[DEFUNCT] The College-Budget P5

Urethane/polyurethane : same thing in this case.

Buy and install them- it*s worth it. Exhaust movement and banging is frustrating and can take a toll on both the metal hanger welds and the flanges/gaskets.
 
Ah that's right; polyurethane is just a multiple-urethane compound. Duh, maybe I should've paid more attention to the terminology!

Oh man I just can't wait for those hangers to arrive. It's almost all I'm thinking about, which probably isn't good considering this is my first week of fall semester. But man it's so hard to focus on school when the car club is soon to have its first semester meet, and your car still sounds like a lawnmower :^)

Really can't wait to see what the other folks in the club have been up to. The prez of the club built a 400HP+ Ford Focus ST, and that thing sounds and pulls so good.

And also, it looks like an old pal of mine joined the club as well, but he has himself a very pristine Evo 9 (or 8). Now that's going to make for some interesting conversation after years of not seeing each other!
 
Hangers and Gaskets

My Corksport hanger set came in today! I was relieved to find all four. Not sure why, but I thought I accidentally only ordered two.

BjJCUzU.jpg


They're very blue. Quite nice, really.

Getting the old ones off were a total b****. Of course they came off really easy when I replaced my system, but would not budge when I would come back to replace them...Nevertheless, they came off, one way or another. The new polys were actually very easy to install, and didn't hold me up like I thought they would. Well, though, I didn't install all of them yet. The left-side muffler hanger is still on its stock OEM hanger. This is because I know it's going to be the hardest, and I ran out of daylight.

3/4 hangers installed:

G9kSkVN.jpg


With the new midpipe hangers in place, some slack in my header -> midpipe connection appeared! It never had a clean seal in the first place, thanks to the old worn out hangers. I went ahead and re-tightened them, and bam! No more leak!

I got to go back and check it once more tomorrow, since driving the car today could have opened it back up again. Just to really make sure it's fixed, you know?

After all this, I have one leak remaining. It's the resonator -> muffler connection, and it's straight awful. It's the leak that's making my car sound straight rice and lawnmower-like. It's blowing out air at a furious rate as if there was no seal to begin with.

So, I went and bought some materials that were recommended to me: gasket material, copper gasket spray.

6us7s6o.jpg


I'm going to fix that damn leak one way or another. There's absolutely no info on what gaskets I should use, and the gaskets sent with the catback were ill-fitting at best. Either tomorrow or Monday, I'll make a new gasket and replace that other hanger.

Can't wait to drive my car without cringing...
 
Almost Fixed

Well, I got my custom made flange gasket in after spraying the crap out of it with copper RTV, and the absolute worst leak is 95% gone.

When driving it around, there are still leaks in the system. The gasket I made sealed up most of the worst leak. Hooray for another half fix...

Alright then, Such a loss called for better research. After digging around and asking some guys about exhaust systems with "circular indentations", I was given two results:

  • I need a ring gasket designed to fit around the inner lip, NOT the indentation
  • I need a gasket that has an outer diameter with a raised surface (outside surface fits in the indentation)

I called the local muffler shop here, and they're really friendly and knowledgeable guys. One of the rare perfect 5-star ratings on google (with over 50 reviews). The guy who owns the place told me that indentations or inlets like that don't allow for a proper mating surface or something like that, which explains my results.

Shoot, maybe the gaskets sent from Racing Beat weren't even the problem? I may have just assumed they were supposed to fit a certain way without reading up on it.

Well, I grabbed the OD/ID/TH measurements from RB's website, and I'm going to go blow more money on exhaust gaskets. This time, I have part numbers and car applications, so hopefully it won't take long.
 
now you got me thinking about my exhaust hangers lol. i seem to only get a knocking sound after driving around for a long time (45mins ish). maybe from the heat the hangers are giving and allowing play. short trips, no sounds. i already checked my suspension bits and they're all tight.
 
So Tired of This s***

******* alright, I think I've had enough.

Right when I thought everything was fine and dandy, my header -> midpipe connection RE-OPENED. What the ****?!

