Thread: Followed Me Home II

Tweet

I've been having the random thoughts going through my head about my exhaust issues on the 40 and I'm half tempted to take the easy way out for now. Put a muffler in between the frame and front fender and exit just under the fender like a race car. Yeah, it might be loud, but it would be quicker and help get it on the road. But then I think I should just quit thinking.

.

Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

I've been having the random thoughts going through my head about my exhaust issues on the 40 and I'm half tempted to take the easy way out for now. Put a muffler in between the frame and front fender and exit just under the fender like a race car. Yeah, it might be loud, but it would be quicker and help get it on the road. But then I think I should just quit thinking.

Yeah, I woke up yesterday thinking, "Why didn't you just load the chassis on the trailer, and take it to the shop and have them bend pipes! But then I thought about the way the muffler shop does hangers, welds and cobbles things together and I decided I'm better off. I recall talking to a guy at a local hamburger joint about the roller chassis he had loaded and him saying he had a guy down south that was going to do the exhaust for him, but I don't know that guy!

I got a late start today, but drilled the mounting holes for a pair of hangers, then marked them and heated the rod to bend it to fit under the pipe, bolted it back in place and tacked the rod to the exhaust pipe, both sides of the rod. Did the other side the same....
-
20200721_181752.jpg
-
With that point anchored I decided that I needed to anchor the loops over the axles, and that's one of the 2" round cross members that has the brake line running across the front side. After too many stutter steps I picked up a piece of 1.5" square tube and a 1.75" hole saw and cut a chunk out of the tube, leaving the bottom whole. Cutting it at the bottom of the arc gave me two pieces to fit the cross member to make a flat bolting surface tangent to the bottom of the cross member.
-
20200721_181820.jpg
-
I cut off the top on the band saw, making a C channel, and as I was making the cut on the second one the blade snapped. Arrrrgh! So I finished that one with a cutoff wheel in the angle grinder.
-
20200721_181734.jpg
-
The tabs will extend back from the cross member, right below the floor of the trunk, and the radiused gussets will stiffen them up.
-
20200721_181847.jpg
-
Stopped for the day and cleaned up for a run to Harbor Freight to pick up some blades for the saw. That little deep throat band saw, mounted on a stand has been a joy to use, along with the Northern Tool Cold Cut Off saw. I don't know how I did without them!

Got the bandsaw going again, and tacked the two brackets I'd made on the crossmember. I'll weld them out after I blow the chassis apart and finish some other welding.
-
20200722_144030.jpg
-
I copied this attachment method from Jim Robinson after thinking about how the connections across the top of the hump really limits movement. Imitation is the best form of flattery, right?
-

20200722_143935.jpg
-
Again, a bit of head scratching and ended up with a pair of simple tabs to weld to the top tube of the center section and one of the vertical braces. Constrained on two sides it's not going anywhere, and it made an easy connection up front to limit any flex.
-
20200722_144114.jpg
-
And the whole thing, no jack stands, slip joint & muffler clamps still loose!
-
20200722_153626.jpg
-
I've got a question. The PO bought this coil of 3/8" aluminum fuel line. Some say never run aluminum because a rock or other road debris thrown by a front tire can penetrate it, causing a catastrophic ending. I can see that with an electric pump, pressurizing the line a pinhole would spew fuel, but running a mechanical pump that line from tank to pump might drip while static, but once the engine is cranking that line sees suction pressure (negative) from the pump. Seems to me that there's little risk but I'm open to ideas. Have any of you run aluminum line from the tank? What do you think about it?
-
20200722_153603.jpg
-

-

I wouldn't be afraid to use it. I know you aren't going to put it UNDER the frame rail, so I don't see how a rock could ever get to it. If it did, it would likely just dent it. A rock big enough to break or puncture it would probably never get launched by those little front tires, anyway. If this was a jacked up 4-wheel-drive going off-road it may be an issue, but I think it's OK stuff here. Bottom line though, Roger, do what you are comfortable with.

