Small progress - crossmember exhaust holes

[pat]

Got a little done over the weekend. I got some 4.5" pipe and cut a couple not so square 1" rings, took forever on the saw. Then I welded in some tabs on the holes in the frame. Used a bi-metal 4.5" hole saw and cut some holes. That part sucked! Wasn't easy at all. Then I tapped the rings in place and ground some of the paint away. Welded them in while laying under the truck. Had a couple nice size pieces of slag land inside my ear. Love the smell of burning hair. Then I wire brushed it and cleaned it up and threw on some POR-15. Now all I need is a trailer to pull it up to the exhaust shop. Throw some exhaust on it and get it timed and Im on the road after 5 years.....

[special-K]

Nice mod.That`s the way to do it!I need to do the same on my frame.

[Spray-Bomb]

I plan to do this some day also

Looks nice dude !

[Truckstr]

Good work! That mod is "on my list".

[MrShelley]

Drilling those holes was a major P.I.T.A. wasn't it?! Looks great, I kinda wish I had welded a strengthening ring in mine when I did that.

[RACINJASON22]

Looks Good!!

Why trailer it? Drive it! It won't hurt a thing. And probably the only time you will get to do it. If you have an apponitment the cops probably won't give you any trouble either.

Slag while on your back does suck doesn't it

[pat]

Thanks guys

Originally Posted by RACINJASON22

Looks Good!!

Why trailer it? Drive it! It won't hurt a thing. And probably the only time you will get to do it. If you have an apponitment the cops probably won't give you any trouble either.

Slag while on your back does suck doesn't it

Maybe Im being paranoid, but I know its not timed great, and I did drive around a little bit before. The only reason I wanted to trailer it was b/c Im paranoid about doing some damage, like burning a valve or something, but then again, I dont really know. Maybe I will have to b/c we dont have a car trailer.

[RACINJASON22]

You do want to get the timing dialed in atleast real close before you make a longer road run.

What are you running manifolds or headers??

If open headers you will be fine. If open manifolds you can run into a problem of them being short and really heating up the under hood temp. and heating up the oil pan but, Before I learned that some pipe is better for performance than none I ran open header on the race car and about half a million guys still do. The exception here is if it were real cold out when you shut it down you could maybe have a problem but still slim.

RJ22...

[pat]

Originally Posted by RACINJASON22

You do want to get the timing dialed in atleast real close before you make a longer road run.

What are you running manifolds or headers??

If open headers you will be fine. If open manifolds you can run into a problem of them being short and really heating up the under hood temp. and heating up the oil pan but, Before I learned that some pipe is better for performance than none I ran open header on the race car and about half a million guys still do. The exception here is if it were real cold out when you shut it down you could maybe have a problem but still slim.

RJ22...

It is open headers and the drive will be about 8 miles, so I guess Ill just drive it. I think I can trust your advice after following some of your FAQs. Thanks!

Originally Posted by MrShelley

Drilling those holes was a major P.I.T.A. wasn't it?! Looks great, I kinda wish I had welded a strengthening ring in mine when I did that.

Your not kidding, I thought I had burned up our 1/2" drill several times, and I felt like it was going to break my wrist when it bit.

[SCOTI]

I've done this very mod on another of my trucks years ago. Lately I've seen several board members go through the effort w/cutting the pipe.... cut it down to some 'rings'..... cut holes in the c.member for the rings.... & then weld it up. I've been thinking of doing it again for my 68 but what a pain to do it w/the truck together. The more I think about it.... the more I re-think how it can be done.

Why not drill 4x 1/2" holes to make an outline for 1 larger hole that can be cut straight w/a sawzall, cut-off wheel, or plasma (you know, connect the dots). Then cut 4x plates to 'box' the engine side of the c.member (2 for ea side of truck; 1 for ea side of the holes in the c.member). Weld them top & bottom & you have re-inforced the c.member w/some boxing plate & you also get even larger holes for a little more exhaust clearance.

I think this is how I'll do my 68.

[RACINJASON22]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

I've done this very mod on another of my trucks years ago. Lately I've seen several board members go through the effort w/cutting the pipe.... cut it down to some 'rings'..... cut holes in the c.member for the rings.... & then weld it up. I've been thinking of doing it again for my 68 but what a pain to do it w/the truck together. The more I think about it.... the more I re-think how it can be done.

