Flex pipe fun - pt2

Rusted flex pipe

The exhaust project breaks down into two parts: 1) out with the old and then 2) in with the new.  After a struggle removing the old part, installation of the new piping was a snap.

Because I had cut away some of the connecting surfaces, there was a little more work than just twisting the nuts/bots the opposite direction and calling the job done.

Here's what I needed to do:

1.  Replace the flange to the cat converter on the back end-of the y-pipe.
2. Attach the fronts of the y-pipe to the existing plumbing.

Let's get to work!

Connection to rear cat converter

Since I removed flange from the existing cat converter, I needed something that fit over the old pipe to provide a flange attachment point, for that I used a part from ExhaustFX that's a flange and some pipe with an inner diameter a bit larger than the outer diameter of the existing pipe.  This will slip over the existing part and be secured with a exhaust clamp, with some exhaust putty smeared around on the inside.

Rear connection done!

I left the connections loose while working on the two front connectors.  Here's what things look like when I was done.  I didn't know how much torque to apply, so I tightened about a two twists past hand-tight.  For the connection between the flanges, the ExhaustFX part included a gasket, so I didn't want to over-tighten, crushing the gasket, rendering it less effective.

Front cat converter connections: split flange

The front two connectors required use of a split flange.  The split flange can be separated into two parts and put over an existing pipe. Here's what the split flange looked like before installation.  Putting a bolt in one side makes it easy to see how to see how these parts can fit over an existing bit of pipe.

Split flange before installation

 I used the existing flanges to support the split flanges, rotating where the bolts attach by 10 or so degrees.  I was concerned the bolts provided with the split flange wouldn't be long enough, as they needed to go past the existing flanges.  They were! 

Split flange after installation

Assembly was surprisingly quick.  Exhaust putty on the connections to the cat converters, looped over the split flanges and two bolts later I was done!  Same with the back cat converter: slipped the adapter part over where I cut, two bolts later (and a gasket between the mating surfaces) and that was all.  Notice the rotation of the split flange, about 15 degrees offset from the prior flanges, to avoid the ears of the existing work.  I didn't know if this was the correct way of installing this hardware, but this seemed to be the easiest solution. I also didn't know the recommended torque, but I didn't want to over-tighten and crush the material.

Installing the new part was all of 15 minutes.  Put the keys in and... the battery was drained. Got out my jump start "Power Pack" from Harbor Freight and 15 minutes later the car was humming along.  Something is wrong, the battery should be OK for two weeks of non-running time.  I'll need to check the parasitic draw on the battery to see if that's something I can fix or just live with a dodgy electrical system, it's been good enough so far.

Off to inspection!