Quote:
Originally Posted by ERA2076
My FIA has stainless pipes that are not aligned with the body. The distance from the collector to the bend is too long. I will be taking it in for alignment soon.
My thought was to cut the expanded collar off of the side pipe and work the side pipe into the proper position and re-weld the collar back on to the side pipe such that the pipe is parallel to the body.
Is it correct to shorten the collector? - would make it a lot easier - seems un-natural.
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Is this on the passenger side? My 427 street roadster with ERA undercar exhaust headers suffered the same problem on that side. My theory (?) is that the fabricator is not taking into account that the motor is offset 1 inch to the passenger side - thus the pipe ends up extended out too far and too near the body rocker panel area. If its on the driver side then my theory is shot.
I carefully marked mine for up/down and had it put in a pipe bending machine and bent 2 deg (roughly and it now fits fine). However, it now has a typical slightly curshed profile on the inside from the pipe bender that I hate. Not visible except from underneath but still there.
A better solution is to cut the pipe where it joins the 4-pipe collector, carefully grind the pipe until you have the angle and clearance corrected, mark index points on the pipe/collector, pull it off and lightly tack weld it and test fit it before pulling it off and finishing the weld. You may not even need to cut the pipe completely loose 360 deg. If you just need a 1/2 inch or so of movement you can probably leave a half inch or so at the front uncut as a hinge and to keep everything jigged up correctly. The when the metal is cut out this may give you enough movement to line it up and re-weld it.