Re: Gibson Installed!!!!! (long - some parts may contain angst)

From: blackdak@tampabay.rr.com
Date: Tue Nov 18 2003 - 13:39:00 EST


Why didn't you just cut off the factory exhuast pipe with a saw-zaw? I rented one for like $20, well worth it.

Alex
97 CC Sport V8 5spd

----- Original Message -----
From: Josh Battles <jbattles@bankfinancial.com>
Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2003 12:57 pm
Subject: DML: Gibson Installed!!!!! (long - some parts may contain angst)

>
> Well, last night in my well lit garage I installed the Gibson
> Swept side
> exhaust I picked up from Chad at muscletrucks.net last week. It
> took longer
> than I'd expected partially because a 900 pound gorilla tightened the
> exhaust clamps and managed to crimp the tubes together. The clamp
> at the
> front of the muffler came off very nicely, however the one at the rear
> wasn't so easy. The nuts came off okay but the clamp had corroded
> togetherwith itself and the tubing. Needless to say, that sure
> wasn't coming off
> anytime soon.
>
> The front of the muffler was a sad sad story...I actually had to
> bust out
> the die grinder and cut the flange at the front of the muffler at
> 90 degree
> intervals. Then I pried it apart by hammering a nice screwdriver
> betweenthe 2 pipes and bending the pieces outward. I still
> couldn't get it apart
> so I kept on prying until I got tired of that, then I busted out
> the trusty
> 7 pound handheld sledge hammer and beat the snot out of it. :-)
> After a
> handful of blows, I was finally able to beat it into submission
> and it just
> popped off of the headpipe. My joys were a little short lived
> though, as I
> had managed to slightly deform the end of the headpipe with all of my
> prying. OH GNOES!!! A quick trip to the toolbox and all is sorted
> out. I
> used this tool my dad made (for this very dilemma in fact) to re-
> form the
> deformed tube end and all was good.
>
> The Gibson muffler (which is actually quite large and heavy when
> laying on
> your back) slid right into place with the help of my little sledge-
> o-matic
> and the rest of the tubes fit right into place. Everything went
> well and
> good until I started to clean up and decided that I should
> probably start
> the truck and check for leaks before I put it down... Well, sure
> enoughthere was a slight leak at the front of the muffler! ANGST++
> GRRRRR. So,
> all clamps were loosened and I discovered that I had installed the
> hangerfacing the wrong way. So, I pulled the trusty floor jack
> over and lifted
> the pipes up and undid the hanger from the rubber bushing type
> mounts and
> flipped it over. I also pushed the muffler a little farther onto the
> headpipe and tightened everything up good and tight. HA! HA! no
> more leaks.
>
> All in all it took me about 2 and a half hours from start to
> finish (and
> then about 20 mins to clean up). The tone of the exhaust is
> fairly decent,
> it has a nice low grumble at idle, but right off idle I think it's
> a little
> too loud and it kinda accentuates the inherent buzz of the V6.
> Hopefullyit'll quiet down as it breaks in. Not too shabby at all,
> but not quite the
> sound I was looking for. At least it'll be easy to take off when
> I decide
> to try something different.
>
> I really haven't had a chance to get on it and see what kind of a
> differenceit made yet, as it's been raining here since about the
> time I finished
> getting it installed. With the flood warning in effect now, I
> don't expect
> to get a chance to romp on it soon either. However, from what I'd
> noticedit seems that my trans is shifting a little sooner than it
> was before....
> Which direction do you adjust the TV cable to make the trans shift
> later?
> --
> - Josh
> Lowered 2000 Dakota CC 3.9L
> www.geocities.com/lenny187/dakota.html
>
>
>
>



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Feb 06 2004 - 11:47:08 EST