I have a cracked exhaust pipe. It's in a $650 performance exhaust... It's out of warranty.

Made with 2 1/2" 304 stainless steel tubing.

Can any Joe Blow corner muffler shop weld it up? My google research suggest likely not. Only 3 shops in the county and none of them do high end performance type stuff.

I have attached a low res photo from the sellers site of the part with the area circled in red.
The pipe is cracked about 2/3 the way around, right at the factory weld at the inlet to the catalytic converter.

Just trying to educate myself...
I can take it off and shop it around for repair but the car is in use and I don't want to have it down for days while trying to find a fix.

Thanks for any thoughts or advice.

Your luck at a muffler shop may depend on the skill and experience of whomever they have working there. Outside of that, any welding shop should be able to get you taken care of.

If you absolutely demand the best stainless welder you can find, focus on shops that specialize in stainless. Kitchen equipment repair, boat railings, etc.

It's a factory exhaust made of 304ss? If you were closer to PA/NJ I'd have one of my guys knock it out for you. It's not a difficult repair, but depending on how old the exhaust is, how corroded it is, etc. it may be a little more time consuming.

There is probably a good welding shop or mobile welder nearby. That's a better bet than a muffler shop I would believe.

Any welder that can weld stainless steel should be able to fix it. Some muffler shops yes, other's no. If you run into a bind, try to find a welder that works on boats/ships/etc.

quote:

Originally posted by cmr076:
It's a factory exhaust made of 304ss? If you were closer to PA/NJ I'd have one of my guys knock it out for you. It's not a difficult repair, but depending on how old the exhaust is, how corroded it is, etc. it may be a little more time consuming.

Too bad I'm not closer!
It's a bolt on aftermarket header back kit. Header was done as well. I installed myself. Had a 50k mile warranty, has ~100k on it. Cost of the bad part includes the Cat, and a resonator, and is ~$350 plus shipping. The car is getting long in the tooth but is serving my grandson as his daily driver for now. It needs fixed but not worth a new exhaust, especially when it looks like just a stress crack.
I guess I'll start calling around...


Thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by cparktd:
I have a cracked exhaust pipe ... made with 2 1/2" 304 stainless steel tubing.

Can any Joe Blow corner muffler shop weld it up? My google research suggest likely not. Only 3 shops in the county and none of them do high end performance type stuff.

The V-Tail (and, I believe, most piston-powered aircraft) has a stainless exhaust system. Over the years it cracked in various places and finally got to the point where it was more weld than it was original part.

Go to your local small airport and find a maintenance shop. They will either do this type of welding themselves, or they will have somebody that they farm it out to. Any aircraft maintenance tech will be able to point you in the right direction.

Another place to check is a local sheet metal fab shop.
As mentioned before, you really just need somebody with experience welding stainless as this is fairly thin wall metal and not structural.
Good prep will make for a good weld.
Cheers~

You need a TIG welder to do that work. Also known as GTAW or Heli-arc depending on ones age. V Tail offered good advise or google search your area for TIG welding.

with a 2/3 break I'd pull it so they can inspect the other side, if it's broken on one, it's being stressed on the other, might be best to cut and weld all the way around.

Look for welding shops and call around, doesn't have to be a muffler shop, just a shop that has experience in SS.