Exhaust repair hacks. JB weld?

my GF's got an old 1996 ford aspire. 4 banger auto POS.



The O2 fell out. rusted out. broke off half the nut that's part of the exhaust manafold.



With no O2, this little thing still gets 25mpg! But the noise and exhaust fumes in the car is no good.



So I cut the corasponding nut that is still left on the O2 off. I don't think I'll buy another O2, the work and cost of parts out weights the cost of the car here.



So GF's dad and I deside on JB weld, why not. Found some stuff that's good up to 600 degrees, I'm thinking that might be a bit low but it did create a GOOD hard contact, We had a hair dryer on it to keep the temps above 30 degrees for about 8 hours. After that and a second coat I started the car up and she ran quite! The O2 is broke (been hanging out of hte exhaust for 6+ months? So I start hte car up for 5 minutes every hour 4 times till bed time, this way I can get some good hot heat on things to help it set.



I could smell some JB weld as the exhuast heated up. But figured it was just the nature of hte stuff.



So the GF goes for the drive this morning, makes it about 1. 5 miles before it pops out. I suppose she melted the JBweld. It had about 15 hours to set up. was it the cold? Or do I need something different for exhaust?



Second solution would be a big self tapping bolt in the hole. maybe a few tack welds.

 

You could get a piece of sheet metal, see if you can find nuts that fit the O2 sensor, lock the O2 sensor down in the sheet metal, wrap it around the exhaust and put it on with some clamps

 

You need something with a higher temp rating. Gasser exhaust can go up to 1600 degrees.



figure out the thread size and pitch and you might be able to find a weld in bung to put it in properly. Here is a example.



http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?target=egnsearch.asp&N=115+400130+311567&autoview=sku

 

The thread is 18mm just like the old Ford spark plugs.



Bob

 

What are my changes of pulling hte exahust manafold off and not breaking any bolts in the head? it's not that bad but I don't need that problem.

 

None to zero. :-laf Ever heard of Murphy?



Get some of that muffler repair tape - kinda like fiberglass that sets up under heat. Then put a piece of sheet metal over the hole/repair tape. Finally throw a couple of big hose clamps over the sheet metal. Good for at least 10K miles (or until other parts fall off ).

 

Just weld a new nut on there.

 

If I can get the manafold off with out trouble, then yes, I can do that... . IF... .



I think the plan next is to try something that is is self tapping to fill the gap. we'll see. if this next idea doesn't work, we"ll remove things and do it the easier way (once removed).

 

if shes a keeper co sign for her new cummins! then pay someone to take the car

 

You could try putting a band type clamp over the hole.



Or, the Muffler cement that you can buy at the parts stores... . does actually work pretty well. I've never tried to fill a gap that size though. Generally just pinholes on the top of the weld on a custom dual exhaust job. (ya know the top of the pipe you can't see, and have one HECK of a time welding!)



Josh

 

Her dad came on by again and we just welded the O2 back in. got most of it. I'll have to pick up the muffler cement and fill in the little/big pin hole, it's 95% quiter now tho. Thanks Josh



Wish I would of thought of the bandclamp, that would work in this case.....



So yeah, we replaced the breaks (pads, rotors destroyed!). and fixed exhuast. Now the blower motors isn't working and the wipers blow fueses.



Typical ford.



BlowinBlackSmoke, If that does become the case, I was thinking a pre-98 12 valver and a 5 speed with the mods to do 500RWHP.



Suspention, break and tires to boots her driving habbits as well.



Perfect for a 5' 2" little girl



Money wise, something new won't happen for her for a long time. pesky bills.

 

Jason,

I tried the the JB weld method on an old Ford 292 exhaust pipe (just off the manifold). The stuff just melts. I ended up using a high dollar clamps to fix it.

The clamp consisted of my favorite cold beverage served in a 12oz can and two radiator hose clamps. I guess you could go cheaper and use baling wire to hold aluminum around the pipe. :-laf