The RedBurb

[Truckman4life]

When it comes to welding exhaust, I have the best luck just doing a series of overlapping tacks. I think some of the reason is we run .035 wire in our welder because 90% of the stuff we weld is 1/4" and thicker.

I'm the same. All the shops I have ever worked in usually have big welders for thicker metal. I can never get them to run a bead for long without burning through. I do have a baby 110 volt mig at work now but it seems too weak to even do exhaust so I just turn down the big 480 volt one.

 

[mrk5]

I've looked into what it would take to run ours on smaller wire, but it cost more than I thought. Plus I kinda hate messing with the machine we use to make money for my own personal benefit.

 

[mrk5]

I'm the same. All the shops I have ever worked in usually have big welders for thicker metal. I can never get them to run a bead for long without burning through. I do have a baby 110 volt mig at work now but it seems too weak to even do exhaust so I just turn down the big 480 volt one.

I tried welding exhaust 1 time with a 110 welder and I didn't have much luck either. I've always thought the fact that it's aluminized made it more difficult. We use straight argon for MIGing aluminum and I've thought about trying the straight Argon on exhaust.

 

[AugustDiesel]

I tried welding exhaust 1 time with a 110 welder and I didn't have much luck either. I've always thought the fact that it's aluminized made it more difficult. We use straight argon for MIGing aluminum and I've thought about trying the straight Argon on exhaust.

Per @AgDieseler’s advice, I’m scuffing the aluminizing off the welded joints pre-weld, which seems to make it a lot easier to weld.

I've looked into what it would take to run ours on smaller wire, but it cost more than I thought. Plus I kinda hate messing with the machine we use to make money for my own personal benefit.

I’m sure I’m doing something wrong, but I’m finding .024 wire to be really easy to kink. I could weld with .035 wire all day long and not kink it inside the machine once, and yesterday within just a few hours kinked the .024 wire half a dozen times at least. I want to say it’s the wire speed, but happened to me with the speed set as low as 25. Just got to be more cautious I guess.

 

[mrk5]

Per @AgDieseler’s advice, I’m scuffing the aluminizing off the welded joints pre-weld, which seems to make it a lot easier to weld.

That's interesting. I usually do some clean up on the ends, but I've never really paid attention to taking the aluminizing off.

I’m sure I’m doing something wrong, but I’m finding .024 wire to be really easy to kink. I could weld with .035 wire all day long and not kink it inside the machine once, and yesterday within just a few hours kinked the .024 wire half a dozen times at least. I want to say it’s the wire speed, but happened to me with the speed set as low as 25. Just got to be more cautious I guess.

That's part of the reason I'm reluctant to start messing with it. I'm afraid I would get the feeding mechanism messed up.

 

[AugustDiesel]

That's interesting. I usually do some clean up on the ends, but I've never really paid attention to taking the aluminizing off.


That's part of the reason I'm reluctant to start messing with it. I'm afraid I would get the feeding mechanism messed up.

It’s a frustrating waste of time and wire, but, I’ve gotten quite proficient at removing the kink, lol.

 

[campfire]

Yay for K&N oil filters!

And are those shiny replacement starter bolts conventional or do they have the special GM boss right above the threads?

 

[AugustDiesel]

Yay for K&N oil filters!

And are those shiny replacement starter bolts conventional or do they have the special GM boss right above the threads?

Perhaps somewhere in between? I know they are legit replacement starter bolts, not just off-the-shelf hardware bolts, (meaning I did not buy them from the hardware store), but they’ve been in for a few years now so I don’t remember if they are GM or not, or even where I got them from.

 

[Truckman4life]

Yeah if you use a little air grinder with a brown roloc disc it takes the aluminized coating off down to the steel. Only way to weld it.

 

[campfire]

Perhaps somewhere in between? I know they are legit replacement starter bolts, not just off-the-shelf hardware bolts, (meaning I did not buy them from the hardware store), but they’ve been in for a few years now so I don’t remember if they are GM or not, or even where I got them from.

You'll be fine as long as they have the raised boss at the bottom of the shank.

 

[AugustDiesel]

That's interesting. I usually do some clean up on the ends, but I've never really paid attention to taking the aluminizing off.


That's part of the reason I'm reluctant to start messing with it. I'm afraid I would get the feeding mechanism messed up.

One trick that seems to be working for me is making sure to trim the stickout each and every time I pull that trigger. Which we should be doing anyways, but it’s easy to forget.

