still looked great 8 years later when I sold it......and I have even used some 2-1/2" water pipe once,I never had to build another exhaust for that truck during the 8 years I had it--I once even used some tubing salvaged from a swing set I saw at the dump one day,galvanized with "stripes" on them,like barber poles,when I had zero cash to buy anything better...I got some ribbing when my friends saw that under my truck--but it was quiet,I dont care about looks!--that stuff lasted about 3+ years..............................................................................................................I usually run glass packs or cheap turbo mufflers,I used to use Walker "Royal Scot" mufflers that were baffled inside,but had the same shell as a glass pack,they never rust away,I had several of them on various vehicles for up to ten years and never had to replace one,even with our salty roads and wet climate that rots stock exhausts away in a couple years.......I know a guy who's into rat rods,he made custom flanges for the manifolds by using the stock ones off a y-pipe and he welded NPT pipe nipples to the flange,and made the rest of the exhaust from pipe elbows and scedule 40 pipe...he used old connecting rods for hangers too!...talk about an exhaust system thats both bullet and rust proof,I bet it weighs 200 lbs!..