ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is

[clay68c10]

The first bend was pretty easy, it's just a U bend cut in half and flipped. The hangers are another stock Ford part. I'm using 3 per side. They're pretty stout and easy to work with. The metal rods are generic from Amazon. I made the bolt hole portion of the mounts from 3/16 flat stock.
It's always surprising how long these things take... This was a whole saturday, but to do it again would probably take 1/3 the time.

[Steeveedee]

What are the devices near the start of the pipes, before the "H" pipe? Cats or resonators?

[clay68c10]

Originally Posted by Steeveedee

What are the devices near the start of the pipes, before the "H" pipe? Cats or resonators?

Flowmaster bullet type cats. I've heard they work well.
I like that old school exhaust smell for about 2 minutes, then I'm out. Too many years of working in shops I guess.

[clay68c10]

The next round was a little more complicated. The pipes have to go over the rear, then the passenger side goes behind the panhard bar and the driver side goes in front. Then it has to clear the gas tank corners and go to the rear.
I started with the passenger side.

[clay68c10]

Then mirrored it on the driver side, just shifted aft a bit, and continued on to the back.

[clay68c10]

Then the passenger side.

[loudchevy]

Nice work, are you using a kit of misc exhaust pieces? or just buying what you need? also what size diameter are you using?

[clay68c10]

Originally Posted by loudchevy

Nice work, are you using a kit of misc exhaust pieces? or just buying what you need? also what size diameter are you using?

Thanks. It's been an interesting process.
I bought the universal box of mandrel bends from Speedway. It's the 2.5" version.
I got their H pipe kit and also added the optional extra box of straight pieces they have for pickups. The H pipe was handy, but I haven't needed any of the straight pickup kit tubes.
The pieces all come with one end expanded for slip fitting. That was handy. I only had a couple of pieces to butt weld; at the rear downward portion of the axle kickup and the front S shape before the mufflers. Both of those sections got welded in my vise and then put back on the truck.

[loudchevy]

Thanks for the info. I was looking at those Speedway kit as well. Their Phx store/warehouses is actually a few miles away from my office, which is convenient.

What muffler did you end up using?

[clay68c10]

Originally Posted by loudchevy

Thanks for the info. I was looking at those Speedway kit as well. Their Phx store/warehouses is actually a few miles away from my office, which is convenient.

What muffler did you end up using?

The Flowmaster Flow FX. Those should be fairly mellow. We'll see.

[hewittca]

Nice work on the exhaust! That combination of bends you used is similar to what I ended up with to get over my rear axle. I'm curious to hear your exhaust with the H-pipe and those mufflers. With mine, I have the X-pipe so far back that it gives the exhaust a bit of a weird tone. I'm thinking about changing it to something like you did here.

[clay68c10]

Originally Posted by hewittca

Nice work on the exhaust! That combination of bends you used is similar to what I ended up with to get over my rear axle. I'm curious to hear your exhaust with the H-pipe and those mufflers. With mine, I have the X-pipe so far back that it gives the exhaust a bit of a weird tone. I'm thinking about changing it to something like you did here.

Thanks, it turned out ok.
Interesting, I never thought about the location of the crossover and it's effect on the sound.
Eventually, when I get it running, I'll take a YT clip of it and post it up.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by clay68c10

Thanks, it turned out ok.
Interesting, I never thought about the location of the crossover and it's effect on the sound.
Eventually, when I get it running, I'll take a YT clip of it and post it up.

I recall reading the farther upstream a cross-over is, the more it can help with 'taming' the sound.

Resonators & 'Helmholtz Chambers' are becoming much more common on big HP (& not so coincidently big $$) builds in efforts to keep things reasonable.

[clay68c10]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

I recall reading the farther upstream a cross-over is, the more it can help with 'taming' the sound.

Resonators & 'Helmholtz Chambers' are becoming much more common on big HP (& not so coincidently big $$) builds in efforts to keep things reasonable.

There's some interesting technology there. I'd like to see under some of the newer factory fast cars and how they've been doing things.

[clay68c10]

The cab has been at my friends shop for bodywork. We’re doing a labor trade for the body and paint. He’s got a couple of hot rods that need done and I’ve been helping him with mechanical and electrical items.
He does nice work, and it’s slow. It’s slow because he likes to let all the products cure before going onto the next step. Over the spring that can take a while because heat really speeds up the cure.
Anyway, here’s some pics of the cab.

[clay68c10]

The cab I have was dry and clean-ish, but it definitely had been worked hard. The back had a lot of dents. Dave and I got a lot of them out with the stud gun, then it was time for a skim coat. He has a cool sanding technique that gets the panels pretty flat. He uses these very long sanding blocks and a powder guide coat.
These pics are of a door, but the same technique applies. Those long blocks really show the imperfections, and eventually smooth them out.

[clay68c10]

Here’s where he got the idea. https://www.linearblockingtools.com/
He makes his own with plexiglass and vinyl tubing.

[hewittca]

Body work is one thing I'm glad I didn't have to do on my build. What color are you going with?

[clay68c10]

Originally Posted by hewittca

Body work is one thing I'm glad I didn't have to do on my build. What color are you going with?

516 Omaha/Tangier orange and white. I don’t want to lose track of it in a parking lot.

The bad part about piecing this thing together is that none of the panels match so some kind of paint job is needed.

[clay68c10]

This past few weeks have been exciting, paint has happened on the cab and doors!
Here’s a shot of a door after the first bake. It baked several times in the booth and for a week straight inside his enclosed trailer out in the sun. That also made room for some other cars he’s working on.
Dave lays down 4 wet coats of clear so that it will sand and polish nicely. The long hot cure also helps harden the clear so it sands and polishes better.

[clay68c10]

Here’s a shot of the door after the sand and polish.
He blocks the clear with 800, 2000, and then a DA with a 3000 pad. Then the buffer. It’s a long process but it works.

[Stickman]

Looks real nice.

[clay68c10]

Originally Posted by Stickman

Looks real nice.

Thanks, it’s coming together. The front clip is next. I’ve got the hammer and dolly work done on the fenders so they’ll be getting the skim coat soon.

[clay68c10]

The fenders are ready. They needed a fair amount of work. My original driver side had a lower dogleg rust “repair” that was a patch welded over the top of a hole. Lovely. I cut it out and made a piece for it. The passenger side had a lot of previous repairs with paved filler over dents. There were also bondo worms on the back side of the dogleg. These came from several holes from an old school puller. But no rust, even in the cup.

[clay68c10]

The last thing I needed to do to get the frame ready was to make my exhaust heat shields. The ones that Angus from AC/DC was helping with.
I had some really good heat shielding left over from my dealership days. It’s from an E-class gas tank recall. The new tanks came with the shield already attached, so I grabbed a couple of the old ones, thinking they may come in handy someday. Fast forward 10 years.
It looks really beat up, but it’s not. The layer you see is the thin foil backing, about 2x the thickness of kitchen foil. It really shows the dents from reforming it. It’s a 3 layer item. The thick foil layer is about 20ga and is faced towards the exhaust, the middle layer is fiber insulation and the thin layer is facing up.
The last photo is from underneath, before I rolled the cut edge to seal up the fiber inner layer.