Muffler Mounts / brackets / supports

[Randy V]

While it seems to work well for number of people - I was not really keen on the notion of just leaving the mufflers hanging in mid-air.
I feel that this will add undue stress on the unions of the header tubes / flanges which would cause them to work-harden and crack.
I didn't readily find the type of brackets I was looking for so I designed and fabricated my own and thought I would share in case anyone else was interested.
I won't narrate each picture but I'll lead you through the thought and fabrication process step by step in the hope that someone else may find them useful. I did not use any tools that are not readily available for any of this.

DONE....

I used a couple of worn out wiz-wheel discs as insulators between the alloy tie-bar and the stainless steel mount.

While this setup has a few slight hiccups in the execution, it should serve well and be strong enough to endure the load and heat it is being asked to carry..

Sorry about the cellophane all over the mufflers - I have since removed it and will supply better shots at a later date.

As I said - I hope these are of some help or at least some idea of at least one man's method of how to fabricate such a bracket.

 

[Jack]

Really nice fabrication job Randy, your work is always inspiring!

 

[Chuck]

Randy: very nice design and execution. Has a nice 'original' look. Bet that took some time!

 

[Dean Lampe]

wow, that looks like a lot of work! I thought the muffler was a little heavey just hanging there too. Thats why I run open pipes. They are light!

 

[Randy V]

Thanks Fellas....

Dean - I don't think that most neighbors here would care much for open pipes...
Although my neighbor across the way seems to think we all love to hear his Harley's rapping pipes as he continuously wings the throttle until the engine is warm enough to run without sputtering...

:furious: 6AM no less.... :furious:

 

[flatchat(Chris)]

I think the exhaust system is going to support the transaxle --
Excellent craftsmanship --but the clamping in that area shouldn't be to rigid unless you're going to use a flex joint in the system ?

 

[Pat Buckley]

Nice work Randy.....

For what its worth, I run straight pipes most of the time on the street and they are surprisingly not that offensive. I was going to say surprisingly quiet but that would be stetching it.

If you stay off the loud pedal (so thats why they call it that) it is almost civilized.

I fabricated a muffler support for my CAV using 1" square tubing.

 

[EGLITOM]

Randy

nice fabrication

but i would think, if it is mounted that rigid it would create stress on the bracket or other exhaust parts due to heat extension. Why not leave the lower bracket and hold the pipes down with springs instead of the clamps.

TOM

 

[Dave Bilyk]

Randy, you could fix some heat wrap inside the clamps, the clamps can be gently done up to allow the pipes, under thermal expansion, to slide in the clamp.
Dave

 

[Phil]

Randy:
Nice job on those muffler supports, its amazing how close one can get to the gearbox profile with a simple template..makes the whole job look very neat indeed.
I agree with you 100% on supporting the exhaust as most of the problems occur with the stress induced by road bumps and vibration and it puts a lot of leverage on the connection at the collectors which are not designed to support that load.
Since the gearbox and motor operate as a unit I think clamping everything will work just fine, the only thing I can see a problem with is the discs used for the insulators as they are brittle and may crack and fail.
I would just run it and see what happens, just might be all OK.
Cheers
Phil

 

[Randy V]

Randy:
Since the gearbox and motor operate as a unit I think clamping everything will work just fine, the only thing I can see a problem with is the discs used for the insulators as they are brittle and may crack and fail.
I would just run it and see what happens, just might be all OK.
Cheers
Phil

Thanks Phil.. I think I'll give it a go. At the worst, I'm out a couple of evenings of effort and a few dollars in materials. The Stainless steel is also very resilient and somewhat hard. It will move forward and backward slightly with the expansion/contraction of the exhaust system.

Randy

nice fabrication

but i would think, if it is mounted that rigid it would create stress on the bracket or other exhaust parts due to heat extension. Why not leave the lower bracket and hold the pipes down with springs instead of the clamps.

TOM

Thanks Tom. I had thought of using springs like I had seen on some other supports, but I just could not bring myself to do it that way because springs loose their strength over the span of numerous heat cycles and I thought I'd be right back where I started. Also - I tried finding springs like those that I had seen and found none that looked the part.

Randy, you could fix some heat wrap inside the clamps, the clamps can be gently done up to allow the pipes, under thermal expansion, to slide in the clamp.
Dave

The heat wrap idea is a good one. I don't know if I have enough adjustable range in the clamps - but I'll check on that once I reassemble the exhaust on the car for it's final time.

Thanks again fellas...