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Posted by David Sherman [24.32.202.83] on Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 15:38:48 :
In Reply to: Tailpipe Expander??? posted by moparman [64.135.210.53] on Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 15:07:58 :
Not sure what you mean by "this". The kind I'm used to has 8 wedge-shaped segments, conical wedges at the end, and a bolt through the assembly lengthwise to draw the ends together and expand the sides outward. They work okay, over a limited range, but you really need an air impact wrench to make much progress with the expanding. Also, they will make the pipe octagonal, more or less, which means it'll need to be expanded more than you'd think to clear the inside pipe, and will need the muffler clamps tightened down good and tight to avoid leakage through the "slots" of the octagon. I'll sometimes dope it up with red RTV to help seal it before tightening the clamps. Black asbestos furnace cement has also worked for me, but you can't get it any more.
All in all, mechanics have been using them for a long time and they do the job, within the limits of what they're good for. If you want to expand a piece of pipe so you can fit another pipe of the same size inside it, or loosen up a previously clamped pipe enough that you can re-use it, they work. One thing I've learned is you really need to be able to put the whole expander inside the pipe. That means that you usually can't do a good job of expanding the muffler pipe stubs (better to expand the pipe that the stubs go into). The reason is that the end that's outside the pipe will expand a lot more than the end that's inside, and the result will be conical end on your pipe. Butting the pipes together and welding them is better but it's sometimes hard to weld all the way around, it's scary to weld right up against the gas tank, and a clamped joint makes it easier to replace the muffler again later.