deadeyejedi

I thought this would be pretty simple! i needed 2 pipes bent for my side exit exhaust one end had a 45 degree bend on it the other had about a 60 degree bend to dump out in front of the rear tire.i built an exact replica out of wood so the shop could copy it . 4 hours later i call and they tell me i gave them cheap pipe and they crushed it.the pipe i bought at napa i was told is 17 gauge low carbon bendable pipe.this is like the only place i know that even has a pipe bender anymore, and who ever heard of a muffler shop that doesn't sell pipe !!needless to say monro muffler in malta ny wont see me there again . tomorrow i will simply buy the pieces i need and weld them together ( which is what i should have done in the first place).thanks for letting me vent i feel better already

jcdynamic88

that's a shame,should have been an easy task.actually seems strange.central mass would have been too far for you to travel or i could have helped .jc

Vintage Chief

A muffler shop which does not sell pipe is a worthless muffler shop. I've seen some shops claim to be a muffler shop with no bender - pathetic. They only install mufflers - after they've been purchased via some warehouse. WTF do they do at a muffler shop these days!
About 1976/1977 (during my USAF active duty years) I took my 1972 4-4-2 to a muffler shop in the Los Angeles area (somewhere). I explained I wanted the identical dual exhaust pipes which were on the car but new mufflers added to the new pipes. They said no problem, which mufflers do you want, they asked. After having picked out the mufflers I wanted I asked when I could have them do the R&R - they were an 8-bay muffler garage (I think maybe they did brakes, also). They told me that afternoon they could do the R&R and I'd be out the door in one hour.

I watched them remove my dual exhaust pipes and remove the old mufflers. They took each dual exhaust pipe off of my 4-4-2, put each of my dual exhaust pipes (one at a time) into one side of the muffler pipe bending machine, and inserted brand new pipe into the other side of the pipe bending machine. The one side of the machine "read" my exhaust pipe and the other side of the machine was busy bending and creating an exact duplicate of each of my dual exhaust pipes. That freak'n machine was the bomb diggity. I was out the door in one hour. That's a muffler shop.

oldcutlass

We had a Meineke Auto Care move into Mayberry. They didn't even do exhaust.

Olds64

x2

That's a bummer that the muffler shop guys were morons. They're probably used to installing replacement catalytic converters on late model CUVs for soccer moms, and fart cannons on tuner imports for millenials.

joe_padavano

Just buy mandrel bends and make your own. That's what I do.

edzolz

Just remember, you have proper welding gear to weld the aluminized pipe sold today. The old acetylene torch gear just burns it up. MIG is best, not flux core, it works but isn't pretty. TIG is good if you are good at welding.

Olds64

Good info. I @$$ume you have to use TIG to weld stainless exhaust? I know how to weld rat turds, but inquiring minds need to know.

deadeyejedi

Ed all I have is flux core welder so I’ll do my best . I’m so over relying on other people to do shoddy work . At least if I screw it up it’s on me and I didn’t have to drive all over town .

Tiberian Fiend

Cars today come out of the factory with aluminized or stainless pipes and never need replacement. That's what put my father (and most independent exhaust shops) out of business.

oddball

You can MIG 409 and 304, just have to use the right gas and wire. You can also mix/match, again with the right consumables.
I usually get it to seal after the 4th pass.

Mid to high range machines with good low power control are also really important here. I originally used the 1st gen Harbor Freight machine and holy cow. That thing is fine for heavy stuff, but it's like using a 10lb sledge to hang a picture.

joe_padavano

I use Dynomax aluminized mandrel bends. These are thick-wall mild steel pipes with a sprayed-on aluminizing coating. They weld just fine with my torch. All I have to do is grind off the aluminizing for a 1/4" or so next to the area to be welded. Of course, I've since gotten a TIG and that works well too, and looks a lot nicer than my gas welds. These tailpipes were gas welded from aluminized bends. Yeah, I f'd up the first cut behind the axle and had to booger in a piece.

olds 307 and 403

My Daughter's boyfriend got the small engine place to do the fuel line in his chainsaw. He is a good mechanic. They used shitty kinking line, he said never again will he get someone else to do work for him. I mentioned my $600 tail pipes on my 70 which got partially kinked. I should have saved $400 and bought the Flowmaster tail pipes. Hell them in Stainless would have been better and still cheaper. The Minute Muffler in Yorkton, SK a half hour away is much better . I was very happy with his nice tight bends at a cheaper price.