 

[AugustDiesel]

Focused on clearancing the driverside downpipe for the transmission shift linkage today. First revision was to bang it out, but I knew I could do better. Also, the transmission shift linkage needed some sprucing up.

 

[Truckman4life]

I was trying to find a good pic but there is supposed to me a nylon cone shape disc that sits in that cup and the rod goes through it and the spring sits against it. For example it's number 231 in this pic. There is also a washer in between it and the spring. Number 230.

 

[AugustDiesel]

I was trying to find a good pic but there is supposed to me a nylon cone shape disc that sits in that cup and the rod goes through it and the spring sits against it. For example it's number 231 in this pic. There is also a washer in between it and the spring. Number 230.

Good info! Now if I can just source those parts ...

For now, I found a grommet that fit well inside the cup and replace a couple washers. Has everything shifting nice and tight.

 

[Truckman4life]

Good info! Now if I can just source those parts ...

For now, I found a grommet that fit well inside the cup and replace a couple washers. Has everything shifting nice and tight.

Yeah I am not sure if you can get that at LMC or if that's one of those no longer available dealership only small parts. I bet someone could 3D print one pretty easy.

 

[diesel4me]

A friend of mine used a rocker arm ball to replace the missing nylon bushing at that shift linkage--I think he had to drill the hole bigger in it to fit over the link rod..a lug nut would work there too..

 

[imiceman44]

A friend of mine used a rocker arm ball to replace the missing nylon bushing at that shift linkage--I think he had to drill the hole bigger in it to fit over the link rod..a lug nut would work there too..

That's what I have used.
The last blazer I bought the PO just used flat washers

 

[AugustDiesel]

Exhaust has been a little slow going as I’ve needed to give myself time to rest, but it’s coming along, Also, gotta give a huge shoutout to @Mrpandazz for coming over and lending a hand. While I really liked how the scallop for the driver side pipe turned out, I really didn’t like HAVING to have a scallop. So I ditched the factory linkage for a Lokar setup, and cutout the scallop in favor of an uninterrupted pipe.



Once that was done, I finished up the removable crossover pipe. Since the traction bar takes up all the space on the passenger side, I have to cross that pipe over to the driverside. While I don’t particularly care for have to route it under the tcase again, I don’t really have any other option, and this crossover is removable, so will make servicing the tcase and/or Tom Woods driveshaft easy peasy.



Then I moved on to the rather challenging H pipe pre mufflers. It was challenging because my tube Notcher only goes up to 2”, so I had to free hand it with the 2.5” hole saw. Didn’t take any pictures pre weld, but it turned out really nice. There were some minimal gaps to fill in, which required me to stack multiple Andy-versions of rosette welds rather than run continuous beads. You can clearly see which seams didn’t have gaps because those welds came out perfect. Nonetheless, the seams are fully sealed.



As you can see, the mufflers of choice are two three-foot-long Cherry Bombs. Knowing that someday I’ll be going to a turbo setup and may likely change some or all of this and/or go back to my MBRP muffler, I did not want to invest a ton of money into mufflers for this setup, but I also didn’t want to run straight pipes. I had a Cherry Bomb on my Jeep and really liked the tone, though I understand that’s an unfair comparison. Although Cherry Bombs can be loud, I’ve read the longer they are the better they muffle, so I went with the longest I could find. Also, getting the exhaust to dump in the back of the truck will help reduce interior decibel levels, though my neighbors on the road may not appreciate it too much, lol.

Next up will be to position and weld the H pipe to the driverside pipe, then begin working on the hoops over the rear axle, work out the rear exits, and figure out how I’m going to hang all of this, to which I have some decent ideas.


While there has been a fair amount of complexity in engineering this exhaust system, I’ve really enjoyed the process.

 

[Truckman4life]

I gambled and put 12" summit brand glasspacks on my diesel and they sound just fine. I do like them with straight pipes but didn't want to take a chance of it being too loud and annoying and the glasspacks were just right.

 

[AugustDiesel]

I gambled and put 12" summit brand glasspacks on my diesel and they sound just fine. I do like them with straight pipes but didn't want to take a chance of it being too loud and annoying and the glasspacks were just right.

Thats good to hear, as I get closer to committing to the cause, I’m getting more nervous about interior noise levels, but am glad to hear that it should be just fine. I would think, especially with dumping the exhaust behind the rear tire.