Exhaust bodge

Jul 13, 2004 4 Replies

I've bent the tailpipe on my Volvo, after the last silencer. There's a kink in it as it's bent where there was already a bend, if you see what I mean. I've already straightened it a bit with a hammer handle at the side of the road. Will I be alright to pull it all the way back in place (seems to take a *lot* of pulling), or is there a better way? I suppose if I snap the thing off, it's not a tonne of work to get 10 inches of mild steel pipe bent to shape and welded on.


You'll never pull it all the way back unless you heat it to allow the metal to stretch. If you haven't got gas you could try drilling a hole on the outside of the bend and poking a bar into it and tapping the inner side of the bend from the inside, then putting Gun Gum in the hole. Or just hacksaw the thing off and weld it back on at the right angle.

I think bending a bit of new pipe and welding it on is going to cost a fortune compared with the size of this job.

Rob Graham

What sort of amount of heat? The sort you can generate with a normal blue flame blowtorch or what?

It shouldn't be horrific. I know someone who can weld and has pipe bending gear :).

Yes. I should think so. You need to be able to get the metal red hot. Heat only the inside part of the bend, not the outer. Then the outer cool bit will act as a fulcrum when you pull the pipe round and the inner part will stretch.

Rob

Cheers. Got myself a blowtorch, got exhaust cherry red and bent it back.

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