My biggest issue with aluminum line is ethanol. There are a lot of gas stations in this state that offer nothing but ethanol even if the sticker says it isn't. I could see the rock dings being an issue as well. A couple of our freightliner cascadia semis had some aluminum air lines and we had to replace them before they were 6 months old. The construction around here and gravel roads are no joke.

.

JMHO, I would think steel or cooper/nickel line would be better. Just my 2 cents.

Jim, I'm OK using it, and like you say it would be tucked up high on the rail, just beneath the floor so I can't see that rocks or debris is really an issue, especially with a mechanical pump pulling suction on a siphon feed line.

Ryan, I hadn't thought about the evil ethanol being an issue. Your comment about fuel having ethanol even if it's labeled ethanol free bothers me. I try to always buy ethanol free fuel, 87 octane for my "regular" vehicles and 92 for the '33, and the thought that they're actually pushing ethanol isn't good but I'm not sure how one would know.

The issue is that I've got a 25' coil of 3/8" aluminum tube that came in my pile of parts, and whether to use it or spend more dollars on something else. If I change I'll likely go with a braided fabric neoprene type tube vs hard line. That's what came from Edelbrock on the EFI package for the '33, and it's very easy to use. I'll take a look at Speedway and Summit just for grins.

Thanks for the input!

We've got 20 or so gasoline burning pieces of equipment at work. We used to buy all our gas right from the airport. The alcohol content has been so high that anything aluminum in the system is eaten up. Or, the old style o rings and rubber lines are eaten up and we have had to replace many components due to the ethanol and alcohol. We have been buying our gas from quick fuel for the last year and that was the only way we could get a no ethanol gas and be certain. When we met with the quick fuel reps, I couldn't believe the stuff they told us all the gas stations were doing. It's just as bad, actually worse on the biodiesel.

Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

We have been buying our gas from quick fuel for the last year and that was the only way we could get a no ethanol gas and be certain. When we met with the quick fuel reps, I couldn't believe the stuff they told us all the gas stations were doing.

Is "quick fuel" QuikTrip? Our QT has dedicated pumps (red handles) for no ethanol regular grade, and our newest Casey's store has dedicated pumps for no ethanol 92 octane.

I've tried to buy only ethanol free for the past year or more for everything - better efficiency, no loss in octane due to phase separation, no corrosive alcohol in the bottom of the tank. My truck and Jeep probably go well over a month between fills these days. It's probably been 6 months or more on the '33!!

I'm not saying there's a lot of alcohol in our gas in California, but I heard on the news the other day that a fellow locked himself in his garage with his car running and only got drunk............

Roger, no quick fuel is a fleet fueling company. They get their fuel/gas right out of the filling setups off the line.

36Sedan, It possibly could happen these days!

.

When I did the coupe I used 3/8" Aluminum line, never had any issue.
Here in MA. all we can get is gas with 10% ethanol. Still never a problem. The coupe has been sitting since last summer - not even started but once in December I think. I've no doubt it will fire off and run with no issues.

In fact, maybe that's what I'll do this afternoon. I've taken a couple days away from work and stayed home to play with the puppy while the wife runs north to see her sisters.

I don't mind aluminum line on a drag car, but I used it once on a street car and withing 3 weeks had a rock punch a hole in it. Steel line for me on the street!

I've been doing some looking, and found a couple of auto magazine tech articles on upgrading fuel lines due to ethanol blends, E85 and pure ethanol fuels eroding lines, and losing fuel due to vapors permeating rubber and neoprene lined hoses, like braided SS. The 3/8" aluminum line that I have is only ~0.025" thick and soft. I think it would be OK, and my first thought was to just use it and let the next guy replace it when the time comes, but that's not the way I like to do things. Steel would be better, but over time it's subject to internal corrosion too. It looks to me like the way to go is a PTFE style hose, like Earl's Vapor Guard. It's a multi-layer hose that blocks vapors and is impervious to ethanol's corrosive tendencies. Headed out to the barn to measure. Looks like the BBT will be back again, maybe tomorrow!

Thanks for the comments!

I re-plumbed everything with PTFE hose when I converted the coupe to fuel injection a few years ago.