OK; promised you pics of the exhaust work.
DISCLAIMER: INCREDIBLY TECHNOID CONTENT FOLLOWS.
IF YOU ARE NOT A VW GEEK OR A CAR FREAK, YOU'D BE BETTER OFF WATCHING GRASS GROW.
You've been warned.
Putt-Putt came with an aftermarket "extractor" type muffler which was actually not too bad as those systems go; it even had a decent provision for the heat risers.
But, it was LOUD. Half the reason was a missing gasket at the right side heat exchanger. As it turned out, a fragment of the gasket was still there. It had burned out because the joint was loose. All the other joints were loose,
too, and the metal rings that reinforce the doughnut gaskets were missing, so there was no way they could have ever sealed. You can see the soot on the end of the heat exchanger in the picture. No wonder it was so loud, and went BLAM! every time I took my foot off the gas. Because the system itself was OK, I saved it and hung it up in the garage. Never can tell when you might need something.The leakage from the old mufffler had been getting sucked past the outside cover of the heat exchangers because of the non-functional gaskets, and had been getting into the passenger compartment whenever the heater was on, s
o this was a major safety item for me.I prefer the stock muffler, so I ordered a complete kit from Bus Depot.
You can see here, as I started , that the rear valence is off, the old muffler is gone, and the heater hoses are tucked out of the way. I've polished the soot and grunge off the right side connections, but not the left. I used (gently) a brass cup brush on an electric drill on the exhaust ports, and also a small wire brush and some steel wool, taking care not to damage the relatively soft aluminum. On the steel tubes at the end of the heat exchangers, I used #80 emery cloth, the kind you get in big rolls at Harbor Freight.
I lucked out incredibly with this muffler. Every nut came off without a fuss, & none of the studs came out. I've never seen this before.
It's such a pleasure to work on a vehicle that's never seen salt! The difference is like night and day!
The only real hitch I ran into was connecting the heater hoses. With the aftermarket muffler, I had run the hoses straight down tho the heat exchangers. The stock muffler uses wide clamps on the bottom to seal the heat exchangers to a set of "mini" heat exchangers that serve as a connecting plenum, and a way to scavenge a little more heat from the exhaust. I didn't anticipate that I would need these clamps (duh) and in the parts stash that came with the Bus, I found only one. Luckily, a parts engine in the barn yielded (after some hammer-work) a rusty, crusty clamp (just one on that motor!) that I was able to clean up and use.
That wasn't the end of it, though. On the top side of the "mini" heat exchanger, a small piece of connecting pipe with a flange in the middle is suppposed to connect the "mini" heat exchanger with the heater hose. The extractor exhaust hadn't used these, either, and I hadn't remembered (20 years since last VW muffler) that they existed.
What to do? I could order the part from Bus Depot, but it woulld take a week or two to come in. Should have thought of it (D'ohh!!) when I ordered the muffler, and the clamps, too.
I ended up going to AutoZone to look at their assortment of exhaust adapters and tailpipes, figuring that what I needed was a short length of pipe just under 2" ID, and that shouldn't be too hard to find. I settled upon a piece of 1 7/8" flexible tailpipe. Cut into 3" sections with a 4" disc grinder (hacksaw made a mess of it) it turned out to be a decent friction fit in the top of the "mini" heat exchanger, and a close enough fit for the 2" aluminum hose I was using so that it clamped nicely without deforming the hose.
Rather than trust the friction fit, though, I wired the hoses in place, as you can see.
Woo-Hoo! Most of the major hurdles cleared!
Tightened down the flange gaskets at the heat exchangers and heat risers (aligning the heat riser tubes was a PITA as usual) tightened the doughnut clamp/gasket assemblies on the heat risers (WITH steel rings in place for proper compression) and, at last, it was time to move on to the tailpipe.
How can such a tiny exaust system be SO much work? Grumble, grumble...
Ok, the tailpipe attaches with another clamp/ring/doughnut gasket assembly, & a couple of braces.Here's a problem: the tabs on the tailpipe and muffler won't align, because the bumper brace is in the way.
Why is it in the way? Because it's bent. Came that way.
The extractor muffler hung so low that it wasn't a problem. Maybe, that muffler was a workaround for the collision damage.
Grumble, grumble, grumble.....
OK, first, we put a floor jack under that end of the bumper, and jack until the bumper straightens up, but the wheels are still on the ground. Don't want to put too much stress on the bumper mounting area, incase it's tender.
You'll notice, if you look at the photos in the previous installment, that the bumper is a lot straighter than it was in April. This is why.
Still, the flanges won't meet.
Argh.
Time for a briliant improvisation.
Found a piece of all-thread and cut off 4 inches.
Together with a stack of washers and two nuts, it
makes a very nice spacer, if I do say so myself, and the tailpipe is still higher than the extractor muffler and tailpipe were.
Next, (no, it can't be THAT late!) a large bracket has to be attached. It takes some puzzling to figure out that it bolts to the two notches at the left end of the muffler. You can see the bolts in the pic. I have never seen this bracket before. I'm sure my '70 Bus didn't have one... Hmmm... maybe that's why the tailpipe used to fall off?
Here's a worm's-eye view of the bracket and tailpipe. Thanks, Bus Depot, for including this bracket! I suspect a lot of kits don't. Must be a lot of dragging tailpipes out there...Home stretch, now, only 2 more clamps!
One wide , round one to clamp the tailpipe to the bracket, & one sort of oval one to squeeze the straight and curved sections of the tailpipe together. Sections? Yes, EVERY piece of this system has, itself, multiple pieces.
Sigh.
Finally, I can stare down a finished tailpipe.It is now 3:00 a.m. I've been working on this thing since lunch.
Stumble off to bed..."Where've you been?"
" With the other woman".
"The one in the garage?"
"Yes, that one".
"Oh, O.K."
I'll say it again, she's a keeper...
ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....
OK, next day, I don't even want to talk about how late I got up, time to finish this!
Heater hoses securely wired?
Check!
All nuts & bolts tight?Check!
Pre-heat snorkel hose installed? No problem, swiped one off the Dodge...
Check!
OK, Let's put the rear valence back on. tighten the screws down, and fire her up!
VRRRooommmm.....putt,putt,putt,putt...No leaks!!! Wooo- Hooooo!!!!!
Way quieter, too..why, I almost don't miss the skin on my thumbs...
Time for a celebratory adult beverage.
Maybe two.
Next: Weatherstripping and interior modifications.