I went under to investigate, and I cannot for the life of me get a clean connection from the header -> midpipe. The spring bolts are tightened as much as they can be, and no matter what, leaks form. I can't get the new donut gasket off to investigate either, as I can't even grip the ******* thing.

Even better yet, that ******* OBX short shifter I installed, thanks to its stripped hex screws made out of bulls*** pot metal, can no longer hold its adjusted position, so it keeps sliding up and down. I can't shift the car without banging into my heat shield or pulling the whole ******* thing out!

Shifter's trash.

The hangers did nothing.

My "custom gasket" did nothing.

I don't have my paycheck yet.

Tuition is due very soon.

I've spent way too much on this car.

My car sounds like absolute dogs*** and has reduced MPG and power.

I can't fix these leaks.

Fellas, this has been going on for a very long time, and it's something extremely trivial to many. If I can't fix this nor afford this, then **** it, perhaps I'm not cut out to work on this stuff as a hobby. I'm very fed up with trying to fix this bulls***.

If I can't get anything together soon, I might ******* sell this car and buy something else. It was a mistake to think I would just start modifying an old car with no problems.

Goddamn I'm so angry at this s***. Maybe, just maybe when I calm down I'll change my mind.
 
welcome to the world of modifying cars; just when you fix one thing, another problem pops up! haha

but sorry to hear bout the problems man, just give a break for a bit and come back to it later. i went on a one year hiatus bc my car pissed me off (i really really realy hate rusted ass bolts).
plus i have one kidney remaining after paying my tuition lol.

but trust me when i say this, when you get past bad problems like this and got it running good youll be right back into it.. eventually youll be trying to find s*** to replace just so you can wrench on your car lol.

but tuition and school comes first so take care of that s*** before anything brotha
 
Riot_Polizei said:
******* alright, I think I've had enough.

Right when I thought everything was fine and dandy, my header -> midpipe connection RE-OPENED. What the ****?!

I went under to investigate, and I cannot for the life of me get a clean connection from the header -> midpipe. The spring bolts are tightened as much as they can be, and no matter what, leaks form. I can't get the new donut gasket off to investigate either, as I can't even grip the ******* thing.

Even better yet, that ******* OBX short shifter I installed, thanks to its stripped hex screws made out of bulls*** pot metal, can no longer hold its adjusted position, so it keeps sliding up and down. I can't shift the car without banging into my heat shield or pulling the whole ******* thing out!

Shifter's trash.

The hangers did nothing.

My "custom gasket" did nothing.

I don't have my paycheck yet.

Tuition is due very soon.

I've spent way too much on this car.

My car sounds like absolute dogs*** and has reduced MPG and power.

I can't fix these leaks.

Fellas, this has been going on for a very long time, and it's something extremely trivial to many. If I can't fix this nor afford this, then **** it, perhaps I'm not cut out to work on this stuff as a hobby. I'm very fed up with trying to fix this bulls***.

If I can't get anything together soon, I might ******* sell this car and buy something else. It was a mistake to think I would just start modifying an old car with no problems.

Goddamn I'm so angry at this s***. Maybe, just maybe when I calm down I'll change my mind.
Click to expand...

You and I both man. Mine still isn't running right and now between work and class i dont get home until 10pm and dont have time to work on it. I cant even drive it to school at this point
I spent almost $200 this past weekend (which I don't have) and still nothing. Rent is due in 3 days and I have nothing cause my loan hasn't been processed yet
 
Riot_Polizei said:
... The spring bolts are tightened as much as they can be, and no matter what, leaks form...
Click to expand...

If you need a bit more tension on the springs, you could stack a few washers between the bolt heads and the spring. That'll allow you to compress them further.

If they're not new the springs they could have sagged over time.
 
Another possibility for the other leak is to stack two homemade gaskets together.

The gasket material is a little bit compressible and two of them might do the trick.

You've already got the stuff so it's just your time.
 
Stubbornness and Results

Man, in between last post and this post, I got so mad that I didn't want my own car to beat me. I stomped back into the garage and gave it another go.

