Exhausting my Patience
#1
Posted 07 January 2010 - 10:18 PM
Jump forward a couple of days, I decided to bite into installing my mystery muffler on my car. I went about cutting the exhaust behind the muffler with a “saws-all” and then remove the axle over tube. I then cut the front off and removed the muffler from it’s mounts. About this time something peculiar happened, the very long pipe running to the front of the car proceeded to tilt and the end of the pipe was now touching the ground. Interesting in how this could happened I soon learned that there were no other hangers except the ones at the back of the car. Also I had know that there was a leak in the exhaust line right after the headers but now it was a tear. By tear I mean that about 3/4th of the way around the welds/metal had torn. Now incredibly disappointed with the state of things I proceeded to put in a straight pipe where the muffler was and strap the whole system up tight.
Soon after I took my car to the shop to see what he could do about my headers and I decided to try and buy a muffler while I was at it. He was busy that day so told me to leave the car and my number and he would take a look to diagnose the situation. Three hours went buy as I waited and prepared myself for the worst, when I finally received the call. The good news was that he could in fact help me fix my exhaust system. The bad news on the other hand was that I need to buy new headers, because it turned out that they broke at the collector.
As soon as I got home I started researching headers for my car and found the one company in the United States that still makes them. I had recently put away $250.00 for coil-overs for my car but, just as it always happened I pulled the money to buy the new headers.
Jump forward now to today (Jan. 6), I decided in the mean time while I wait for my part to arrive that I would put my muffler that I still had on and try to give the headers on my car a temporary fix. The procedure went well with some speed bumps just like any at home car project but in the end I thought that I would be ok until my new headers came. Along with patching up my header crack with header wrap, gorilla tape, hockey tape, and aluminum tape I also had a car that was much quieter. I had been driving straight piped for a couple of days, which was cool until you needed to drive at night.
My friends came over and we decided to go visit our friends working at the mall. I volunteered to drive as I wanted to hear what the car sounded like under load. We get to the mall and circle around the parking lot to get to our usually parking place. As we pull up to one of the stop signs we all hear a grinding sound. Immediately we all knew that my exhaust had come off at the headers and I pulled over into one of the lots. Sure enough we got out and the manifold end of the pipe was laying on the ground. Fortunately for myself the pipe was curved up at the end and we were also going under five miles and hour when it came off. I knew that I had to get home somehow and I only lived about 2 or 3 miles from the mall. I scrounged through my junk and was delighted to find and old towel in the back. So with my small broken pocket knife with a 1 inch blade we cut the towel into strips and used it to tie up my exhaust pipe. During the whole charade all of the passers by were able to watch us put together one of the most sketchy exhaust hangers systems together. Although we received many odd looks no one felt the need to offer help or ask what happened.
To finish up what should have been a much shorter story, I am waiting now. I am waiting for my headers to come in the mail and to get paid again so I can buy a real muffler. I walk away from this situation learning many things but I think the most important is that there are many things that you have to experience once in your life. Even if one of those things is having your exhaust fall off in a public parking lot and scrape on the ground as a Japanese family wonders what is wrong with the strange white kids car.

JoeinCa, on 19 January 2010 - 06:56 AM, said:
Install sr20det.
Hook up bottle to sr20det. Squeeze until it blows.
Install Northstar V8. Drive until it blows.
Install 2JZ in front, and 2jz in rear, play Jay Z on the stereo. Drive until your brain explodes.
Fin
Joe
#2
Posted 07 January 2010 - 10:30 PM
'71 Goon, L16, U67 & dogleg
If it has tits or tires it'll give you problems.
#3
Posted 07 January 2010 - 11:10 PM
thisismatt, on 06 May 2010 - 08:39 PM, said:
#4
Posted 07 January 2010 - 11:23 PM
The Datsun 1200 muffler is mounted with two rubber donut rings at the muffler, and a rubber hanger at the tailpipe. When fitting a newer muffler, make sure they put a strap around it and hang it off the donuts.
Finding an original size muffler is nearly impossible, they don't make one that small anymore (12x3.5 oval), all the small engines now have huge mufflers (even from the factory). I finally found a used one out of california, it is much quiter than a turbo muffler. You can get a new turbo muffler that small with 1.75 pipes.
#5
Posted 08 January 2010 - 08:51 AM
ggzilla, on 07 January 2010 - 11:23 PM, said:
The Datsun 1200 muffler is mounted with two rubber donut rings at the muffler, and a rubber hanger at the tailpipe. When fitting a newer muffler, make sure they put a strap around it and hang it off the donuts.
Finding an original size muffler is nearly impossible, they don't make one that small anymore (12x3.5 oval), all the small engines now have huge mufflers (even from the factory). I finally found a used one out of california, it is much quiter than a turbo muffler. You can get a new turbo muffler that small with 1.75 pipes.
I'm going to have to do some searching for something because the previous owner of my car outfitted it with a 2inch exhaust system, and I would like to keep it.

JoeinCa, on 19 January 2010 - 06:56 AM, said:
Install sr20det.
Hook up bottle to sr20det. Squeeze until it blows.
Install Northstar V8. Drive until it blows.
Install 2JZ in front, and 2jz in rear, play Jay Z on the stereo. Drive until your brain explodes.
Fin
Joe
#6
Posted 09 January 2010 - 12:00 AM
That was on a brand new 1.75 exhaust system, just about a week old. I figure they mounted the muffler a bit off, and had to twist it to get the donuts on, so the system was under some torsion that caused it to fail? Anyways the muffler shop fixed it for free. Good shop that was.
#8
Posted 09 January 2010 - 10:42 PM
#9
Posted 18 January 2010 - 10:58 PM
I have seen the way of the trunk, and it is good.
1973 Datsun 620 L20B, 1978 Datsun 620 KC parted
Monroe Rabbit Rescue. even VW Rabbits need love!
#10
Posted 18 January 2010 - 11:53 PM
freaky510 Kamakazi620 comments are a disgrace to Ratsun
you are a disgrace to ratsun. google says so.
nothing beats the classic look of Rust!!
yay another thread polluted by kamakazi
#11
Posted 07 February 2010 - 10:08 PM

JoeinCa, on 19 January 2010 - 06:56 AM, said:
Install sr20det.
Hook up bottle to sr20det. Squeeze until it blows.
Install Northstar V8. Drive until it blows.
Install 2JZ in front, and 2jz in rear, play Jay Z on the stereo. Drive until your brain explodes.
Fin
Joe

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