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© 1999 Brian F. Schreurs
Even we have a disclaimer.

A few calls revealed that a replacement stock system would require serious money. The muffler alone was $130! Ha! The system that fell off was a custom job, and a custom job was going back on. After getting the runaround from our usual suppliers, who couldn't be bothered to help us build a new system, we found custom-exhaust nirvana in Trak Auto of all places. This is a store we usually avoid, but under the circumstances we had little choice. Here's a rundown on the parts we bought: 2-1/8" ID to 2-1/8" OD adapter (#548525), 2-1/8" ID to 2" OD adapter (#548514), 2" ID 36" long tailpipe (#548361), 2" ID turndown (#548603), Thrush 2" ID 27-3/4" long magnum glasspack muffler (#24202), three 2-1/8" muffler clamps (#517218), and two 2" muffler clamps (#517200). Doing it this way cost us less than a third of just the muffler on the stock system.

The unpleasant visage of past cheapskate repairs gone bad.

We had a nice clean break where the Y-pipe connected to an intermediate pipe. This is because someone else had attempted a repair with nothing but muffler tape. Um, hello? They only use that stuff in places like Nicaragua, okay? Buy a damn adapter pipe and fix it right the first time!

After a close scrutiny, we decided the Y-pipe was more or less intact, if somewhat dinged up. At this point function far outweighed form so we resolved to make the Y-pipe work. We spent a couple hours trying to clean up the mangled break but found the old muffler clamp had fused with the end of the old pipes. There was no banging it off.

No problem; the Y-pipe had plenty of length left for an amputation. Because we still don't have a Dremel, we used Mr. Hacksaw and got a good workout cutting through the end of the pipe.

The new system doesn't exactly match the one that fell off, but it doesn't have to either. All it has to do is work.

Next morning we collected the pieces and laid it all out on the floor of Trak. It's easier to build a custom system if you have a model to work off of. One thing we wanted to do was reuse the extant hangers, but there was a frustrating bend in the original system that would be hard to reproduce. We found a five-foot-long exhaust pipe and trotted it outside for a test-fit; sure enough, there was enough play in the hanger that the system could go straight back. No bend needed.

This made the project considerably easier. We made our selections and headed back to Paradise Garage to assemble, which was done as follows:

All the glasspacks were in odd sizes, probably designed for welding. We were not welding so this caused us to use adapters on both ends of the glasspack.

To connect the glasspack with the Y-pipe, we used a 2-1/8" ID (inside diameter) to 2-1/8" OD (outside diameter) adapter. We hammered the OD side into the Y-pipe, and in so doing managed to bend the lip of the adapter. We paused to file down the damage so the glasspack would fit.

The glasspack, of course, slipped inside the ID side of that adapter. And on the other side of the glasspack, we slid on the 2-1/8" ID to 2" OD adapter.

We covered the OD side of the adapter with the 2" ID 36" long tailpipe. This in turn also slipped through the hanger near the end of the system (supporting the whole package) and was capped with the 2" ID turndown required by Virginia law.

To keep it all from falling apart, we secured every junction with a muffler clamp. The Y-pipe and both ends of the glasspack required 2-1/8" clamps; the two ends of the tailpipe required 2" clamps. All of the clamp nuts required a 9/16" deep socket.

We went through all the nuts one last time to make sure everything was tight, and crawled out! That was it!

Here's the new system installed (somewhat abridged). It ain't purty but it's functional. Much like the rest of Col. Mosby.

This exhaust system turned out to be real easy to build. It was a straightforward design and, once found, parts were plentiful. Those parts suppliers who assured us it was easier to spend a couple hundred on a stock replacement system were sadly mistaken. Mua-hahahahaha! Plus, the glasspack gives the truck a mean rumble. It's great!

Postscript: Our lovely design had one fatal flaw which revealed itself when the truck barfed up the system. Fortunately the damage was strictly cosmetic, but this was a graphic illustration of why the new pipe should slip outside the old pipe, not vice-versa as we had done. Unfortunately we couldn't find a 2-1/8" ID to 2-1/4" ID adapter (which would have allowed us to connect the muffler directly to the Y-pipe) so we had to use another adapter (#54852), a 2-1/4" ID (Y-pipe) to 2-1/4" OD (muffler adapter), to slip the new stuff over the old. This also required two more muffler clamps, a 2-1/8" (#517218) on the new side and a 2-1/4" (#517214) on the old side. This system has held longer than the original; we'll make note of any future issues.