Posted by Clint Dixon [162.158.74.150] on Friday, September 25, 2020 at 21:00:41 :
In Reply to: Thanks Clint and Marty posted by Kevin [162.158.63.49] on Friday, September 25, 2020 at 19:36:38 :
I use as long of bolts as I have room for to bolt the brackets to the frame. Just get the nuts started so the foot of the bracket will be maybe 1/2" to 3/4" from touching the frame. Then use another long bolt to connect the two brackets together at the connection closest to the frame. If you tighten all three of these down in increments, you should eventually be able to get a long bolt in through the connection between the brackets that is closest to the transmission. Once you have pulled the brackets into shape, and formed them to fit the joint between the muffler and header pipe, you can take one long bolt at a time out and replace it with a more appropriate shorter bolt.
Do the front first. Get it all snug and move to the rear of the muffler.
The worst part for me was that one of the front brackets ended hard against the rolled edge of the muffler and eventually wore the bracket half through as well as wearing deeply into the rolled edge of the muffler.
I think part of the problem is that no one seems to make a good replica of the original muffler anymore. The originals did not have long rolled edges on the ends. They had short flanges that were welded. I had a NOS one a long time ago that finally rusted through after several years on the road.
Junior
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