That final hanger needed to be put in. It was a nightmare thanks to how my system was already oriented. I ended up taking off my rear bumper, pulling some mystical strength out of nowhere to remove the other poly hanger to get the last one on, and cussing and grunting before it was in. The rear bumper was easy, thanks to my still-broken splash guards. My dog then accompanied me for a bit and sniffed the s*** outta it, so that definitely lightened my state of mind.

W2rP5oT.jpg


Image of the hanger now installed:

7mu8L5F.jpg


My exhaust system no longer sways. Praise the Lord!

Then, as PCB suggested, I layered some gaskets together. At first, I tried three; two homemade, one kinda sorta usable one. It was a "gasket sandwich":

78b3kex.jpg


Didn't work out, so I ditched the middle one. No more leak at the moment, but now I got to just keep an ear out and test it regularly. Here's hoping it'll last me.

Now, for the header -> midpipe connection, I also went ahead with one of PCB's suggestions and put more washers on it. The added tension did the trick, and for now, got rid of the leak.

Christ people...I'm praying for a streak of nominal operation.
 
Riot_Polizei said:
Then, as PCB suggested, I layered some gaskets together...

Now, for the header -> midpipe connection, I also went ahead with one of PCB's suggestions and put more washers on it. The added tension did the trick,...
Click to expand...

I'm glad my ideas are working out for you.
Sometimes you have to use your imagination to get things done. The older the car the more often you have to improvise.
 
Aint that the truth...

I've seen it first-hand on my old Sidekick. half of the damn thing was held together with zipties, and the old clutch cable itself was an improvised part! Practically looked like someone made the connector head with a fork.

Also, I swear I still hear remnants of a leak somewhere. I guess I'll go back under there once more and use the old shopvac test. At least I have a little bit of time before school begins.
 
what is the old shpovac test?

edit: nevermind i just did a quick search and found it. never heard of it!
 
323 said:
what is the old shpovac test?

edit: nevermind i just did a quick search and found it. never heard of it!
Click to expand...
It's very useful for finding exhaust leaks, that's for sure. Beats the heck out of burning your hand feeling for a leak!

Speaking of the shopvac test, I just did it, and the resonator -> muffler connection opened right back up. Seems like these gaskets I'm making don't have good structural integrity.

Dang, I might not be able to fix it up until the weekend...
 
Quick Research Findings

Alright, so I discovered that Walker's website contains a whole gasket identification chart of various sizes and types. Check this out:

http://www.walkerexhaust.com/assets/downloads/english/GasketIdentificationChart.pdf

Racing Beat's inner exhaust diameter is 2.375, or 2 and 3/8 inches. There are two 2.375 flange gaskets offered; one with 4.3125" (4 and 5/16) distance between bolt holes, and another with 3.625" (3 and 5/8) distance. I haven't measured the actual flange itself on the pipes; I just cut around them when making my gaskets.


So, we have two candidates for a gasket replacement:

Walker Gasket 31532
  • ID: 2.3800"
  • Bolt Distance: 4.3125"
  • Bolt Hole Diameter: 0.5000"
  • Material: Fiber Material and Metal Laminate
  • Thickness: 0.0580"

Walker Gasket 31537
  • ID: 2.380"
  • Bolt Distance: 3.625"
  • Bolt Hole Diameter: 0.500"
  • Material: Fiber Material
  • Thickness: 0.100"

I might need multiple ones though, due to how thin they are. Dunno about the second one either, but that one's made out of "fiber material".

Horseflesh did let me know that he can send me a gasket, so first I'll try that before venturing off into special-order-and-wasted-money world!
 
I've does fair bit of improvising myself. haha
But it's not leaking !!





My flanges and hangers rusted off.

I just noticed my tire is still leaking though.
I've put plugs it it four times now but it's still leaking.
Time to take it in and have the tire removed and patched from the inside like your supposed to do.
 
Holy s*** man, that's some Mad Max improv s*** right there! Must be a solid fix, though
 
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