2.8 V6 Y-Pipe - Worth re-creating?

[Bronco648]

I have an '85 RCLB with the drivetrain out. I took a good look at the y-pipe and it's still in very good condition (truck is from northern Kentucky, originally, and has just over 100K miles).

Is it worth it to take the y-pipe to a muffler shop and have them try to re-create it? I've not seen any source for these but I don't know how much of a demand there is for them either.

TIA

 

[55trucker]

In my opinion....not unless they have considerable fab experience with a mandrel bender & tig welding in 304 stainless.

 

[Angie]

Ain't broke... don't fix it ....

 

[Bronco648]

In my opinion....not unless they have considerable fab experience with a mandrel bender & tig welding in 304 stainless.

I was hoping mild steel tubing would be good enough. 304 SS isn't going to be cheap.

Ain't broke... don't fix it ....

It's not broken, I was wondering if it would worth having a spare or selling one to someone that needs it.

 

[Angie]

It's not broken, I was wondering if it would worth having a spare or selling one to someone that needs it.

can't help there.... sometimes chasing rabbits ain't worth the headaches .... if someone needs 1 I am sure they would 1. track it down, or 2 get one made... as for demand ...

 

[55trucker]

Seeing as you're in Chicago the winters there are not too much different from what we get up here in Toronto..salt in the winter & lots of rot.

Anything but stainless here is a non starter for those reasons........yep stainless isn't cheap, but it does last a lifetime.

 

[Shran]

Would not bother, it is very hard to re-create exhaust tubing without having the vehicle there to test fit the part on. I had a tailpipe "duplicated" one time for my Explorer, by a guy who has been doing exhaust for many years, and it looked perfect but was off by quite a bit once I got it in the vehicle.

The Y pipe is really not hard to build, a good exhaust guy can whip one out quick.

 

[Bronco648]

Seeing as you're in Chicago the winters there are not too much different from what we get up here in Toronto: salt in the winter & lots of rot.
Anything but stainless here is a non starter for those reasons........yep stainless isn't cheap, but it does last a lifetime.

I'm fortunate to work for a company that allows me to work from home during inclement weather. That said, I'm sure that old y-pipe will be subjected to salt at some point. I'll have to decide if making another out of SS is worth it. I may just have one fabbed up that goes into a dual in/dual out muffler.

Would not bother, it is very hard to re-create exhaust tubing without having the vehicle there to test fit the part on. I had a tailpipe "duplicated" one time for my Explorer, by a guy who has been doing exhaust for many years, and it looked perfect but was off by quite a bit once I got it in the vehicle.

The Y pipe is really not hard to build, a good exhaust guy can whip one out quick.

I was thinking that a competent shop has to have the ability to make these. Any local shop is welcome to have the truck for test-fitting but, as I replied to 55trucker (above), maybe it's better to have something made that fits into a muffler of my choice. I'm partial to side exit exhaust ("lake pipes") and moving the muffler forward will facilitate that.

 

[55trucker]

In the very near future I will have to *refab* the flange at the end of the Y-pipes into the forward cat & the flange on the front cat, after 24 years the old 409 held up well but it is looking very fragile.
The Y pipes themselves are in good enough condition, the cats as well, so I have to remove both the Y pipe & the cats from the truck & cut away both flanges & have a local shop flame cut me 2 new ones in 409 from a template, fit them in & I can weld it all back together.

 

[franklin2]

Luckily the y-pipes run hot since they are near the engine. So they seem to last a little longer than the cooler pieces farther down the line. It would be a shame to re-create the factory piece. The pipe is fairly small and doesn't look like it flows that well.

If you want to make something, make a set of headers. You might get some buyers for those.

 

[Bronco648]

Luckily the y-pipes run hot since they are near the engine. So they seem to last a little longer than the cooler pieces farther down the line. It would be a shame to re-create the factory piece. The pipe is fairly small and doesn't look like it flows that well.

If you want to make something, make a set of headers. You might get some buyers for those.

After working at the corporate HQ of a muffler/brake shop chain, many moons ago, we had access to information and engineers. As I'm sure you know, condensation is the biggest enemy of an exhaust system (aluminized steel tubing or not). The pipes that get "dried out" are the ones that last the longest. Areas where water can pool & sit degrade very quickly. So, pipes up by the engine usually last a bit longer than mufflers and tailpipes.

As for headers, I'd love that but the people that rebuilt the (yet-to-be-installed) engine tell me the engine will not perform well with headers and will run better with the stock manifolds. The engine just wasn't (re)built with headers in mind. If I had ordered the rebuild, it would have planned to source headers (although, since headers for the 2.8 in the Ranger aren't readily available anymore, I may not have gone that route).

 

[Angie]

Early Ford Aerostars were built with the 2.8 . and they built pipe style headers for them if you search here you might be able to get a set. not sure if this info is useful to anyone... however cheers

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