Exhaust welding

[arcbeer]

One of the tail pipes has come away from the exhausts rear box. It happened on the motorway so I had to break it off to continue my journey (very loud) .

The garage is going to weld it back on for me. Has anyone had experience of this? If so did the welding last long or should I push for an exhaust rear box replacement. I've had comments for and against would like to hear yours.

Cheers

[Big Al.]

It really depends on how much parent (original) material is left to weld the pipe back on to.

The reason the pipe fell off in the first place is down to either of two things corrosion or faulty welding. faulty welding can be corrected, corrosion well ??.

A basic question would be to ask yourself is, how much bigger is the hole in comparison to the pipe.

That's the gap that will have to be filled with weld.

Hope this helps.

[james]

The back boxes on Cerbies are made out of paper I think. They rot away in no time. The best thing to do is to bin it and replace it with an after market system made of higher quality materials.

You'll have one pipe replaced, and the other one will fall off in a couple of weeks.

[Byff]

I had the two pipes going into the backbox snap off completely, tail pipes scraping the floor so had to support the backbox with ty-wraps.

After seeing how much replacement exhausts were and contemplating getting a sports exhaust, I went down my local back street garage to see if he could do a temporary repair so I could take off the ty-wraps and make it more secure.

He took the exhaust off and rewelded the two pipes back on. Result being a perfectly aligned and working exhaust that's stronger than it was before.

Cost just £30 - hell of a lot better than £200+vat and fitting.

[arcbeer]

Cheers Byff, my exhaust pipe was dragging too so I had to snap it off, looks like it'll fit back OK.

Thanks for your comments everyone. It's comforting to know that this is not completely unexpected. I think the welding looks a viable option. If it doesn't work I'll just have to get a sports exhaust

[Tam Lin]

Yep, both of our tailpipes fell off within a month of purchase. Stainless steel backbox meant welding back on was a joke. Worst bit was having to knock the thing into neutral everytime a jam sandwich appeared. Thank *the Lord* we never met any horses in that condition, or they'd still be trying to catch them..

[kstead]

A tip for anyone who needs stainless welding, a local food processing factory sorted my exhausts for a tenner and i had to insist on that, tell them everthing they they want to know about about the car and most people are only to pleased to help.

[SGirl]

Tam Lin said: Yep, both of our tailpipes fell off within a month of purchase. Stainless steel backbox meant welding back on was a joke.

Ah, but what you don't mention is that priceless comedy moment as we were driving the car over with one tailpipe on and one off. As the second one fell off on the A3 past Guildford, we didn't even hesitate to pick it up, we just looked at each other and said "oh, there goes the other one, then!" Possibly my favourite moment in a Cerb so far.*

Oh, and to get back on topic - I spent a morning at ATS in Slough while they tried to weld the first tailpipe back on. Very nice of them to try, but a complete and utter waste of time. The weld didn't even hold until I got home. Worth a go though, because they gave me a freebie magazine with a Tamora article in it. And they didn't charge me for the work.

* Edited to add: But only because we weren't paying for the replacement back box!

>> Edited by SGirl on Saturday 7th June 17:46

[simond001]

Or for a new box ring your local main dealer. Mine at Maidstone gave me a rear box for next to nothing from a new Cerb that had a sports exhaust fitted.

Local ATS fitted it (and Joolz decat pipes) for £40.