Exhaust repair

[Guest]

Had to rebuild an exhaust and thought I would take some pics to show you all what I'd done. Here's what I started with.

the brazing is mine as I tried to repair the damage caused by the guy who sold the system to me(in fairness to him he did mail me to say it had been hard to split for postage).I lost the will to fix it and after a long hard look decided to just cut the whole thing off and remake it.I took sections of automotive exhaust that fitted snugly that I begged from a repair shop and cut them to approx. the right length then fitted the downpipes into the head as shown here made the bottom patch for the collector/endcan and offered it up

and yes I know that zip ties have terrible thermal properties it was just to mock up so I could cut and shape the top part of the patch!

[Johnny Drummond]

exhaust repair, part 2

I tried to put the pipes on in the order that the seller of the exhaust had kindly numbered-unfortunatley it was wrong, and a lot of head scratching was required to get them in the right place Okay, here is the 1st attempt at a top patch tacked in place, put the end can into place again to see how it lined up,

good old zip ties again in place of the bracket(which was too short) just to roughly mock up the line the finished exhaust would take- this is lower than it finished up.Tried to fit the 4 pipes into the new section and was very glad I only put 3 tacks on the upper patch as it turned out that it was at least 1 3/4 inches too low-DOH,back to the cereal packet(my favoured method of template making for patches), sadly I have no pictures of the next few steps but here is the partially finished collector

and yes I am aware it looks as rough as a badgers bum but I hadn't ground back any of the weld yet.In case anyone is curious the metal for the patches came from the side of a washing machine of early-mid '80s vintage,reasonably thick and easy to weld without blowing into holes!

[7981GS]

You will MOST DEFINITELY want to get that pipe MUCH higher from the brake pedal rearward.




BTW, that brake pedal looks like it needs to be bent back out a bit also.


Daniel

[Johnny Drummond]

Firstly thanks for the reply,I thought that no-one was interested.I see what you mean Daniel,it does look like that from the angle I took the photo from,the system is painted(with BBQ paint from a local hardware store-seemingly it is better than VHT)and I've had the bike running but not been out on it as it was ****ing with rain all day,thats why there aren't any photos of what it looks like.As to the brake touching the exhaust, the outside of the collector is level with the inside edge of the clutch casing and about an inch under the lower frame rail,so if the brake pedal ever touches it I'm really in the s**t because the part of the frame that holds the pivot the pedal sits on and the caliper will have fallen off I'll try to get some photos tomorrow that show better detail and post them on here(if it is dry)

[1948man]

You're a brave man to tackle that Johnny. Looking forward to pics after the grinding and painting is finished. Bravo. I think Daniel was saying the brake pedal seems awfully close to rubbing on the clutch cover.

[bwringer]

The toilet paper in several of the pics seems very appropriate...

[Johnny Drummond]

Ok, just for you Daniel I went out today and had a look at that brake pedal,yup, you were right, BEFORE:- 5 minutes with the oxy-acetelene and a vice this is how it looks now:-
AFTER :- thanks for the "brave" comment, even if it isn't true-I just don't have the $5-800 USD(before postage and packing fees) that it would take to but a new system,also I happen to have all the sheet metal and welding tools at my disposal(my father in law repaired cars before he had a few major heart attacks and retired). Here is what it looks like on the bike_and before anyone comments-YES I do know the bracket is rusty I just haven't had time to paint it yet ehhh BWRINGER, I'm confused why would the toilet roll be appropriate?????, actually it's the roll of paper you put into cash tills for reciepts, but I was using it to wipe my tools as I took the sump off to clean the strainer before I started on the exhaust.I still have some work to do (repaint the gold on the end can and that bracket but it has been started and apart from a very minor leak where I was a degree or two out welding the stubs that the down pipes fit into, all is good.The main reason for starting this thread was just to let anyone interested see that with a few tools and a bit of bottle to go into ask for auto exhaust off cuts you don't have to bin the whole system-I should also say that I filled in a dent and repaired a hole in the down pipes with braze weld as it works at a much lower temperature than M.I.G or normal Oxy/Acetelne( I have been using all 3 methods since I was 13yrs old so I guess it was easy enough).I'll try to get another longish photo as soon as the hailstones stop!!!

[bwringer]

To clarify, I was simply implying that you started with crap.

It would appear that you are using skill and ingenuity to turn crap into functional parts. So, no insult was ever meant -- quite the opposite.

[Johnny Drummond]

Cheers mate,it's nice to hear that I'm not totally mad!, most people would have thrown that exhaust away, but I guess that I spent too much time with what would now be called"old school" mechanics when I was a kid and money was even tighter for the vast majority of the population than it is now and unless it was in 30or40 pieces it was considered repairable,I could almost hear them saying "that's easily fixable,just stop and think for 5 minutes", but I guess not everyone is as lucky or let's be honest has a big brass neck(our expression for a person who will walk into just about anywhere and say"I need X,Y,Z, where is your scrap bin") to go and ask for bits that I need yet others consider to be junk!

[viperg]

I think its a smart and useful repair. I have always believed in making my own exhausts for my bikes and the parts I use are generally used bits from other bikes. Good work!

[Charlie G]

I wish I could braze. I tend to blow holes in metal that thin.

cg

[Johnny Drummond]

When you come back(hint,hint)I'll teach you