I’ve got a crack on the inlet to my muffler. Can’t afford new exhaust. Gonna weld it to get by. Anybody have any practical experience? How bad is this going to look when it’s done. No choice but to do it, and if anyone had any advice to mininalize how bad it will look I’ll take it.

Thsnks.

Exhaust crack

 

Looks aren't as important as the quality of the weld .... if it breaks off, falling from the front could get very exciting

 

Believe it or not , you can polish steel . Just use your drill and a polishing wheel using a red rouge compound . Depending on how well the weld job is , I doubt anyone will ever notice it .

 

Once the welding burns the chrome off I think you'll have a recurring rust issue?

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Honestly , I don't know much about steel , but I have found that once it has been polished and maintained with a good chrome cleaner the rust is very minimal or non existent . I did a set of stock pipe clamps including the nuts and they're holding up really well , doubt he even maintains them .

 

As thin as the metal is around the crack, I’m hoping it won’t take much heat to Tig it up. After it’s welded, I plan to clean it up best I can. To keep it from cracking again and to ensure as much integrity as I can, I’ll try to build up a little material, and do my best to blend it down with a grinder afterwards, rather than weld it, and grind it flush.

Once its finished, I would like to coat it with something as a rust preventative. That’s some of the advice I’m after.

I think they make a chrome paint, right? Like a cheap Walmart rattle can of chrome paint is all I know of.
Is there anything anyone knows of that they think might work well for this application? I’m all ears.
I realize it won’t be like it was. It’s not a really big deal to me.

If if I have to I’ll hit it with primer. Not a really noticeable area, and besides, you can either spend $1000 on a new exhaust or you can fix it yourself, but has $1000 in his pocket.

If if somebody offered me the cost of a new exhaust to grind off the chrome on that spot on my exhaust, I would probably take the money. Ha. Know what I mean?

but I digress. Any ideas on how to clean it up are welcome.

 

I do plan on replacing the exhaust when I’m able though.

I really like the Vance and Hines big shots.

I like the pipes being the same size from the headers to the tips. I like the sound better, and I think it has a more old school look.
So that’s what I plan to put on it.

Anybody has or or knows of a set of those for ‘99-‘06 touring please let me know. I think they are about $800 new.

 

tig with experience will be the least destructive. you can use stainless filler rod and rust issue will be less.
but like others said, unless this was crapola weld, the system is binding. for a more feasible fix, i would insert a spool piece between the two parts(inside) and that would act as a gusset of sorts and get you out of a butt weld situation and add more metal to fuse.

 

I have my stock 13 mufflers I would donate if headed through Illinois, just have to find them first if interested.