mama, don't let your boys grow up to be driveway mechanics.
i would have taken pictures but was too burned out and butt tired to do anything but finish as fast as i could. and i lost 7 pounds from this morning even with drinking a gallon of water thru the day.

oldest daughter the one with 940 called and said, dadddd..... i have a putt putt sound under the car can i bring it over to get it fixed. i said where is the sound coming from...........well dad in the front and under the car........ well daughter can u be more specific..........well dadddd i think it the muffler system.

i give her a link to order the kit which arrives yesterday. she arrives today with jackson 6 and charlie 3..........you know this will have to be done before dinner time and bed time no matter what.

dad looks and listens. daughter the leak is in the header pipe manifold gasket not the muffler. but you're lucky as i just happen to have one in the garage. what about the mufflers? well in for a penny in for a pound.
ok

cut off the pipe in back of the cat and remove.
disconnect the o2 sensor to remove the cat and replace the 3 bolts to header.
unbolt the header at manifold. so far so good.
as i am removing the header it suddenly snap in a stress fracture 2 inches (thank God) cat side of the two pipe into single pipe weld. oh my god. what started off as a dirty but simple job is now a nightmare. she wants to return home for dinner by 7 and lives an hour away. it is now 11am and no way can i get a header today.

i have a 240 header but the bend is a bit different and will cause reall vibration issues when all is hooked up.

scratch that.

the header break is clean. so i get a pipe slightly larger and cut it down in length to 4 inches give or take and bring it to a friend who has a automatic bender and he stretches it so it slides onto both ends of the header smoothly.

so far so. i set it up for welding and think my angle is perfect after checking. no extra sleeve to add to length. i spot weld it and then electric weld around both sleeve ends. sweet if say so myself. solid and almost as good as new. no fractures here again.

it is 1pm and i am feeling pretty damn smart.

take a break and eat lunch.

it 2pm and i start to bolt the header with the cat and donut attached lightly to not come apart but tight to prevent too much donut slippage. all is well. the header snugs up on the freshly antiseized studs. i snug the header down to torque specs WITHOUT the exhaust attached and jack under the cat to give it the height i need so the bolts are not torqued under lever load from the distant cat. all is good.

now i have a look see at the cat position and am horrified to see the weld angle was off a smidge and the cat is too close to the heat shield of the frame and will cause frame vibration at idle to sure and maybe worse at speed. crowbar the cat pipe down so i have an inch of clearance and insert a tightly wrapped ball of fiberglass between the heat shield on the underbody and the cat pipe a stern of the of the cat. this is under pressure but not too bad or ....knock knock....to stressful to the header.

i proceed to hook up the rest of the starla exhaust and bolt it down.

all appears well until i realize i did NOT torque up the 3 header to cat bolts BEFORE add the rest of the exhaust. it is too late in the day to undo it all and restart so i aligh as best as possible the slippery Gdamn donut. I HATE THIS DESIGN>>>. it isn't as flush as it should and i can just hear the hiss when it start in my mind. i pray the heaer connection at the manifold is sound and torqued well and the rest of the pipe is strong as i have added a bit of stress to it.

i start the car and no put put. the vibration is 95% missing because of the fiber glass but i know i will have get in their again this summer to do something better.

the damn donut is secure on 2 sides but i feel some exhaust from the third. just slight but it won't get better so in their too.

i told her i was done, finished for the day,,,,, not the car.........me!

my 60yo body is completely exhausted...no pun........ it was 86 and sunny all day. thank God their was no humidity.

it is 8pm and i finished 2 hours ago. i told daughter what must be done sometime when i come to visit. she is a good kid and very understanding and was just glad it was done and no longer embarrassed to drive her put put in the tony suburbs where she lives.

i now know how a field hand feels.

stamp me........fool for love!!