Why not drill 4x 1/2" holes to make an outline for 1 larger hole that can be cut straight w/a sawzall, cut-off wheel, or plasma (you know, connect the dots). Then cut 4x plates to 'box' the engine side of the c.member (2 for ea side of truck; 1 for ea side of the holes in the c.member). Weld them top & bottom & you have re-inforced the c.member w/some boxing plate & you also get even larger holes for a little more exhaust clearance.

I think this is how I'll do my 68.

Only difference I see would be a square hole instead of round. AND it probably would be easier. than cutting the pipe but both ways would/are a pain while the truck is together no matter how you do it.

BTW Thank You pat I would not suggest anything that I would even have a second thought about there being a problem with. Just think about exhaust cut-out's most of them are right at the collector and also how mant street rods have you seen at show with zoom tubes and no collector to speak of. YOU WILL BE FINE.

RJ22...

[IvelDesigns]

i tried that exact approach, welding in tabs, and using a hole drill.... after about ripping my arm off a couple times when it bit in, i finally snapped the drill bit and gave up. what i ended up doing is tacking the tube in place and torching out the center. then ran some good welds around the tube to hold it in place for good.

not nearly as clean, but it worked.

[krue]

Looks like a good mod to me.

[jfalesi]

Do you mean you wire brushed the frame or your ears?

Originally Posted by pat

Got a little done over the weekend. I got some 4.5" pipe and cut a couple not so square 1" rings, took forever on the saw. Then I welded in some tabs on the holes in the frame. Used a bi-metal 4.5" hole saw and cut some holes. That part sucked! Wasn't easy at all. Then I tapped the rings in place and ground some of the paint away. Welded them in while laying under the truck. Had a couple nice size pieces of slag land inside my ear. Love the smell of burning hair. Then I wire brushed it and cleaned it up and threw on some POR-15. Now all I need is a trailer to pull it up to the exhaust shop. Throw some exhaust on it and get it timed and Im on the road after 5 years.....

[pat]

Originally Posted by jfalesi

Do you mean you wire brushed the frame or your ears?

I was outta Q-tips


Looks good Hart Rod!

[Hart_Rod]

Originally Posted by pat

I was outta Q-tips


Looks good Hart Rod!

Thanks Pat. It was a lot of work, but I'm sure it will pay off when I have the exhaust run. Keep the pictures coming.


R

[Hart_Rod]

Good idea welding the tab in there. I thought about this after I had finished mine, . I used a cutoff wheel, what a pain in the behind. It took about an hour to do each one.

[Bamm]

"Had a couple nice size pieces of slag land inside my ear. Love the smell of burning hair."

Dude, there are easier ways to get rid of that annoying ear hair. LOL
Nice mod, how long did each side take with the hole saw?

[pat]

HA!
If I had to guess, probably 15 solid minutes each.

[GREASEMONKEY72]

nice work, nice to see im not the only one welding with flexcore

i say go for the open header drive, fire it up and set the timming then drive to the shop and get your exhaust

[pat]

Originally Posted by GREASEMONKEY72

nice work, nice to see im not the only one welding with flexcore

i say go for the open header drive, fire it up and set the timming then drive to the shop and get your exhaust

Yeah, the fluxcore actually worked really well.
Thats just the thing though, I dont really know how to time it other than just turning the dizzy and listening to it.

[lyrikz]

dont mean to bring this back from teh dead, but where do you get some 4" diameter pipe to run the exhaust through???

[Frizzle Fry]

I started this very mod on mine the other day. Got the DS hole cut after breaking one bit. It helps to do a little cutting from each side. Also I positioned mine as high/outboard as possible to give more distance to the trailing arms and a better shot at clearing them. I'll be running 50 series flows between the tranny xmember and the ta xmember. The offset/offset (opposite inlet/outlet) config looks like it's going to work perfectly there.

[lyrikz]

Originally Posted by Frizzle Fry

I started this very mod on mine the other day. Got the DS hole cut after breaking one bit. It helps to do a little cutting from each side. Also I positioned mine as high/outboard as possible to give more distance to the trailing arms and a better shot at clearing them. I'll be running 50 series flows between the tranny xmember and the ta xmember. The offset/offset (opposite inlet/outlet) config looks like it's going to work perfectly there.

Hey Friz, the pipe that you weld in the hole to just add bracing, where do you get that at? Any lowes or homedepot or something???

Your truck also is bagged in the rear with trailing arms right??

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by lyrikz

Hey Friz, the pipe that you weld in the hole to just add bracing, where do you get that at? Any lowes or homedepot or something???

Your truck also is bagged in the rear with trailing arms right??

The stuff I've used I picked up @ my local steel yard in their 'scrap/drop-off' pile.