Self welding

[kylehlub]

Anyone try welding on exhust and mufflers themself? All the shop I took the car too wants $100 to do it. It seems so simple to just weld the old hanger off and weld it on the new muffler and connect the muffler to the pipe and tighten it. I think I am going to try it tomorrow and see how it go. I hate the shop, they're all #ucking trying to rip everyone off. The other day, a shop charged me $65 to replace two gaskets in my exhust and all the guy did was lose some screws and put the new gasket in. I was like what the #uck, I can do myself. But if anyone has try welding themself and didn't work out, let me know.

 

[red16gst]

if you dont have any exp.with this kinda stuff i would just pay the money to get it done right than to be sorry down the road, just my .02

 

[kylehlub]

Thanks for the advice. I should really take it but the shop pist me off enough so I am going to go over to Wal-mart tomorrow and buy me a blow torch and weld the sucker together myself. Plus I don't start graduate school until Sept. so I got the whole month of August to figure what to do if I #uck up.

 

[Lunch_Box]

D you have a welder? If so or have access to one practice. Even if you screw up all you have to do is grind it off and try again.

 

[bzzzt]

The bigger problem that you could run into isnt so much that you screw up, and just grind it off and retry.... But if you don't know what you're doing and you blow a hole through the metal, than you're gonna be pretty mad at yourself.

 

[wret]

The problem with dabling in welding is that you will be tempted to buy cheap equipment. An expert welder would have trouble with a cheap rig while a beginner might do a passable job with a good one. You need to be pretty serious about welding to make the investment.

I'm not an experienced welder but I have experience with a cheap rig. An expert gave it to me because he had no use for it.

 

[bloc]

from the sound of it you aim to learn on one of the most difficult to learn types of welding there is, thin metal.

also, a blow torch? please dont, just take the car to a shop and let them do what they do. if you dislike the shop so much find another.

if you insist on doing it yourself, find a -GOOD- adjustable MIG welder (smaller 110 volt units work great for exhaust or sheetmetal work, and are sometimes more adjustable in the lower heat ranges than the higher power 220 volt units), even if you have to rent or borrow it, and practice a LOT before you try and work on your car. think Miller or Hobart.

even when you can butt weld steel exhaust pipe together, try doing it overhead, sideways, and in positions that you can barely get the torch in to properly surround the arc with gas. it is -not- easy, take your time and practice.

there is a reason they get 100 bux per job all day long, partly the equipment, mostly the experience.

 

[deusxmachina]

If you don't care if things look pretty or not, you can easily get by with a $100 flux-core gas-less mig welder from Harbor Freight or wherever. It's cheap, but that's the point. Use it twice and it's paid for itself.

Practice on some junk piping and then have at it. The splatter will make a mess, but, hey, it's exhaust. A monkey can stick two pieces of exhaust pipe together; it just won't be pretty unless you're good.

If you have stainless exhaust, disregard the above. Stainless is a pain in the ass if you don't know what you are doing.

 

[Defiant]

I refuse to believe this isn't a troll.