Bummer to have gone through all that Joe. And for something that is, in theory at least, a fairly simple affair.
I've used the same exhaust shop in my town for literally 48 years now. Three generations of owners now working with the grandson of the original owner. And I still have to fight them sometimes while trying to drag them into the new world order. They don't like crossovers/x-pipes/H-pipes because they think they're bad for performance. Guess they don't read car magazines!
But I'm going to make my own the next time I think. I might let them do the final welding, but I'm really thinking of buying a "kit" of tubing and rolling my own, so to speak.
Going to try it with my '79 pickup first. Not sure I really need to re-do the one in my Bronco yet, but it's still an option on the table.
The kits come with mandrel bends, straights, probably flanges and junctions and all that stuff.
I'm a single-exhaust kind of guy nowadays as I think I said, and although I prefer to merge my two banks into one further upstream, likely the easier way to merge when you're making your own would be by utilizing the muffler with a 2-inlet, 1-outlet setup.
I'd like to hear and see more of the Duff kits when Mike has time to chime back in. I like ready-made stuff too, but usually it's best when your rig is still relatively stock. I've gone local always because I had my own ideas of how tubing should be routed.
Transmission and transfer case swaps are a key reason some kits don't fit. Guessing theirs takes at least some of that into account, so interested to see how they work.
I think there are some threads about them hereabouts as well. Don't remember details though.
good luck with all the hunting.
Paul
