LS144

iTrader: (7)

How many of you guys have welded up your own exhaust? Right now I have my true duals coming off my collector about a foot and a half then it dumps into slp LM II mufflers then turns down. Im thinking of going with another setup I can get 3" straight pipe all day long. I dont have a mandrel bender though but I can cut weld cut weld until I get a desired bend. Anyone have any pics or comments?

jmm98LS1

iTrader: (28)

I welded my all my exhaust with a crappy lincoln flux wire welder. Worked great but isn't very pretty. I had to cut and paste some sections of mandrel bends to get the curves I needed in some places....worked pretty good.

98redM6

iTrader: (39)

Damn. I could only imagine how long some thing like that would take.

pHEnomIC

iTrader: (14)

If you can cut and weld easily, im sure you could make a curve comparable to a mandrel bend. Probably wouldnt even be that hard.

jmm98LS1

iTrader: (28)

'bout a weeks worth of evenings on jackstands in the garage....in february. I'm an idiot.
It's pretty easy really, like putting together a puzzle but you get to make the pieces.

Charlie@LsXperts

iTrader: (12)

i did mine too

LS144

iTrader: (7)

Kool you guys got any pics dont be embaressed pretty is not my goal!

HavATampa

iTrader: (49)

Good topic, glad to hear others are doing this. I already have true duals out the back but the yahoo that did it was an idiot. I'm ripping it all out foward of the rear end to the headers and starting from scratch. I've got a mig welder and have been collecting pieces of mandrel bends and straight sections. Waiting on a little fall weather before I attempt it. All the welds I've seen from local shops around here are garbage. I know I can do better than them and I'm still learning to weld.

98redM6

iTrader: (39)

How long would it take a shop to install something like a slp loudmouth and, cut in three places, and weld my centermount tips on it? The shop has a rate of $65/hour on the welding rack and I'm wanting to get an estimate.

DanZ28

iTrader: (5)

I built my own as well. I thought it came out pretty well considering it was my first stab at it. I used a Dr. gas universal X-pipe and I bought a couple U-bends and 3" mangnaflows from summit. That was enough to do the whole setup. I used a couple band clamps to make it easy to un-install later when neccesary. I'll try to get a couple pics up later, don't know how good they will be as the car is only on some ramps right now.

Dan

2KThunder

iTrader: (4)

The key if your doing your own bends via splicing, is to have the right cutter for the pipe. I have a large cuttoff saw from harbor freight works awesome at making sure cuts are straight and how you want them. If you cant cut the pipe straight or how you want it its gonna be a bitch getting the bends to work in your favor.

LS144

iTrader: (7)

Does anyone on here have a pipe bender we had one out at our voc school it was awesome shame I dont go there anymore.

GuitsBoy

iTrader: (4)

I did all ten or so of my exhausts. You can imagine how they came out since it took ten tries. Ive learned no matter how sloppy your welding comes out, a good coat of barbeque paint will make your exhaust look pretty good.

SSmokin 01

iTrader: (14)

I did my own. Grinder with a cut-off wheel and a 110 mig with flux core wire.

If you can cut and weld it should be fairly easy for you. It'll just take a little time depending on your tools and complexity of what your trying to do.

Cardboard templates make it easy to mock-up and duplicate the bends you need.

Here's the thread (w/pics) of when I did my exhaust.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/generation-iii-external-engine/537900-pics-my-new-exhaust-3-4-3-warning-alot-pics.html